Seventeen (Japanese magazine)
Encyclopedia
Seventeen is a monthly Japan
ese fashion magazine for female teenagers published by Shueisha
.
Launched in 1967 as a weekly magazine based on the original American Seventeen
, the magazine changed the name to SEVENTEEN in 1987, and to Seventeen in 2008.
Since the late 1990s, Seventeen has been the highest-selling teenage fashion magazine in Japan, and has featured its exclusive teenage models as ST-Mo (STモ - Seventeen Model). Seventeen is very popular among models (teenage models) because being featured on the magazine especially its certain page(s), not the cover, strongly helps them to get high-quality endorsement and collection contracts. Well known former Seventeen models (most of whom became famous because of their television appearances) include Rie Miyazawa
, Hinano Yoshikawa
, Keiko Kitagawa
, Anna Tsuchiya
, Nana Eikura
, and Emi Suzuki
.
s) criticised several young female magazines, including Seventeen, for "forcing their readers to have unhealthy lifestyles".
Seventeen had kept silent about it, but in the early 2000s, Seventeen eventually started to feature some "fat" female models.
Since then, there are always some "fat models" among Seventeen models, however, its percentage is still minority. Besides, almost all of the "fat models" are actually not fat; at least under the BMI
theory.
Notable current or former "fat models" include Keiko Kitagawa
,and Kaela Kimura
.
During from 2005 to 2007, Seventeen, ignoring the concept of affirmative action
, fired all the "mixed-race" models, in this case, of Eurasian
ancestry, who had modeled for the magazine and usually been considered to be overweight models. It was described as the "moggy zero movement" (or the "lard purge", "lard-free") by critical third parties, critics and some journals such as Weekly Gendai (June 4, 2007). After this, the sales of the magazine significantly began to surge.
Weekly Gendai pointed out that Seventeen's "radicality" has escalated since around 2005, because of the strong influence of the now-defunct lifestyle magazine Burst. Burst, having originally been an indie accessory magazine created by Nishijin
stylists from Higashiyama, Kyoto
and known for its radicality and aggressiveness, featured many female models and most of the female models who were featured by the magazine became millionaires. Soon after the discontinuance of the magazine, Seventeen hired at least three former Burst editors as prominent staffs. On the editorial of Weekly Gendai (June 4, 2007), Tetsuya Miyazaki described Seventeen as the "flaming pastel-colored magazine being taken over by the ghost of Burst", and he pointed out that many "characteristic phrases" of Burst have appeared in Seventeen, especially as its headlines, since around 2005.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese fashion magazine for female teenagers published by Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
.
Launched in 1967 as a weekly magazine based on the original American Seventeen
Seventeen (magazine)
Seventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...
, the magazine changed the name to SEVENTEEN in 1987, and to Seventeen in 2008.
Since the late 1990s, Seventeen has been the highest-selling teenage fashion magazine in Japan, and has featured its exclusive teenage models as ST-Mo (STモ - Seventeen Model). Seventeen is very popular among models (teenage models) because being featured on the magazine especially its certain page(s), not the cover, strongly helps them to get high-quality endorsement and collection contracts. Well known former Seventeen models (most of whom became famous because of their television appearances) include Rie Miyazawa
Rie Miyazawa
is a Japanese actress and former model.- Life and career :Rie Miyazawa was born in Tokyo and raised by her mother. Since her debut at age 11 in an advertisement for Kit Kat, she has many films, television shows, commercials, stage appearances and photo books to her credit. She starred in the...
, Hinano Yoshikawa
Hinano Yoshikawa
Hinano Yoshikawa is a Japanese actress, fashion model and singer.- Life and career :Yoshikawa was born on December 21, 1979, in Higashikurume, Tokyo, Japan. She started her fashion model career at the age of 14 and still is a model.She made her acting debut in 1997 in Moonlight Serenade...
, Keiko Kitagawa
Keiko Kitagawa
is a Japanese actress and former model. She was an exclusive model for the Japanese Seventeen magazine from late 2003 to mid 2006, and left modeling when she left the magazine. Her first acting role was Sailor Mars in the Sailor Moon live action show Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon , and after her role...
, Anna Tsuchiya
Anna Tsuchiya
is a Japanese singer, lyricist, actress and semi-retired model.Tsuchiya was born to a Japanese mother and an American father of Polish-Irish descent from Buffalo, New York. In her earliest years, she spoke English and Japanese...
, Nana Eikura
Nana Eikura
is a Japanese model, actress, and occasional radio show host.She was born in Izumi, Kagoshima, Kyushu island and grew up in Sagamihara, Kanagawa. She was scouted in front of 109 in Shibuya, Tokyo when she was in junior high school...
, and Emi Suzuki
Emi Suzuki
is a Japanese fashion model and retired occasional actress. Widely known by her nickname Emichee, she has often been described as a "charismatic model" and is particularly popular among gyaru teenagers.-Early life:...
.
Controversy
In the late 1990s, some people (likely in some NPONPO
NPO may refer to:*Non-profit organization*Nil per os, Latin for "nothing by mouth", a medical instruction to withhold oral intake of food and fluids from a patient*NP optimization problem, optimization problems that are NP-hard...
s) criticised several young female magazines, including Seventeen, for "forcing their readers to have unhealthy lifestyles".
Seventeen had kept silent about it, but in the early 2000s, Seventeen eventually started to feature some "fat" female models.
Since then, there are always some "fat models" among Seventeen models, however, its percentage is still minority. Besides, almost all of the "fat models" are actually not fat; at least under the BMI
Body mass index
The body mass index , or Quetelet index, is a heuristic proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height. BMI does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing...
theory.
Notable current or former "fat models" include Keiko Kitagawa
Keiko Kitagawa
is a Japanese actress and former model. She was an exclusive model for the Japanese Seventeen magazine from late 2003 to mid 2006, and left modeling when she left the magazine. Her first acting role was Sailor Mars in the Sailor Moon live action show Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon , and after her role...
,and Kaela Kimura
Kaela Kimura
, born , is a Japanese pop rock singer, songwriter, model, and TV presenter.- Career :Born in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan to a British father and Japanese mother, Kaela started working as a model in 2002 for the Japanese magazine Seventeen...
.
During from 2005 to 2007, Seventeen, ignoring the concept of affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
, fired all the "mixed-race" models, in this case, of Eurasian
Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....
ancestry, who had modeled for the magazine and usually been considered to be overweight models. It was described as the "moggy zero movement" (or the "lard purge", "lard-free") by critical third parties, critics and some journals such as Weekly Gendai (June 4, 2007). After this, the sales of the magazine significantly began to surge.
Weekly Gendai pointed out that Seventeen's "radicality" has escalated since around 2005, because of the strong influence of the now-defunct lifestyle magazine Burst. Burst, having originally been an indie accessory magazine created by Nishijin
Nishijin
is a traditional textile produced in Kamigyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan.-History:Nishijin weaving was created in Kyoto over 1200 years ago by using many different types of colored yarns and weaving them together into decorative designs...
stylists from Higashiyama, Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
and known for its radicality and aggressiveness, featured many female models and most of the female models who were featured by the magazine became millionaires. Soon after the discontinuance of the magazine, Seventeen hired at least three former Burst editors as prominent staffs. On the editorial of Weekly Gendai (June 4, 2007), Tetsuya Miyazaki described Seventeen as the "flaming pastel-colored magazine being taken over by the ghost of Burst", and he pointed out that many "characteristic phrases" of Burst have appeared in Seventeen, especially as its headlines, since around 2005.