To solve the reader's problems
I moved to the United States in 1992. I remember that the Japanese print media published in Los Angeles, where I still live, at that time were "Rafu Shimpo," "Gateway USA," "US Japan Business News," "TV FAN," "Bridge USA," and "Lighthouse." I joined "Lighthouse" six months after moving to the United States and worked there as an editor for 11 years until I went independent. For me, Japanese media in the United States are a place of deep affection because they gave me a way to stay in America, and while many new media are born and disappear, I cannot help but respect the survivors who continue to publish. So I decided to ask the editors and staff of media published not only in Los Angeles but all over the United States about their strategies for survival. In this first installment, I will be talking about "Lighthouse," my old home. I will be featuring the magazine's editor-in-chief, Kentaro Tojo.
Lighthouse was first published in 1989 with the concept of being a lifestyle information magazine for Japanese people living in the United States. Its articles cover a wide range of topics, including two feature articles, interviews, gourmet food, education, taxes, immigration law, entertainment, community events, and classifieds, and it also has many ad-supported articles that are read for information. In addition to the Los Angeles edition, which has a circulation of 50,000 copies, Lighthouse currently publishes San Diego, Seattle/Portland, and Hawaii editions, and also provides articles to its partner magazine, Q Magazine in Chicago.
According to Tojo, there are three pillars to the editorial articles: "'Problem solving,' 'courage and energy,' and 'enrichment.' Specifically, the 'problem solving' articles aim to solve worries such as how to go to a university in the United States through information interviewed with experts. The 'courage and energy' articles interview people who are active in the United States and share their success stories and struggles to give courage and energy to the reader. The 'enrichment' articles aim to enrich people's lives by providing information on travel, restaurants, and other outings. These days, information is easily available on the Internet. So we always keep in mind to create articles that can only be found in 'Lighthouse.' For example, in a feature article we published a while ago called 'Crime Prevention in America,' although data on public safety and news on hate crimes are available in fragments on the Internet, we were able to put it together from multiple angles and compile it into content that would allow readers to understand the current crime prevention situation in the United States that they need to know just from the feature article."
Not only do they regularly conduct reader surveys to ensure that the articles are what readers want, but the feature articles for the year are decided in advance based on reader requests, as well as opinions from editorial staff and about 30 other staff members across the company. Incidentally, the Los Angeles edition is published twice a month, with two feature articles in each issue, so the number of feature projects for the year works out to about 48.
Development of a smartphone app
Next, we asked about the key to planning feature articles. "The magazine is designed to be interesting for all readers, regardless of age or gender. For example, in the February 1, 2019 issue, the main feature is "Let's have fun on the subway!" and the sub-feature is "Living in the countryside of Japan after retirement." The range of topics is so wide that I don't think other magazines have it (laughs)." If the magazine were to be segmented into detailed segments such as fashion magazines for high school girls and economic magazines for businessmen, as magazines published in Japan do, it would further narrow the already small readership of Japanese people living in the United States. Therefore, the magazine's challenge is to create articles that appeal to a wide range of readers who only have one thing in common: "They can read Japanese" and "They live in America." And, Tojo says, "We are proud of the fact that we are making a solid, free community magazine published in a corner of the world."
Furthermore, a year ago they began a new endeavor: developing and providing an app that allows the magazine's articles to be read on smartphones. It was launched in August 2020 and has helped to expand the number of readers. "We are focusing on raising awareness of the app so that by having people download the smartphone app, they can read the magazine without having to pick up the actual magazine. There are various conditions to meet in order to turn a magazine into an iOS or Android app, and the screening process is strict. As far as I know, we are currently the only Japanese-language media outlet in the US."
Furthermore, Takuyo Corporation, the parent company of "Lighthouse," is involved in a wide range of businesses, including providing information on end-of-life planning in Japan to people living in the United States, and offering seminars and information to students from the United States who wish to go to Japanese universities. Tojo says that by advertising these businesses in feature articles and company advertisements in "Lighthouse," they are able to announce these services to many Japanese people living in the United States, while "Lighthouse" magazine itself is able to provide useful information to its readers, creating a win-win situation.
Next, Tojo introduced himself: "I've been an editor for over 20 years. After graduating from university in Japan, I joined an editorial production company and received work from a variety of magazines and websites, including Recruit and Benesse. After acquiring basic editing skills there, I was stationed at Recruit as an advertising production director. I then worked in planning at the web media 'All About' for about three years before coming to the US. I joined 'Lighthouse' in 2012."
Finally, we asked him about the attitude and mindset he values as an editor. "My motto is to value the accuracy of information, including typos. If a publication is full of typos, it makes it difficult to know whether the information is correct, and it affects its credibility. Also, this is the mission statement of our media business, but we always keep in mind that we want to 'contribute to the realization of a fulfilling, challenging and prosperous life for our Japanese readers in the US' as a starting point to return to when we are in doubt. Also, I don't think that just because it's a free community magazine, it needs to be tacky (laughs), and we aim to make the magazine as stylish as possible in terms of design, so that people will think, 'Lighthouse is kind of stylish, isn't it?'"
Although Lighthouse must overcome the hurdle of creating a Japanese magazine that is targeted at people of all ages and genders, and that also provides information specific to specific regions such as Los Angeles and San Diego, it seems that the key to its survival strategy is its content, which is based on an exquisite sense of balance.
* Lighthouse: Website for downloading the digital edition and app
© 2021 Keiko Fukuda
