Hiroshi Fujiwara and "Bunshun-ho" tabloid managing editor Manabu Shintani talk about branding theory in an era of extreme change: Part 3
30Hiroshi Fujiwara, the founder of fragment design, has been a leading figure in the fashion scene for over 30 years. Meanwhile, Manabu Shintani, the managing editor of Shukan Bunshun, is the creator of the so-called "Bunshun-ho" (Bunshun-cannon) tabloid scoops. After he became editor-in-chief of Shukan Bunshun in 2012, he turned the magazine into a huge media outlet now known to represent journalism in Japan.Manabu Shintani, the creator of the Bunshun Gun and the current editorial director of the magazine, has never met."Brand theory" required in the coming era, where key persons who lead the era talk. This interview is brought to you by Ring of Colour in cooperation with JBpress autograph. In the first part of the Then, we will send you all 3 volumesIn vol.3, the two beliefs and origins that attract people.
■ Where do you place "brand value"? Shintani: How does Mr. Fujiwara feel about the brand business in recent years?
Fujiwara: After all, identity is necessary for everything.◯◯ Is it likeness or personality? You may lose track of it when it is washed away.
Shintani: surely. It's a really turbulent era, so it's easy to change a lot of things, but there are things that should change as soon as possible and things that should never be changed. It seems that the judgment is a little dull. If any organization, not just brands and media, makes a mistake, it will be useless. "Brooks Brothers"With a polo collar shirtUniqloWhat is the difference between button down and whereIt may be a story like whether it is worth it.
―Mr. Fujiwara has been in recent yearsI often work with historic brands. Is there anything you value?
Fujiwara: I don't know if it's important, but what I've learned while doing it is to determine the extent to which I'm going to go into the brand. What is collaborate50:50Because it should be a relationship, you should admit that the other person thought it was good, otherwise you would have to do it with your own brand. When making things while colliding with each other's opinions, I think it is better not to impose this opinion but to listen to the opinions of the other side.
Shintani: Now cats and scoops are all collaborating.
Fujiwara: "Collaboration"Is reallyIt's widespread and many people say it's that easy. It may be possible for anyone to do it, but since no one does it, we need someone to do it first.
The same can be said for music, and when I started sampling and writing songs, there were many people who said that anyone could do it. But you're not doing it, right? I've always thought that.
However, with the emergence of the concept of "sampling" in both fashion and music, I feel that the culture has changed. I think it's very important when, who, and when to do it.
Shintani: That may be true. It also blurs the line between professionals and amateurs.
Fujiwara: So does the media, right?
Shintani: It's an era when everyone can become a media by themselves. All the information has been flattened, and now it's all mixed up, including information from the general public. I'm always thinking about what I should do to make people think that the information under the sign "Bunshun" is worth the money. What makes us proud of even professionals?
Fujiwara: I'm confident that there is no lie in "Bunshun", but have you ever given wrong information in the past?
Shintani: Actually, I hardly remember it. If I think this is different, I will withdraw even if there is a hole in the page before the deadline. If you give a clear false alarm even once, the brand will be damaged.
Fujiwara: That is the best branding as a medium.
■"Penetrating attitude" that attracts people
Shintani: When I ate a meal with a person who used to be the Commissioner of the National Police Agency, I asked, "Why are there so many false charges?" Then he said, "Well, that's because I don't do a white-hearted investigation." Of course, the investigator thinks that the other party is Kuro and investigates, but if you also conduct an investigation to make it Shiro, you may find out that the result is "What is Shiro?" That kind of compound-eye investigation is important.
Since then, he has said to the scene, "We will always try to make the interviews white, and have the courage to withdraw in the event of an emergency. If you make a mistake in even one fact and lose trust in the signboard, you will not be able to eat the meal." I will.
Fujiwara: If it is done properly, even in a world full of fake news, if it is endorsed by "Bunshun", it will be okay to believe it, so it will be a big advantage.
Shintani: Last year, "Bunshun" scooped that Mr. Hiromu Kurokawa, who was the chief prosecutor of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office, was playing mahjong betting with Asahi and Sankei reporters, but after that, the Asahi Shimbun's "Monthly publication"Journalism "How can we regain trust in the magazine? I came to interview.
So I emphasized that the closeness to gambling mahjong and the sources of coverage is not the issue. The problem is that I took a deep story but didn't write it. The priority is to write articles, not to maintain relationships. Whether you are a professional or an amateur is the difference between being prepared and not.
I would send the reporter to Mahjong and write the whole picture, saying, "Prosecutor Kurokawa's exclusive confession 5 hours." The Asahi Shimbun is also under the direct control of the president, and if we create an elite unit that transcends the boundaries of departments and continue to report on the administration's investigative journalism for a year, the landscape may change.
“The New York Times "By sticking to that attitude, he succeeded in branding and earned money even with a digital shift. Are you prepared to do that much in the Asahi, even though you are very happy? I was told.
Fujiwara: What did people in the world get angry about? Since the corona sickness, betting mahjong, adhesions, and so on were ambiguous, I think that the general public was just taking a crappy fried leg asking, "Can I bet mahjong!"
Shintani: As for us, it wasn't the tone of adhesions. Rather, what Shukan Bunshun aims for is interest and curiosity in humans. That's why it's interesting to be a person who bets mahjong until 2 pm in the midst of a state of emergency due to the corona sickness in such a situation.
Fujiwara: Isn't it a little charming image?
Shintani: That's why the media side, especially the way of receiving major newspapers, went in the most different direction from my point of view. After all, it was said that adhesion with the interview source is not good. It is becoming more and more self-bondage, and deep coverage becomes impossible.
Fujiwara: If that happens, the meaning of the journalist will be lost.
―Fashion and media. You asked about brand theory in each field, but has Mr. Fujiwara been aware of your own branding?
Fujiwara: It wasn't strategic at all, but I think it's been successfully branded as a result. I think so too. Even if I play with everyone and do something like "Well then, I'll go home", everyone thinks "Hiroshi is that kind of guy, so I can't help it" without thinking "What is it?" (Laughs). Yeah, why don't you come out next time? "Bunshun Black Leather Notebook".
Shintani: Oh~. It would be cool if it was really made of black leather.
Fujiwara: Write down all the leaked material and the material that I followed but got rid of. There is also a plain set of two books. I'm going to eat with an entertainer with it (everyone laughs).
Shintani: It would be great if we could collaborate with Mr. Fujiwara.
Fujiwara: 〝MoleskineAround 〟(laughs).
■Two rebellious people,The origin isIn punk and appointed
Shintani: What kind of boy was Mr. Fujiwara?
Fujiwara: When I was in junior high school, I was shocked by a flat tire (laughs). Until then, the influence of my sister who lived in the same room was huge. It's like listening to the music my sister listens to and wearing the clothes she likes. That was a big plus.
Shintani: In my hometown of Mie prefecture"Sex Pistols"It wasn't a major, no matter how you think about it, right?
Fujiwara: It's a good rebellious music. I think punk is perfect for not being a yankee but wanting to be on the opposite side. I still remember very well that it appeared in the magazine at that time as an illustration."Bay City Rollers"andJohnny Rottencomparison. Both of them are wearing tartan checks, but they are idols and dissidents. So I fell in love with punk. Ivy's "VAN "Passed by my sister's influence, but antiIt was when I met punk that I woke up to the coolness of the system.
Shintani: In my local Hachioji, I was more appointed than punk (laughs). The "Battle Without Honor and Justice" I watched on TV in my first year of junior high school is still number one in my history. Actually, I have interviewed Kozo Minou, who became the model for Shozo Hirono played by Bunta Sugawara.
Fujiwara: You're the one who cut your leg because of diabetes.
Shintani: You really know everything (laughs).
Fujiwara: I was asked if I would like to talk once.
Shintani: Yeah~! You are really connected to various people.
Fujiwara: Did you know someone? But that's the type of person. You can get out and talk properly.
Shintani: It's an intellectual. I've passed away, but I made friends and went to Wu several times to meet him. Minou told me face-to-face with the lines that appear in the movie. "In a fight, the one you aim for is stronger than the one you are aiming for" (laughs).
Like the movie, there is a carp tattoo on the back, so when I asked "Why is it a carp?", He said, "I'm in a fight, I'm in a woman, I'm in a gambling. (Laughs)
Fujiwara: That was the kind of person. Does Mr. Shintani currently have a relationship in that direction?
Shintani: No, it's zero. There is no such thing now.
Fujiwara: really? Is it useless if there is?
Shintani: It's hard to say whether it's useless, but in an era like this, it will be hit. By the way, I once interviewed Hitman, who is famous for that source. until then6I murdered him, but he said it wasn't an incident. Originally he was not blessed with a family, and he met when he was fighting at an arcade, and he was taken to the office by a yakuza around the ground and was treated to a meal, so he went to the world. He said he had stepped in. And I still can't forget the taste of rice at that time. That's why my group is telling young people to always have freshly cooked rice in their electric jars. It's been a good story (laughs).
Fujiwara: It seems that there are many such children in the current HIP HOP world, it is interesting, and "Bunshun"So why not serialize reportage? Now bad = not a runaway tribe or a yakuza, bad =I think there is a scheme like a rapper. They are,The words are solid and interesting, isn't it?
Shintani: That's interesting. Incidents often occur between the front and back, so it's really better to know both. In our work, when we go out to various places, meet people, hear such stories from this person, hear such stories from that person, and combine them with Gachan, unexpected chemical reactions occur. That's why I meet more and more interesting people without bias and expand the world beyond genres. It30What I have been doing for over a year is my greatest asset as an editor.
Fujiwara: In that sense, I may have something similar.
Shintani: The way you interact with people is flat, isn't it?
Fujiwara: It's the same, but it doesn't matter what you like, right or left. Even in fashion, I think it's interesting from underground to major majors. Mr. Shintani seems to have a lot of people in the company who are longing for it.
Shintani: I always say that there are many enemies where I go (laughs). You can say whatever you want to say and do whatever you want to do, and you won't bow to anyone. However, those who are younger than me are cute.
Fujiwara: Is there a Shintani faction?
Shintani: I like to get together with men at the gymnasium (laughs), so I'm all men. There is a place like a pseudo-personal group, and the former boy from earlierAAs is the case with the direct interview, he said, "I'll pick up the bones, so go."
But in order to do so, it is very important to live so that people will always think "for that person". Even Mr. Fujiwara, isn't there such a person for each project?
Fujiwara: Weird story, I think there are many people who think that I have no choice but to do it when asked. I don't ask much.
Shintani: The person who was asked will be overjoyed. Isn't it a tremendous value to be asked by Hiroshi Fujiwara for something?
Fujiwara: Then, can you go to the sake demon rose coverage (everyone laughs)?
Shintani: Are you still not good at it, or are there people who don't fit?
Fujiwara: Some people are boring to meet. Someone who only talks about himself. I like talking about events and topics that have happened in the world, rather than talking about what I've done.
Shintani: Mr. FujiwaraCommentary ("Hiroshi Fujiwara, a man who edits the punk era on the hill for half a century"), But there is no so-called autobiography, and my own words are hardly left.
Fujiwara: I agree. I wonder if everyone should talk about it. I did a galley check on "Punk on the Hill", but I have never read it since it became a book.
――I heard that Mr. Fujiwara did not make any corrections to the testimonies of the people around him in this book.
Fujiwara: Some people were angry, saying, "This is not the case." Even if I have a wrong memory, if that person thinks so, it's the truth for that person, so it's better to use it as it is.
Shintani: After all, there is a straight line. It makes you feel the roots of punk.
Fujiwara: No, it's totally, but for punk, "NO FUTUREThere is an indulgence called 〟(laughs). This is quiteIt's strong. There is no tomorrow.
Shintani: With this word, it doesn't matter what you say.
Fujiwara: I accept people's opinions, but I don't hear much about bad things. I never search for myself on the net and I never see it.
Shintani: Egoza doesn't do me either. However, "Die on the net again"Some people in the field say, "It was written," but from now on, "It's okay, I.〝NO FUTURE"Because it is" (laughs). It's a good word that neutralizes everything.
Born in Tokyo in 1964. After working at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, joined Bungeishunju Co., Ltd. in 1989. After working in the editorial departments of "Sports Graphic Number" and "Marco Polo", the reporter / desk of "Weekly Bunshun", and the editorial department of "Bungei Shunju", he became the editor-in-chief of "Weekly Bunshun" in 2012. With overwhelming scooping power, the magazine has grown into a medium that moves Japan. Since 2020, he has been appointed as an executive officer in charge of Shukan Bunshun Editorial Bureau and Number Editing Bureau. The dramatic half-life is detailed in the non-fiction "2016 Weekly Bunshun" (Kobunsha) by Ken Yanagisawa.
Fujiwara Hiroshi(Fragment Design)
Born in Mie Prefecture in 1964. From around 1982, he traveled to London and New York to deepen exchanges with leading figures in cutting-edge culture such as punk and hip-hop. As a musician who breathes new life into the club scene in Tokyo from the early 1980s, and as a producer who creates fashion rooted in streets and art from the late 1980s to the early 90s, he has had a tremendous influence on the cultural scene not only in Tokyo but also around the world. To exert. Currently, under the name of design studio "Fragment Design", he is collaborating with global maison brands and national brands.
