Topics range from Karl Marx in "Das Kapital" to Haruki Murakami and Hedi Slimane. Masafumi Suzuki, one of the most prominent fashion magazine editors in Japan, has made regular appearances in "Ariyoshi Japon" and "Sunday Japon" (TBS series). In the chaotic 2022, what does he think now after retiring from the editor-in-chief of GQ JAPAN?
— AD followed by an article —Masafumi Suzuki Born in Tokyo in 1949. Born in Tokyo. After joining Nigensha in 1983, he was involved in the launch of the automobile magazine "NAVI" and became the editor-in-chief in 1989. In 1999, he became the first editor-in-chief of "ENGINE". Then in 2012, he became the editor-in-chief of GQ JAPAN. He retired from the same position in December 2021.
table of contents
What is a good editor?What the media should be
What do you expect from the new GQ JAPAN?
Who decides the value of a person?
Regression of oppressed things, critique of "dare" fashion
What is a good editor?What the media should be
-When did Condenast Japan leave the company?
It is the last day of December 2021. Since October 2011, I have been the editor-in-chief of GQ JAPAN for 10 years.
-Mr . Suzuki, who has played the role of editor-in-chief for over 30 years in three media, "NAVI" , "ENGINE" , and "GQ JAPAN", said that he checked all the manuscripts published in any media.
He is the editor-in-chief. Since the advent of digital, we have checked everything, not just on paper, but on the web before posting it.
-Do you want to check from the breast stage of the project?
of course. I checked not only the text but also the visual plan. Well, of course it wasn't just going according to plan.
-Is there any difference in how you create content between paper and digital?
Think of paper every two pages spread. When I opened the magazine, the spread was vaguely in sight, so I was thinking about how readers would shift their perspectives. The rest is the title and the cut. In the case of the modern Japanese language test, there is a choice question such as which of the following is the best title after reading the question sentence, but the correct answer is decided to be the title that best expresses the content of the sentence. However, in the case of articles, I don't think you should give such a title. A summary of the contents is not suitable as a title. The most important thing is that the title makes you want to read the article. In addition to that, you created the magazine while talking with the editors in the field, including what kind of photos you are thinking of using and how. Of course, the same is true for digital, but when it comes to photography, the interaction with text is not as close as it is on paper. There is a method such as showing it in the gallery. So, I felt like deciding what to do with the head photo and lead photo. In any case, it's important to think about who and what the article is for. What are you trying to show, including photos, and what is your intention?
-It was written in GQ's EDITOR'S LETTER that "a good editor is a good writer". However, in reality, many paper editors are not writing.
By the way, did you write such a thing? I don't remember. Anyway, I don't think there are many editors who write as many manuscripts as I do these days, aside from the past. I don't think there are many examples of the editor-in-chief writing a sentence that can be read as an independent column like EDITOR'S LETTER written in GQ. However, in newspaper companies, reporters are often in charge of writing and editing at the same time, and in the past, reporters also took pictures.
-Especially the editors of Japanese fashion media have the impression that they rarely express their opinions.
Maybe so. Magazines are based on the ideas of the editors, so if that person doesn't have an idea, the truth is, there's nothing you can do about it.
-Furthermore , on the web, articles that only flow from right to left stand out.
There is also such a feeling. If it's a newspaper, is it a "solid article"? It is said that the release will be played almost as it is, or that the police announcement and what the secretary general of the LDP said will be traced almost as it is. There was news that the Yomiuri Shimbun had signed a comprehensive agreement with Osaka Prefecture, but what about that? I just hope that I will not be an agent of the administrative organization of Osaka Prefecture. Whether it's the web or paper, it's still media. I want you to send out the diverse voices of the times.
Returning to the story, I think that there are many cases where the free press release sent by the client in the form of requesting this to be posted straight, whether on the Web or in print, is a straight article. However, that asks why the editor exists. Even if it is a tie-up article, if the editor is involved, the idea as an editor about the product for the product and the event for the event should be asked. Of course, for the fashion media, the fashion client is like an important colleague, so basically the idea was to treat them as kindly as possible as a companion, but because they are companions, they just respond to their orders. Instead, we have to think of a better way. I think it's better to do this for visual kei, and if you don't make such a suggestion, there's no point in putting it on the media. The purpose of the promotion is to reach the readers of the media, so I have to think about how to deliver it properly.
-You put readers and users first, right?
The medium cannot be established without readers. There is nothing you can do with client first. Of course, clients can also be readers. Readers will not read unless they like the design, the content written, etc., including the taste of the entire magazine and the space of the web. For example, if you just want to know about "NIKE" sneakers, you can just look at the official website. If you just put the release phrase as it is, "PR TIMES" (press release distribution platform) will be fine.
-As an individual, I think that one of the roles of the media is to give " awareness " of perspective .
I accept. Everyone has a point of view, and the media also has a point of view. However, the media cannot give its "perspective", for example, as an adult gives a child a candy. The "viewpoint" cannot be handed over like a self-contained, closed entity like a candy. Each person who lives an irreplaceable life is the recipient. However, it should be possible to mediate some kind of “awareness”.
-Is there anything you are careful about when writing?
It's important to write so that you can understand it. What you cannot tell others well is that you do not understand well, so your depth of understanding is tested. Also, I don't want to write an objective critic, so I don't want to write something like a critic.
-Why aren't you interested in criticism?
Critics say that Russia, for example, has attacked Ukraine, which has lowered stock prices, but that some people will make money in some areas. It's just one of the unfounded and unfounded predictions. I don't know if it hits, and it doesn't reach the important part of the heart of the person who knew the "criticism". Yuzuru Hanyu stumbled on a jump at the Beijing Olympics, but the commentator says that without it, he could have gone four and a half turns, but that's why. It may or may not be the case. It makes sense to chew on basic and specialized information, but to extend or give back what Hanyu stumbled upon to something like life lessons or tactics that can be touched anywhere. I don't like the "criticism" stance of doing. I think the question is what to say when you see his stumbling block and think if you are him and you stumbled. In connection with the Beijing Winter Olympics, I wrote my thoughts on Sara Takanashi's (*) "disqualification" in a note, but that means that she makes such a painful confession as her own problem. I wanted to think about it, so I don't think it's a "criticism". Some people say that the "falling point" of the war between Ukraine and Russia is as if they were war parties, even though they are not war parties, but what does that mean? If you were a Russian soldier or his family, or if you were a Ukrainian citizen, it was more important to know how far you could reach the imagination of the war parties. In relation to this, I think we should think about what is the "falling point" of war.
* Sara Takanashi recorded a big jump of over 100 meters when she flew the first time of the new event "Nordic ski jumping / mixed group" of the Beijing Olympics and the first person in Japan, but she was disqualified due to a violation of regulations. became.
I don't like the word "parent gacha" that I often hear these days. If you say such a thing, everyone will be like that. People who are frightened in Kyiv are just born there, and so are those who lived in the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, and all of them become gacha. Life changes even if you stumble on the roadside around here. You may fall and hit your head and die, or you may be hit by a car and become a wheelchair user. If you aren't run over, you may be rich like Horiemon (Takafumi Horie). But it's not always good or bad. If Takanashi had won the gold medal, one person's life might have changed, but there is nothing good or bad about it. There is only one person's life that cannot be replaced by anyone's life.
In any case, I think it is important that the text is a text that you can enjoy the reading process as well as its conclusions and contents. I think that it is more important that sentences and photographs are made from a certain point of view, rather than the good and evil of the claim, that they are of some value to the person who reads or sees them.
-I felt that this idea was the basis of Mr. Suzuki's expression.
The character of the media is determined including the way of expression, which is the same as the problem of how to wear clothes. Even if you buy the same item, the person's individuality will come out depending on how you wear it. Of course, not everyone has to wear it according to the conventional wisdom. It's good to wear it like this by mistake, and it's an experience, but if you make a mistake, it's a richer experience to make a mistake with a certain intention.
What do you expect from the new GQ JAPAN?
-Did Mr. Suzuki sometimes preach to his subordinates during the GQ era?
Didn't he preach all the time? Ask the editors who are now (laughs).
-I thought that Mr. Suzuki, who respects diverse opinions, would not push his own opinions.
I tried to say something I couldn't say myself, but I was motivated to do it, but as a result, it was often in the manuscript that I didn't understand it, so it was submitted by the editor for checking. If you read the manuscript and come across something that you don't understand well, you will be asked, "What does this mean?" Even the manuscript of an outside writer puts in the question "I don't understand here" and returns it.
-How do you change your writing style?
I won't do it. It is unavoidable to correct the expression with the consent of the writer, but in that case, we basically respect the writing style of the writer.
-Are you not putting in red to deny your thoughts and opinions?
Of course, I deny the opinions of gender discrimination and gender discrimination, as well as nativist nationalism. But rather than putting a deficit, I don't put it. For example, while I was the editor-in-chief, I didn't post anti-Korean stories about "Korean". You might be told, "You don't respect diversity," but I think that kind of hate claim doesn't fit into a variety of opinions, it's unforgivable discrimination. I don't think we have the freedom to insist on discriminating against some people and denying human rights for some. Therefore, people who have such ideas did not appear in the media magazine that I am the editor-in-chief.
-GQ JAPAN abolished the position of editor-in-chief in line with Mr. Suzuki's retirement, and his successor, Mr. Satoshi Shinbori, became the title of Head of Editorial Content.
That has become Condé Nast's global policy.
-What do you think the editor-in-chief's job is?
There are various styles, so I can't say "this is it". Some people only check the cover, others don't read or write the manuscript.
-What kind of motivation did Mr. Suzuki have for a long time to check all the contents?
When a reader says something, I don't want something that I can't say "that's about it" to appear in a magazine for which I'm responsible for editing (laughs). But isn't there another editor-in-chief who writes like me and reads everything?
-What do you expect from Mr. Shinbori?
Anyway, I want him to do his best.
Related article Masafumi Suzuki, Editor-in-Chief of "GQ JAPAN" retires Satoshi Shinbori is appointed to the post of editorial content management
Who decides the value of a person?
-I heard that you are a reader, but what is your favorite book?
There are many. Preference also depends on the time of year. However, in common, classics are generally good. Old but always new.
-Is the newness avant-garde?
It doesn't really matter if it's avant-garde or not. If you compare it to music, it may be played in an arrangement, but it is a song that is not overwritten. Not being overwritten always means "new". Apple Watch and iPhone will be overwritten, so I don't think it's new unless it's the latest. What has been overwritten and obsolete may have a meaning as a fossil as a dead tech, but it is not "new" because it is still alive "now" like the classics. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" is new to read now, and so is Karl Marx's "Capital Theory". The short story "Men without Women", which was the original work of Haruki Murakami's "Drive My Car", will surely become a classic. The theme may not be new, but it's not old. It's easy to say that it's a love triangle, but both "Tristan and Isolde" and Natsume Soseki's "Kokoro" are stories about a love triangle. It is a classic that is both old and new. The Metaverse experience is certainly "new," but that doesn't mean it's more valuable because of the "newness" of the times than the first swim in the ocean as a kid. By the way, I've watched a movie about "Drive My Car", so I'm thinking of writing something in the note, but I haven't written it yet because there is no deadline (laughs).
-By the way, is "COMME des GARÇONS" new?
Garson is new, or, in Takaaki Yoshimoto's terms, sometimes speaks "a terrifying word that freezes the world." "The horrifying words that freeze the world" are, in Yoshimoto's terms, "poetry." Garson's clothes are so-called "clothes" in the sense that they cannot be collected in the idea of "clothes" that people usually have, such as "Oh, this clothes are such clothes" or "That kind of clothes". Something more than that. It doesn't fit into the categories of punk, rock, mod, grunge, gram, classical, street, and so on. I think it's a kind of poetic language. For example, Rimbaud's poem "Eternity" translated by Hideo Kobayashi begins with "I found it again, / what is eternity / the sun that melts with the sea", but here there is "eternity". Also, it is said to be the "sun that melts into the sea." You say that you saw "eternity" first hand. Speaking of metaphors, but in that way, I can't feel the directness of "eternity" in this poem. It may be like "the sun that melts with the sea", but it is closer to the feeling that "eternity" appeared barely in the "sun that melts with the sea". Garson's clothes are metaphorical, and in that sense they are "poetry" rather than "clothes." The viewer thinks what kind of "poetry" it is, and whether it is a true "horrible word" that "freezes the world." In any case, it's annoying because it's difficult to talk about clothes (laughs).
-It's going to be an interesting story, so I'm sorry to trouble you (laughs).
It depends on what the creator thinks. It seems that Japanese people in the Jomon period smeared red clay on their bodies and walked around barefoot, but red clay is clothes. Even if it's black soil.
Garson's latest season collection is new, but I don't think there's any special innovation like that, and I think it's cursing the world as "Garson's new work." The loincloths and earrings of the primitive people are also cursing the world to counter the world. If you neglect the eagle, you will be rewarded. Then overcome the fear of the dark world. Clothes are basically that kind of thing, so the red clay that the Jomon people wanted to paint naked was clothes. Because it is a rival to the world. Interpreting it as such, I think all clothes are more or less magical.
Then, when it comes to how to curse the world, Mr. Kawakubo has his own way. Mr. Yohji (Yohji Yamamoto) of "Yohji Yamamoto" also has an idea of Mr. Yoji. However, some designers have never thought about that. Some "fashion designers" are simply trying to create something new. However, no matter what he thinks, fashion is a curse to the world, and some of them are excellent poems. ... It's difficult to talk about fashion.
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-Everything, I think the world is relativist, but don't you think that young people in particular tend to seek absolute value?
According to Marx, there are two values of goods, "use value" and "exchange value". For example, a cup can hold a liquid and allow you to drink any amount, which is the value in use of a cup. The same is true for clothes that protect the human body. Use value = usefulness. However, for example, goods that are commercial products in a capitalist society have exchange value. The exchange value is value. Goods are not "value in use" for those who are trying to make or sell them. After all, I'm trying to sell it, so it's a "use value for others" that I don't use myself. However, there are times when a 100-yen shop cup isn't worth it for some people, such as those who say, "I don't like baccarat." In other words, even if it is useful as a tool, it is not useful for those who want a baccarat cup because it has no usefulness. In other words, value is nothing but "usefulness" for those who recognize it. So it does not mean that something is "valued" to anyone at any time.
Value is born in relation to human desires. Those that are not desired have value in use but not exchange value. Without "use value for others", it is not worth it because it is not exchanged. The same goes for sentences and clothes. It's not worth it if it's just a sentence or clothes. No matter how "value" a person who writes a sentence or makes clothes thinks, it has no "value" unless it is read or worn by others. Even humans. For example, if someone thinks you're useful for making money, or someone says you're happy just because you're there, you're helping others. That is, it is worth it. Even if you don't have one of them, for example, if someone tells you to "get something there" and you have the power to go get it, it's worth you. Because it has "use value for others". Marx reading thinks so.
If you are there, I will be happy, and if there are people and readers who want your manuscript in the company, it will be worth it. So there is no absolute value. It's only that people have something to do with something, and everything else is relative, not absolute.
Regression of oppressed things, critique of "dare" fashion
-Please tell us about the future of Mr. Suzuki. In addition to note, the multi-platform "ZEITGEIST" has been launched.
Zeitgeist was invited by Hirofumi Kurino (of UNITED ARROWS) to hold a live talk show during this time, and it was born from Mr. Kurino's creation of such a place. If that wasn't the case, I might not have been able to do it. If you don't call, it's not worth using for others, and it's not worth it (laughs). After that, I received some requests for writing, so I think that the article will be published in multiple media sequentially from the end of March.
-Do you not refuse much work requests?
I don't have that many requests. If there are a lot of them, I may decline. One day, Hiroshi Tachi said that if he refuses, the guarantee will go up, so I may refuse it someday, but I'm not going to refuse it now (laughs).
-Do you have many "THOM BROWNE" clothes?
Well, that's right. But today I'm wearing something other than Tom Brown. The coat is "Paul Smith" women's, the shoes are "PRADA", the socks are "Loro Piana", and the casquette is "Yohji Yamamoto". I always wear one watch of the same weight on the right and one on the left, and today I have "TISSOT" and "BVLGARI".
-The situation in Ukraine has various influences on the fashion industry.
Russia has become a tougher market, and there will be a mood that makes it difficult to show off expensive things. There was Paris Fashion Week during this time, but there are many journalists who want to go to Fashion Week again, so to some extent the current fashion system may continue.
By the way, have you heard the word "return of oppressed things"?
-Is it Freud?
yes. It's a memory that was sealed under consciousness, but I think that what was suppressed and sealed under these social conditions will come out in the future. I think that what was suppressed in Corona for about two years will probably come back. Albert Camus's "Plague" is said to be a metaphor for World War II, but Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, and others have seen a group of young people running in momentary pleasures after World War I. Painted. In other words, I think that the phases of affirmation of sensuality, affirmation of pleasure, and affirmation of moments, which have been suppressed under the circumstances of plague and war, will come from now on. It's "Appre Gale" (postwar). It is reflected in fashion, and I feel that sensual fashion is coming back. It's different from the street taste of workwear and athletic wear that is sweeping the fashion world today. I don't know when that will happen, but I think the movement is starting to appear.
It will also bring about some sort of formal resurrection at the same time. For example, if it's clothing, it's tailored. Women wear tailored, or docked with tailored and exposed sensuality. I don't know how many designers will do that consciously, but I think that kind of thing will come back in a new way. Then another one. As mere luxury fashion becomes dysfunctional, luxury brands are collaborating with specialty street and sports brands to launch a series of limited edition items, accelerating symbol consumption. That's how I visited the mass production of limited edition products. So, isn't this kind of scheme going on? That might be a critic's way of saying it (laughs), but I think contradiction is fashion.
The story goes awry, but the genre of music rock has disappeared, hasn't it?
ー若年層のロック離れは色々な媒体で言われていますね。
ヒップホップはロックじゃなかったりするわけでしょ？Official髭男dismやKing Gnuはどのジャンルになるの？
ーJ-ROCK......？難しいですね。
それはファッションも同じなんじゃないかな。Ye（カニエ・ウェスト）もヒップホップなの？ヴァージル・アブロー（Virgil Abloh）も、キム･ジョーンズ（Kim Jones）も何ファッションと言えばいいか分からない。エディ・スリマンはあまり変わらないけど。
ーエディは最近テイスト変わってきてますけどね。
ブルジョワ・テイスト、といっても古着になったブルジョワの服のような感じなのですが、そういうテイストが今っぽいティーンズ・ロックみたいだよね、最近の「セリーヌ（CELINE）」は。いずれにしてもカテゴリー化が難しくなってきている。ファッションは回帰するもので、それはいつの時代も同じだけど、ただジャンルが変わってきている。オートクチュールからプレタポルテがメインになって、プレタポルテが高級化しつつ大衆化していった。高級化したプレタポルテは新しい消費者をどんどん開拓することに成功して、LVMHやケリングはビジネス拡大を続けているわけですが、彼らはこれからをどう考えているんだろう。それにラグジュアリーファッションの作り手の側も、セントラル・セント・マーチンズ（Central Saint Martins）やアントワープ王立芸術アカデミー、そして文化服装学院出身者でもない、そういうシステムとは関係ないところから出てきている人が増えているわけで。そうなると、服の学校でデザインを学んでいた人はそういう新種のクリエイティブディレクターに使われる部品として機能するようになって、これまでにない混沌とした展開があるかもしれない。ま、仮にそうなってもそれが良くないわけではない。そういうところから新しいものが生まれるかもしれないからね。
（聞き手：芳之内史也）
■ZEITGEIST
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