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Bunbunmaru Newspaper
The Bunbunmaru Newspaper (文々。新聞) is run by Aya Shameimaru.
The standard reading of "文々。新聞" is "bunbunmaru shinbun", meaning "sentence sentence period newspaper".
文 (Readings: "Bun", "Aya", "Fumi", "Mon", or "Kazaru") is a Japanese kanji that is generally used with regards to literature or writing. For example, "文" is used in compounds that mean letter, character, sentence, word, literature, writing, culture, etc.
Name
As such, it is difficult to precisely translate the meaning of the newspaper's name to English. Perhaps an effective way to understand in this case is to combine all the meanings previously listed and think of it as an ideogram that represents those ideas.
One simple explanation is that because Aya's name written in kanji is also "文", the newspaper is named after herself.
Although not canon, given the "Aya" reading of "文" (the same kanji used in Aya Shameimaru's name), the paper's name could also be read as "Ayaaya Maru" in possible reference to her catch-phrase from Mountain of Faith. The phrase "文々。新聞" when read as "Aya Ayamaru Shinbun" is further a homophone for "文誤る新聞" (meaning "Aya Misleads Newspaper" or "Aya makes Mistakes Newpaper") or "文謝る新聞" (meaning "Aya is Sorry Newspaper" or "Aya's Apologetic Newspaper"). But none of these readings are conventional or official.
Another interpretation is that Bunbunmaru could be one of ZUN's jokes. There was a Japanese baseball player, Takahiro Ikeyama (池山隆寛). He was a player with particularly memorable characteristics. He got many homeruns when in good condition, but he sometimes got many strikeouts in bad condition. So he was given a nickname Bunbunmaru (ブンブン丸). "Bun bun" sounds like two bat swings, and "maru" is an ordinary, albeit old-fashioned name ending for a man. There is one more man having the nickname, but Ikeyama is far more popular. It is possible that ZUN created this joke to be associated with Ikeyama.
Many issues of the Bunbunmaru are included in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red.
Trivia
- The Bunbunmaru Newspaper is frequently seen in Touhou Sangetsusei and is shown as a commonly read newspaper.
- Aya's articles frequently become the main story of a chapter.
- In Oriental Sacred Place, a massive pile of Aya's newspapers are seen stored within the Hakurei Shrine's warehouse.
- This indicates a large amount of unknown events occur within Gensokyo.
- Reimu seems to ignore the newspapers but reads them if Marisa presents it to her.
- The Bunbunmaru Newspaper may be a possible answer to unexplained acquaintances and interactions between characters that have never met in previous works. It is certain that Aya's newpapers due promote some recognition of places and characters as shown in Touhou Sangetsusei.
- The Kakashi Spirit News is supposedly rivialing the Bunbunmaru Newspaper, but it's success seems low as no character has been shown reading it.
