Ah… that delicious reek of fresh ink on 60-pound coated stock – faintly sharp on the nose like fine cognac. And the frisson that comes from sliding a finger across one’s own byline atop a glossy spread. It must be admitted: There’s an almost unwholesome pleasure we writers derive from print… and the checks it eventually yields.

Perhaps TV people don’t fully understand. But I suspect they get similarly guilty thrills repeatedly manipulating Rewind and Play. “How ‘perfect’ my hair looks... and the savvy way I cocked my eyebrow as I quipped about Fukuda.”

I am mindful of this underlying psychodrama as I assume the Chair of the FCCJ’s Publications Committee – charged with this and other organs of the house.

A quality magazine in print is for many members what rice is to Japanese trade negotiators – our spirit; our culture. On the other side, non-print-involved rationalists wonder why every Club member should have to pay a ¥500 levy each month to subsidize our aging farmers… er, writers.

I will confess for my part to decades of print addiction. From age 10 to 13
I delivered the now-defunct Toronto Telegram and sold subscriptions door-to-door. I cut my eye-teeth selling display ads by agate and pica for a community newspaper. I spent nearly a decade churning out newsletters and other bumpf from planning to print – and bought a couple of million dollars worth of printing along the way. I’m still deeply print-addicted, but the experience of carrying the can on countless print jobs has painfully taught me that any periodical print vehicle must be above all sustainable. Usually, that means “profitable” – but in this case “sustainable” means “drains not the Club coffers.”

Clearly, No. 1 Shimbun is not sustainable in its current setup. Particularly from our too-often-neglected Associates, I hear – loud and clear – that the ¥500 levy must be an interim measure. So how do we make this magazine sustainable?

During several hour-long walks in the rice paddies I’ve given this question a lot of thought. Here’s what I have so far.

l The Associates do have a point. Why should 2,200 or so subscribers fork out ¥500 each per month for a magazine that doesn’t seem to serve them? (It’s hard to argue that No. 1 Shimbun is not a Regular Member kind of mag.)

l The “printists” have an equally valid point. If this Club that gathers the finest communicators in Japan doesn’t product some written legacy, does not produce something that affects the way the world below the 19th floor views Japan… what are we more than a pack of fools bickering over Robert’s Rules? We’re like a musicians’ club that strikes not a note. Some people say, “No. 1 Shimbun should be more focused on the Club itself.”

OK, but if we take that course we don’t need a four-color book on glossy stock just to talk among ourselves. Sorry, but it’s an onanistic excess.

Others say, “Well, y’know, just get somebody to sell ads…”

Okay, then you try it. Having once scratched out a living in Canada selling display ads, I know that even businesses actually needing exposure in the vehicle you sell take lots of time to think – on average five phone calls, three visits. In Japan, just to suck wind takes at least double that. But to sell a unique and quirky publication like ours has to be exponentially more difficult. People who dole out ad budgets just don’t lie awake pining for opportunities to reach 2,200 readers (no matter how exalted) at ¥68 each per month. They have bigger fish to fillet.

“All right, well… what about approaching the Associate Members for ads from their companies?” There may indeed be Associates who directly control budgets they could steer our way. If so, please don’t hesitate to step forward! But can we really expect members to go to another section of their company and ask, “Can you please give me a million yen to spend at the club where I drink?”

I hate to burst the collective bubble of our self-esteem but there is only one species in this town that even notices our existence: the public relations functionary, in business, government, etc. Mostly we treat them like harlots in the temple. Each time the PR bucho changes, the new one has go through a fresh rigmarole to join the Club. And we accept rather than seek out our share of their excessive food & beverage budgets.

The one stable annual advertiser we have now is Nissan’s PR department – not the ad people. And that’s mainly because its global PR supremo, Simon Sproule, believes the FCCJ is good value. I believe we do have an opportunity to pry money from more of our PR friends – if we offer some value in return. And that does not mean pandering – just doing very well what we do best. Still, if the only audience is our fellow members there is only so much we can ask.

But what if No. 1 Shimbun were delivered to the desk of every foreign editor and TV and radio producer around the world – and were compelling enough that they bothered to read it? For starters, the freelancers who write for us might find they start receiving unsolicited assignments. Advertisers might also see more value. Going wider, what if our magazine reached the Japan desk of every foreign ministry around the world? And every Japan-focused academic?

Collectively, our Club has everything it takes – knowledge and the ability to communicate it – to be the world’s authoritative voice on Japan. What else are we supposed to be?

Is this vision too idealistic? Too ambitious? In this Club, probably it is. But unless we shoot for some kind of bigger game, we’re done for. The status quo is simply not sustainable.

I very much look forward to your comments. ❶