Magazine Festival '14 "Super Issue": 9 Magazines Released Simultaneously in Identical Format ~ Promoting "Authenticity" for Further Revitalization

Magazine Festival '14 is currently underway as the magazine industry's first challenging initiative. While the press conference highlighted the "vitality" of magazines leading the era (see below), how will the "super issues" of these nine magazines be linked to revitalizing the magazine industry going forward? We interviewed Mr. Takeshi Ishizaki, Chairman of the Japan Magazine Publishers Association, who conceived and promoted Magafes, and Mr. Hiroshi Yokokawa, Chairman of the Association's Magazine Value Revitalization Committee, about the background, significance, and future prospects of this project.

 

──How do you view the significance of this year's "Magazine Festival '14"?

Ishizaki: As you know, the environment surrounding magazines is challenging. But precisely because times are tough, I've always believed there are bold initiatives we can undertake. This year especially, we strongly wanted to make it the "first year of magazine revival." Participating companies responded to that vision by bringing their respective strengths to bear. I think the fact we were able to showcase the "vitality" of the magazine industry as a result is hugely significant.

──Could you revisit the background behind planning Magafes?

Yokokawa: Two years ago, under Chairman Ishizaki's leadership, the "Special Committee for Revitalizing Magazine Value" was established. Through thorough discussions and reader research, we compiled recommendations. In a nutshell, the core message was: "Magazines, born of their era, should turn their focus back to readers." It's a return to the fundamentals of magazine-making. As the magazine association, we materialized this "creating a space" concept through this year's Magafes.

──What are your impressions of the lineup of nine magazines that responded to the call?

Yokokawa: Magazines carry the DNA of each publisher's traditions and expertise. While this project was a call to return to those roots, in that sense, I feel the lineup showcases each publisher's distinct identity. Moreover, they shaped that identity within the industry's first new initiative: the simultaneous release of all nine titles.

Ishizaki: With all nine magazines in the same size, a joint newspaper ad, and all nine displayed together in bookstores, editors inevitably become conscious of other magazines' quality—regardless of genre. It's a unique opportunity to reaffirm whether they truly created for their readers.

──So it also served to spur magazine editors into action.

Ishizaki: Exactly. While book sales are important, it's fair to say the publishing world is built on magazines. Increasing the number and circulation of magazines lifts the entire industry—publishers, bookstores, and distributors alike.

Yokokawa: Magazines bring daily sales to bookstores, and those sales enable bookstores to stock books. Consequently, it increases opportunities for customers who come for magazines to also buy books. For distributors, handling more periodicals means they can ship books alongside magazines, significantly boosting efficiency. This allows them to offer books at lower prices.

──How do you plan to build on Magafes' success to further invigorate magazines, which support the publishing world and publishing culture?

Ishizaki: We certainly don't intend for this to be a one-off event. This time, we had nine magazines in a 3x3 format because it worked well for in-store promotions, but next year, we could expand to sixteen magazines in a 4x4 format. Actually, I really hope we do. Since we've taken this step toward the "next phase," I want this to become a platform where even one or two "Super Issues" become regular publications, revitalizing the magazine industry.

Yokokawa: The "chō" in "Super Issue" also carries the meaning of "challenge." For this Magafes, we're also trying new approaches in how we handle promotions. On the special Magafes website (magafes.jp), you can "browse" the digital editions. One reason we standardized all publishers' Super Issues to the same B5 variant size is so that when viewed on a 10-inch tablet, the digital edition appears nearly identical in size to the print version. Previously, even when digital editions were created, they often appeared shrunk on tablets, or the text layout became fluid, completely different from the print layout. Ideally, the layout of the print edition, crafted to capture its unique character, should be experienced exactly as intended.

Ishizaki: Even in this digital age, print media still offers unique advantages, including information reliability. How can we leverage what creators have always valued in print within the digital realm? Pursuing this question is also about rebuilding the value of magazines.

Yokokawa: This digital edition experiment is purely experimental. What we, as industry professionals, truly value are bookstores. Events like Magafes help convey the magazine world's "buzz" to the wider public, encouraging readers to visit bookstores. We want more people to feel that "bookstores are interesting."

Ishizaki: If people inside and outside the industry understand that Magafes '14 was our association's way of throwing a stone into the pond to achieve that, then all our hard work over this past year will have been worthwhile.

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Joined Heibon Publishing (now Magazine House) in 1969. Worked in the editorial departments of 'AnAn', 'Croissant', 'Popeye', and 'Brutus'. Served as Director of Book Publishing in 1987 and Director of Planning and Production in 1995. Became Director and Head of Book Publishing in 2000, then President in 2002.

 

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Joined Kodansha in 1983. Worked in women's magazine editing, serving as editor-in-chief of 'with' and 'VOCE'. Held positions including Second Editorial Bureau Chief, Deputy Advertising Bureau Chief/Advertising Operations Promotion Department Head, New Business Planning Department Head, and China Business Office Committee Member. Appointed Magazine Sales Bureau Chief in 2012.

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※Comments from each magazine's editor-in-chief are from the April 11 press conference

　

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