The publications of Russian historians on the use of newspaper “Nippon Shimbun” (“Japanese newspaper”) in political work among the Japanese prisoners of war in Soviet Union is considered. It was the only newspaper published in the Soviet Union in Japanese language for Japanese prisoners of war. The article contains a historiographical analysis of works published in Russia in the period from 1994 to 2016. The author reveals the results of the work of researchers studying the use of the newspaper in the ideological “treatment” of prisoners of war. Both the successes and achievements of researchers and insufficiently studied aspects of the topic are determined and recorded. Among under-researched problems of the topic there are members of the newspaper editorial office, frequency of publication, circulation, as well as different periods in the editorial work and functions of the newspaper at different stages of political work among the Japanese prisoners of war. Absent monographs and scientific articles and reports on the newspaper “Nippon Shimbun” in Russian historiography is stated although it was published from 1945 to late 1949 by relatively large quantities. The author indicates clearly the lack of studying the work of I. I. Kovalenko as editor-in-chief. The advisability of preparing and publishing the collection of documents on political work among the Japanese POWs in the Soviet Union, which contained materials on the paper, practice of using it in political work.