Diamond plans to stop printing Diamond Weekly from April and move its business coverage online, a shift that reflects the contraction of Japan’s weekly magazine market, The Straits Times reported.
Diamond announced the decision in August. The publisher, founded in 1913, had already removed Diamond Weekly from bookstores in spring 2025 and kept printing copies for subscribers, the newspaper reported.
Japan’s weekly magazine market recorded estimated print sales of ¥51.3 billion in 2025, The Straits Times reported, citing a publishing industry research institute. That was about one-eighth of the market’s peak in the 1990s.
In an interview with Kyodo News, Diamond President Aso said Diamond Online had become a larger source of revenue than the magazine, leading the publisher to direct experienced editors toward its web operation. He said online subscriptions had grown quickly. Aso described its professional readership as interested in reporting on companies and industries, while print readers have tended to be older and favor personal finance and lifestyle coverage.
Aso said Diamond joined the magazine and website editorial groups in 2019 as it prepared for digital publishing to become its main channel. He said print was not slated to end when the two editorial teams were combined. Aso said online publishing can deliver business coverage sooner than a weekly cycle and offers more ways for Diamond to connect with readers. Aso presented the move as a way to sustain the publisher’s focus on business journalism.
Diamond plans to begin its editorial work with video, then adapt that material into audio, articles and summaries, Aso said. The publisher will continue producing print books, which remain its largest business division. The April change will end the magazine’s paper edition while leaving Diamond’s book publishing operation in place.
