Japanese newspapers ( , or older spelling ), similar to their worldwide counterparts, run the gamut from general news-oriented papers to special-interest newspapers devoted to economics, sports, literature, industry, and trade. Newspapers are circulated either nationally, by region (such as Kantō or Kansai), by each prefecture, or by each city. Some newspapers publish as often as two times a day (morning and evening editions) while others publish weekly, monthly, quarterly, or even yearly. The five leading national daily newspapers in Japan are the Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, the Yomiuri Shimbun, Sankei Shimbun and the Nikkei Shimbun. The first two are generally considered liberal/left-leaning while the latter three are considered conservative/right-leaning. The most popular national daily English-language newspaper in Japan is The Japan Times. The majority of the newspaper articles are printed vertically. Japanese law prohibits newspaper publishers to be publicly traded. Brief history Japanese newspapers began in the 17th century as (, literally 'to read and sell') or (, literally 'tile-block printing', referring to the use of clay printing blocks), which were printed handbills sold in major cities to commemorate major social gatherings or events. The first modern newspaper was the Nagasaki Shipping List and Advertiser, which was published bi-weekly by the Englishman A. W. Hansard. The first edition appeared on 22 June 1861. In November of the same year, Hansard moved the paper to Yokohama and renamed it the Japan Herald. In 1862, the Tokugawa shogunate began publishing the , a translated edition of a widely distributed Dutch government newspaper. These two papers were published for foreigners, and contained only foreign news. The first Japanese daily newspaper that covered foreign and domestic news was the Yokohama Mainichi Shinbun (横浜毎日新聞), first published in 1871. Newspapers at this time can be divided into two types, (, 'large newspapers') and (, 'small newspapers'). People commonly referred to as "political forums" because these papers were inextricably tied to the Popular Rights Movement (, ) and its demands for establishing a Diet. After the government's official announcement of the formation of the Diet, these newspapers, such as the and the , became organs of the political parties. The early readers of these newspapers mostly came from the ranks of the former samurai class. , on the other hand, were more plebeian, popular newspapers that contained local news, human-interest stories, and light fiction. Examples of were the Tokyo (), the predecessor of the present day