HOW WE MAKE IT
Production Desk
Japan.co.jp is a daily illustrated newspaper made through human editorial direction and AI-assisted production. AI helps with story ideas, structure, translation, HTML, and image prompts. Staff chooses the news, saves the images, posts the files, and keeps pushing for fixes until the page feels like Japan.co.jp.
From story idea to live HTML
The first decision is editorial: what does today’s Japan look like? Staff balances disaster, economy, culture, technology, politics, regions, and sports. AI can suggest candidates, but the final selection is human.
AI helps create headlines, summaries, article bodies, English and Japanese versions, metadata, link structures, and HTML. When facts are involved, the work is grounded in wire reports, official pages, institutional sources, and other references.
If the writing does not feel like Japan.co.jp, Staff pushes back. The headline may be too big, the wording may be wrong, the brand voice may drift, or the layout may feel off. The page improves through corrections.
Each major article receives an AI-generated editorial illustration. These images are not news photographs. They are visual explanations of mood, context, and meaning for the Japan.co.jp newspaper format.
Staff takes the AI-generated images, opens them in Photoshop, adjusts them as needed, and saves them as JPG files for the website. File names are managed to match story URLs and image paths.
The finished HTML is opened and edited with vi, then copied to the correct place on the server. Japanese reports live under /reports/, English reports under /e/reports/, and daily front pages are stored as dated HTML files.
Not magic. A production line.
The bugging is the editing.
“The headline is too big.” “That link is wrong.” “The English version belongs somewhere else.” “The mobile menu is not readable.” “Do not make it sound like a rival publication.” “That image does not work.” “Make the Japanese better.” These corrections are how the site becomes more like Japan.co.jp.
AI can sometimes produce a strong first draft, but usually the page gets better through repetition. Staff notices what is wrong, AI revises, Staff checks again, and the final page is posted to the server. That loop is the production method.
Japan.co.jp does not hide its use of AI. AI is a writing tool and production assistant. The newspaper is made through the combination of human editorial judgment, source checking, image handling, server publishing, and final placement decisions.
AI-generated images are editorial illustrations. They are not documentary photographs. The factual parts of articles are organized from wire services, official information, institutional pages, and other relevant sources whenever possible.
From daily news to a permanent guide to Japan
After reading how the newspaper is made, read the actual daily front page and English edition.