ABSTRACT
The glossy monthly Japanese woman’s magazine, Katei Gahō (Household Graphics), was launched in March 1958 (Figure 2.1). Aimed at the 40 year-old-woman who is well educated (‘intelli-san’), lives in her own home, and whose husband’s salary is in the higher income bracket, Katei Gahō is in fact read by a wide range of women, from some in their mid-twenties to others in their sixties. 1 In this respect, it addresses an older age group than do other Japanese magazines like Classy or Clique, and, like its nearest rivals Sophia, Misses and Fujin Gahō, is specifically targeted at married women whose children are at least in their teens. Like American Vogue in the way that it gives off an air of ‘high cultural achievement’, Harper’s Bazaar for its dreams of exclusivity and unlimited spending power, Family Circle for its emphasis on food products, and Options with its slogan of ‘Better food. Better homes. Better fashion’, Katei Gahō combines and treats different themes in a way that makes it uniquely different from other women’s magazines in contemporary Japan. At the same time, it is clear that it is read or looked through by all members of a household where it is taken and, unlike a number of other women’s glossies, is frequently not thrown away but kept for some years. In other words, Katei Gahō is a high quality magazine which not only fulfills its promise of enjoyment of ‘a splendid and delightful time’ (suteki na toki o tanoshimu), but is seen to be well worth its monthly price of ¥1,000. 2 Katei Gahō https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315026312/df22a5e3-11fb-47b5-ba27-ec1051f69eec/content/fig2_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
