We've heard a lot lately about the decline of literacy in the developed world, as more people turn to new technology as their principal source of information. Commentators often illustrate this claim with figures demonstrating how no one reads novels anymore or by citing the decline in advertising revenue. But, to me, the most direct indication of this trend is the fact that, in the past several years, all of Japan's daily newspapers have increased the size of their typefaces.

In other words, young people, whose eyes are still good, aren't reading newspapers anymore. That isn't to say they aren't reading at all: comics, fashion glossies and trend/info magazines still appeal to young consumers. But newspapers don't, and that worries the newspaper industry.

So if the kids won't go to the newspaper, then the newspaper will have to go to the kids. That was the editorial concept behind the weekly tabloid Seven, which was launched in September by the Asahi Shimbun. Though ostensibly a newspaper, Seven is full color, with lots of cool graphics and bright, inviting type, and written in a breezy style that boils down the news of the previous week into predigested form for easy consumption.