HESO Magazine is a quarterly, culture magazine based in Tōkyō

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 (Kantō). Every issue has a theme, and features the work of famous photographers, interviews, music, art, poetry and articles of social and cultural interest.

History

Founded in Fukuoka in 2004 by Manny Santiago, initially Heso (臍 in Japanese means navel) grew from an occasional self-printed, hand-folded, stapled zine

Zine

A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....

 to a bimonthly, bilingual (English/Japanese) free paper in its current full-color format.

Heso is known for regularly featuring NPOs Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

s and NGOs Non-governmental organization

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

s, interviews with prominent Japanese House of Councillors

House of Councillors

The is the upper house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or designation of the prime minister, the House of Representatives...

 members (the Finnish-born Tsurunen Marutei & Ryuhei Kawada

Ryuhei Kawada

is a Japanese activist, haemophiliac, and member of the House of Councillors.-HIV-tainted blood scandal in Japan:In the late 1980s, between one and two thousand Japanese patients with haemophilia contracted HIV via tainted blood products...

), and musicians (Cornelius

Cornelius

Cornelius is a Roman family name and a masculine given name. It could be derived from Latin cornu "horn". People, places and things named Cornelius include:-Surname:...

, Beardyman

BeardyMan

Darren Foreman , better known as Beardyman, is a musician from London renowned for his beatboxing skills and use of live looping technology, and according to the BBC "King of Sound and Ruler of Beats".-Stage name and musical style:...

, Scroobius Pip, Damian Taylor

Damian Taylor

Damian Taylor is a Grammy-nominated music producer born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and currently residing in Montreal in Canada. Taylor's experience also includes audio mixer, audio engineer, composer, programmer, performer, editor and software designer....

, Deerhoof

Deerhoof

Deerhoof is a musical group consisting of Satomi Matsuzaki, John Dieterich, Ed Rodriguez and Greg Saunier.-Origins:In 1992, Greg Saunier, having recently graduated with a degree in music composition from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, joined a short-lived San Francisco quartet called Nitre Pit, on...

, Peter Barakan), filmmakers (Louie Psihoyos

Louie Psihoyos

Louis Psihoyos is an American photographer and documentary film director known for his still photography and contributions to National Geographic. Psihoyos, a licensed scuba-diver, has become increasingly concerned with bringing awareness to underwater life...

, Sebastián Cordero

Sebastián Cordero

Sebastián Cordero is a film director, writer and editor, often recognized for his work in Ratas, Ratones, Rateros, his debut film which portrays the life in a poverty-stricken Ecuador...

), photographers (Charlotte Østervang, Snjezana Josipovic), poets and artists working all over the world.

As of March 2009 HESO changed its frequency to quarterly and dropped all Japanese translations.