‘The format’s inconvenience accounts for its richness’: How Popeye’s editor took the magazine to global heights
From Ginza to a global English debut, the ‘City Boy’ remains an analog icon with an eighty-year reign over Tokyo’s newsstands.
Since Kinosuke Iwahori and Tatsuo Shimizu founded Magazine House in 1945, the Tokyo‑based lifestyle and fashion publisher has chronicled and helped to define Japan’s cultural currents. Its magazines have been a must‑read for generations: Popeye, a fashion monthly “for city boys”; Anan, a women’s fashion‑meets‑social‑issues weekly; and Brutus, the creative industries’ fortnightly handbook.
We sat down with Yuji Machida, the editor in chief of Popeye since 2019, at Magazine House’s Tokyo office in Higashi Ginza to ask about the enduring appeal of magazines, the state of the industry and Popeye’s first English‑language edition.
Before ‘Popeye’, you worked at ‘Anan’ and ‘Brutus’. What do these titles share?
‘Very Magazine House’ is a phrase I hear from publishers and fashion brands. It refers to the editorial originality and playfulness here. I associate Magazine House with amateurism, in a good way. We never assume that we know everything; we approach topics with curiosity, from our readers’ viewpoint.
What is the appeal of print media in the digital era?
At shops and cafés in Tokyo, books and magazines are part of the space. The texture and thickness of paper, its weight, the smell of ink, how it ages… These are part of the appeal of print media. For a publisher, choosing the format, paper stock, colours and textures is a pleasure. Having to turn pages makes the two‑page‑spread format unique; it dictates our reporting. The format’s inconvenience accounts for its richness.
What are the key elements to creating beautiful, information-dense magazines
People who love magazines don’t just read articles. They notice what’s in the corners of photographs – the smallest details. Popeye’s current style comes from layering things to reward careful reading.
Magazine House is 80 years old and 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of ‘Popeye’. Could you tell us what you think about the future?
Print magazines won’t disappear. But expanding overseas will be a major test for us. The launch of Popeye’s English‑language edition last September made us think about the global market. We found more readers abroad than we’d ever imagined and we plan to publish two more English‑language issues in 2026. How we build relationships with readers and clients will be crucial.
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This article is from Monocle’s March issue, The Monocle 100, which features our editors’ favourite 100 figures, destinations, objects and ideas.
Read the rest of the issue here.
