Weekly magazine - shuukanshi (English spelling) weekly magazine

Japanese: 週刊誌 - しゅうかんし（英語表記）weekly magazine

A magazine published once a week. Its prototype was the weekly newspaper, which was popular in Europe from the 17th to the 18th century. In particular, Voleurs, founded in 1828 by the Frenchman Emile de Girardin as "a magazine for weekly reports of French and foreign newspapers, literature, science, art, courts, and theater," was the first weekly newspaper to provide a variety of articles once a week to the middle class (citizens and townspeople) who were potentially starved for information, and can be said to be the prototype of today's weekly magazines. From the mid-19th century, for example, in the UK, the "tax on knowledge," including advertising tax, was abolished, and daily newspapers became popular and surpassed weekly newspapers. In the 20th century, after two world wars, the era of mass communication, supported by the revolutionary development of electronics and printing technology, arrived. In addition to the quantitative and functional expansion and change of existing media such as newspapers, magazines, and movies, weekly magazines have come to play the role of pacemaker of daily life as the amount of leisure time we have each week increases.

[Kunio Yanagita and Takayuki Iiegami]

Weekly magazines convey information on (1) topical news and reports on politics, economics, and social issues, (2) intellectual or stimulating reviews and columns, (3) surprising facts, (4) documents on wars, disasters, illnesses, etc., (5) inside stories of celebrity marriages and divorces or love and adultery, (6) sex, sports, cars, (7) fashion, things, (8) travel and food, (9) novels, poetry, paintings, photographs, (10) comics and manga, (11) books, movies, plays, etc. The content of the information conveyed varies by country and genre, but for business reasons, their function as a corporate advertising medium is quite large, and this often restricts the editorial content of the articles.

[Kunio Yanagita and Takayuki Iiegami]

Features and Issues

[1] Although the speed of daily news reporting is inferior to that of television and newspapers, it can sometimes surpass them in the impact of scoops and campaigns. In entertainment gossip and crime reporting, it has been pointed out that it goes too far. Its commentary and criticism should also be recognized for its efforts to be popular and simple and clear.

[2] The function of conveying information about daily life has developed significantly since the 1970s in Japan. One could also say that publishing company executives and editors have come to believe that circulation would not increase unless vague concepts such as an "affluent society" or "one hundred million middle-class people" were printed or visualized. The commercialization of sex through photo spreads and articles, overseas travel and gourmet information, fashion, and money-making information have come to occupy large portions of magazine pages. These are inseparable from the weekly magazine's function as an advertising medium.

[3] In this climate, problems such as privacy issues, false accusations, defamation, and the promotion of gender discrimination have arisen, while at the same time, we are seeing an increasing number of editorials and critiques that seem to abandon their original intentions of criticizing those in power and protecting freedom of speech. This is a trend that readers should be wary of.

[Kunio Yanagita and Takayuki Iiegami]

Japanese weekly magazine

The first weekly magazine in Japan is considered to be "Sunday" (Taiheiyo Tsushinsha), which was first published in 1908 (Meiji 41), and contained almost all of the prototypes of today's weekly magazines, including reportage, criticism, true stories, novels, poetry and sex-related content. There was also a weekly magazine called "Weekly" (first published in 1917 by Shuhosha), which focused on criticism and novels. Newspaper-affiliated weekly magazines began with "Weekly Asahi" and "Sunday Mainichi", which were first published in 1922 (Taisho 11). The pioneering publisher-affiliated weekly magazine that was commercially successful was "Weekly Shincho", published in 1956 (Showa 31). Other publishers, who had been watching the newspapers quietly, thinking they would never be able to compete with them in terms of reporting quality, were inspired and began publishing a succession of weekly magazines, including "Weekly Bunshun" and "Weekly Gendai" (both launched in 1959) for office workers, "Weekly Post" (launched in 1969), "Heibon Punch" for young people, and "Weekly Josei Jishin", "Weekly Heibon", and "Weekly Myojo" for young women. After this, weekly magazines rode the wave of high economic growth, steadily increasing their total circulation and expanding their genres. However, after the collapse of the bubble economy, while most of them saw an increase in circulation in 1995 (Heisei 7), the year of major incidents such as the Great Hanshin Earthquake and the Aum Shinrikyo incident, a backlash appeared in the second half of the year, and since 1996, both men's and women's weekly magazines have been in a slump. The estimated circulation of weekly magazines in 2001 was 2,016,340,000 copies. The same for monthly magazines was 2,781,380,000 copies. Weekly gekiga magazines, such as "Shonen Jump," which once exceeded 5 million copies, are no exception. "FOCUS" (first published in 1981) and "FRIDAY" (first published in 1984), which once brought about the "FF phenomenon" as a photo information magazine, have also seen their circulation drop sharply and are no longer a remnant of their former selves, with "FOCUS" ceasing publication in 2001. Among them, weekly information magazines, beginning with "Pia" which was first published in 1972 (Showa 47), seem to be thriving, giving birth to similar magazines such as "Tokyo Walker" (first published in 1990). This could be seen as evidence that weekly magazines up until the early 1970s generally lost their "message," but the change in the consciousness of the readership cannot be overlooked. How to interpret this lies the key to thinking about how weekly magazines will change in the future.

[Kunio Yanagita and Takayuki Iiegami]

Foreign weekly magazines

In the United States, the television program guide magazine TV Guide (founded in 1948) is the largest, but there are other magazines with a small but large influence, such as Time (founded in 1923), Newsweek (founded in 1933), and Business Week (founded in 1929). Britain's The Economist (founded in 1843) and Punch (founded in 1841), France's Paris Match (founded in 1949) and L'Express (founded in 1953), and Germany's Der Spiegel (founded in 1947) are also popular among Japanese politicians, scholars, journalists, and some businessmen. Asian countries also have weekly magazines, but they do not appear to have a firm foothold.

[Kunio Yanagita and Takayuki Iiegami]

``The Age of Magazines'' by Ozaki Hideki and Munetake Asako (1979, Shufunotomosha)' ' ▽ ``Postwar History Through Magazines'' by Kimoto Itaru (1985, Shinchosha)' ' ▽ ``100 Years of Magazine Progress - Reading the Trends of Magazines as They Are Born and Rise and Fall with the Times'' by Shiozawa Masanobu (1994, Green Arrow Publishing)'' ▽ ``How to Read Anti-Human Rights Magazines - An Experiential Criticism of 'Weekly Shincho''' by Kamei Jun (1996, Daisanbunmeisha)' ' ▽ ``Publishing - Can the Collapse of Publishing Culture be Stopped?'' edited by Katsura Keiichi, Hattori Takaaki, Sudo Haruo and Ito Yoko (1997, Otsuki Shoten)' ' ▽ ``Bessatsu Takarajima 345: The Age of Magazine Craziness! (1997, Takarajimasha)'' ▽ ``How Magazines Die'' by Hamasaki Hiroshi (1998, Shuppan Newssha)' ' ▽ ``Farewell Focus! -- 20 Years of Rise and Fall as Seen by an Anchor Writer (2001, Asuka Shinsha)" ▽ "Terrorism of Speech, vol. 1 and 2, by Eiichi Yamamoto (2001, 2002, Otori Shoin)" ▽ "Fabricated Reporting -- The Crimes and Punishments of Weekly Magazine Culture, by Yoshihiro Sakaguchi (2002, Daisanbunmeisha)" ▽ "Newspaper King Girardin, by Shigeru Kashima (Chikuma Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

週1回の定期刊行雑誌。発行形式での原型は、17世紀から18世紀にかけてヨーロッパで盛んだった週刊新聞weekly newspaper。とくに1828年、フランスのエミール・ド・ジラルダンが「フランスおよび外国の諸新聞の週報、文学、科学、芸術、法廷、演劇の雑誌」として創刊した『ボルール（ヴォルール）』は、情報への潜在的飢餓状況にあった中産階級（市民や町人）層に週1回バラエティーに富んだ記事を提供した初めての週刊新聞で、今日の週刊誌の祖型といってよい。19世紀なかばから、たとえばイギリスで広告税を含む「知識に対する課税」が撤廃され、日刊新聞が大衆化し、週刊新聞をしのいでくる。20世紀に入って、二度の世界大戦を経て、エレクトロニクスや印刷技術の革命的な発達に裏づけられたマス・コミュニケーションの時代が到来した。新聞、雑誌、映画などの既存のメディアの量的、機能的な拡大・変化もさることながら、生活の週間余暇の増大とともに、週刊誌は生活のペース・メーカー的役割を果たすようになった。

［柳田邦夫・井家上隆幸］

内容

週刊誌は、(1)政治や経済、社会問題に関する話題性のあるニュース、レポート、(2)知的あるいは刺激的な評論とコラム、(3)意外性のある事実、(4)戦争や災害、病気などのドキュメント、(5)有名人の結婚と離婚あるいは恋と不倫の内幕、(6)性風俗、スポーツ、カー、(7)ファッション、モノ、(8)旅と食べ物、(9)小説、詩、絵画、写真、(10)劇画・漫画、(11)本、映画、演劇などの情報を伝える。国別、ジャンル別に伝える情報の内容は異なるが、経営上の理由から企業広告媒体としての機能がかなり大きく、それが記事編集内容を制約する場合も多くみられる。

［柳田邦夫・井家上隆幸］

機能と問題点

〔1〕日常的なニュース報道のスピードではテレビや新聞に劣るが、スクープ、キャンペーンの迫力では勝ることがある。芸能ゴシップや犯罪報道では、行きすぎが指摘されるほどである。解説・評論も大衆的で平易明解を志す努力は認められてよい。

〔2〕生活情報を伝達する機能は、日本では1970年代以降著しく発達した。いわゆる「豊かな社会」とか「一億総中流化」というあいまいな観念を、活字化したりビジュアル化しなければ発行部数が伸びないと、出版社の経営者や編集者たちが信じ込んだという分析もできよう。グラビアや記事によるセックスの商品化、海外旅行やグルメ情報、ファッション、あるいは金儲(かねもう)け情報が誌面を大きく占めるようになっている。これらは週刊誌のもつ広告媒体としての機能と切り離すことはできない。

〔3〕そのような状況のなかで、プライバシー問題、冤罪(えんざい)事件、名誉毀損(きそん)、性差別の助長などの問題が噴出する一方、権力に対する批判や言論の自由を守る初心を自ら放棄するような論説や評論を多くみるようになっていることは、読者の立場からみれば警戒すべき傾向である。

［柳田邦夫・井家上隆幸］

日本の週刊誌

日本初の週刊誌と目されているのは1908年（明治41）創刊の『サンデー』（太平洋通信社）で、ルポルタージュ、評論、実話物語、小説、詩、セックスものなど、今日の週刊誌の原型がほとんど入っていた。また『週』（1917創刊、週報社）という評論・小説中心の週刊誌もあった。新聞社系の週刊誌は1922年（大正11）に創刊された『週刊朝日』『サンデー毎日』が始まりである。出版社系週刊誌で企業的に成功した先駆けは1956年（昭和31）の『週刊新潮』である。報道性において新聞社に太刀(たち)打ちできまいとみて静観していた他の出版社も大いに刺激を受け、サラリーマン対象の『週刊文春』『週刊現代』（ともに1959創刊）、『週刊ポスト』（1969創刊）、若者対象の『平凡パンチ』、若い女性対象の『週刊女性自身』『週刊平凡』『週刊明星』など続々と週刊誌発行に踏み切った。週刊誌はこの後、高度成長の波にのり、着実に総部数を伸ばし、ジャンルも広げていく。しかし、バブル経済崩壊後は、阪神大震災、オウム事件という大事件が発生した1995年（平成7）には大半が部数を伸ばしたものの下半期には反動が現れ、1996年以降は男性週刊誌も女性週刊誌も低迷が続いている。2001年の週刊誌の推定発行部数は20億1634万冊。月刊誌同27億8138万冊。一時500万部を突破した『少年ジャンプ』をはじめ劇画週刊誌も例外ではない。また写真情報誌として一時は「FF現象」をもたらした『FOCUS(フォーカス)』（1981創刊）、『FRIDAY(フライデー)』（1984創刊）も部数激減で昔日のおもかげはなく、『FOCUS』は2001年休刊となった。そのなかで、1972年（昭和47）創刊の『ぴあ』にはじまる週刊情報誌は、『東京ウォーカー』（1990創刊）など類誌を生んで隆盛にみえる。これは、1970年代前半までの週刊誌が総じて「メッセージ性」を喪失したことの証左ともいえようが、読者層の意識の変化も見逃せない。それをどうみるか、そこに今後週刊誌がどのように変化していくかを考える鍵(かぎ)がある。

［柳田邦夫・井家上隆幸］

外国の週刊誌

アメリカではテレビ番組案内誌『TVガイド』（1948創刊）が最大だが、『タイム』（1923創刊）、『ニューズウィーク』（1933創刊）、『ビジネス・ウィーク』（1929創刊）などの影響力はじみながら大きいものがある。イギリスの『エコノミスト』（1843創刊）、『パンチ』（1841創刊）、フランスの『パリ・マッチ』（1949創刊）、『レクスプレス』（1953創刊）、ドイツの『シュピーゲル』（1947創刊）なども、日本の政治家や学者、ジャーナリスト、一部のビジネスマンに根強い人気がある。アジア諸国にも週刊誌はあるが、確固とした地位を占めているとはみえない。

［柳田邦夫・井家上隆幸］

『尾崎秀樹・宗武朝子著『雑誌の時代』（1979・主婦の友社）』▽『木本至著『雑誌で読む戦後史』（1985・新潮社）』▽『塩沢実信著『雑誌100年の歩み――時代とともに誕生し盛衰する流れを読む』（1994・グリーンアロー出版社）』▽『亀井淳著『反人権雑誌の読み方――体験的「週刊新潮」批判』（1996・第三文明社）』▽『桂敬一・服部孝章・須藤春夫・伊藤洋子編『出版――出版文化の崩壊はくい止められるか』（1997・大月書店）』▽『別冊宝島345『雑誌狂時代！』（1997・宝島社）』▽『浜崎廣著『雑誌の死に方』（1998・出版ニュース社）』▽『斎藤勲著『さらばフォーカス！――アンカーライターが見た興亡の20年』（2001・飛鳥新社）』▽『山本栄一著『言論のテロリズム』1、2（2001、2002・鳳書院）』▽『坂口義弘著『捏造報道――週刊誌文化の罪と罰』（2002・第三文明社）』▽『鹿島茂著『新聞王ジラルダン』（ちくま文庫）』