Futaba Publishers Ltd. was established in 1948, heading for a sanctuary of popular entertainment. Their weekly magazine “Weekly Taishu” (Taishu means the public in Japanese) exactly shows the spirit.
Men’s desire makes the magazine, it can be said. That is always filled with photos of Japanese nude women and articles about Japanese gangsters. In other words, the magazine gives us nothing but dirtiness. It is basically on sale every Monday.
However, “Weekly Taishu” also cannot be unrelated with the hard hit by the depression in the publishing business. In 2015 April, their official twitter declared they were stopping placing the hanging posters in trains.
Weekly Taishu September 7, 2015
A sudden rise in necessary expenses, and the depression against publishers could be what made them do so, indeed. Hanging posters have become more meaningless because most check smartphones or iPads inside trains. The biggest reason is not them, however.
“Weekly Taishu” does not have its unique characteristic. That is the greatest reason to force them into a corner, it is considered. It gives us something erotic and violent all the time. But there are various other magazines like “
Weekly Jitsuwa” to be in charge of. If the situation goes on much longer, the magazines will fall down together. Talking about erotic photos, internet can supply the more stimulating for nothing.
Japan Magazine Publishers Association says that its circulation was about 205,000. (2015 April to 2015 June) That is less than half of “
Weekly Bunshun” or “
Weekly Shincho.” If they are trying to survive as a paper magazine from now on, it will be the biggest problem how unique it can be, going along with the public.