The Asahi Shimbun  Its publisher, , itself a media conglomerate, has its registered headquarters in Osaka and remains a privately held family business in the major ownership and control of the founding Murayama and Ueno families. According to the Reuters Institute Digital Report 2018, public trust in "Asahi Shimbun" is the lowest among five major dailies in Japan. One of Japan's oldest and largest national daily newspapers, the "Asahi Shimbun" began publication in Osaka on 25 January 1879 as a small-print, four-page illustrated paper that sold for one sen (a hundredth of a yen) a copy, and had a circulation of approximately 3,000 copies. The three founding officers of a staff of twenty were Kimura Noboru (company president), Murayama Ryōhei (owner), and Tsuda Tei (managing editor). The company's first premises were at Minami-dōri, Edobori in Osaka. On 13 September of the same year, "Asahi" printed its first editorial. In 1881, the "Asahi" adopted an all-news format, and enlisted Ueno Riichi as co-owner. From 1882, "Asahi" began to receive financial support from the Government and Mitsui, and hardened the management base. Then, under the leadership of Ueno, whose brother was one of the Mitsui managers, and Murayama, the "Asahi" began its steady ascent to national prominence. On 10 July 1888, the first issue of the "Tokyo Asahi Shimbun" was published from the Tokyo office at Motosukiyachō, Kyōbashi. The first issue was numbered No. 1,076 as it was a continuation of three small papers: "Jiyū no Tomoshibi", "Tomoshibi Shimbun" and "Mesamashi Shimbun". On 1 April 1907, the renowned writer Natsume Sōseki, then 41, resigned his teaching positions at Tokyo Imperial University, now Tokyo University, to join the "Tokyo Asahi Shimbun". This was soon after the publication of his novels "Wagahai wa Neko de Aru" ("I Am a Cat") and "Botchan", which made him the center of literary attention. On 1 October 1908, "Osaka Asahi Shimbun" and "Tokyo Asahi Shimbun" were merged into a single unified corporation, "Asahi Shimbun Gōshi Kaisha", with a capitalization of approximately 600,000 yen.