TOKYO (TR) – Media outlets are reporting that tabloid Naigai Times filed for bankruptcy yesterday. Over its 60-year run, the sports paper became known for its coverage of adult entertainment, celebrity news, gambling and gravure idols. In its most recent incarnation, it was known as Real Sports, which employed 50 people and distributed 260,000 copies daily.
After being purchased by a real estate company last year, the paper adopted a “no-sleaze” policy — as reported in these pages here — in April of this year. But the following month, with advertising revenue falling, it reverted back to smut content. In September, the sheet adopted the Real Sports title. Attempts were also made to focus on its Web site.
At its peak, in 1964, the paper boasted a daily circulation of between 700,000 and 800,000 copies. Publication ceased with the November 30 issue.
Credit research company Teikoku Databank lists the company as having an accumulated debt of 2.677 billion yen.
