Emil Pacha Valencia is the 32-year-old chief editor of Tempura Magazine, a French-language publication based in Paris. The magazine looks to target an audience that craves in-depth conversations about contemporary culture in Japan and launched this year after reaching more than 300 percent of its crowdfunding goal. So far it has examined such varied topics as tattoos, love hotels and flower arrangement.
1. What got you hooked on Japan? Japan is a materialistic society, but in a good way. The people respect manufactured objects and crafted goods, which is not a sentiment easily found in the West. You consume less when you understand well-crafted items are not disposable. And, of course, there's the sushi.
2. What were you doing before launching Tempura Magazine? I majored in anthropology and Japanese studies at Waseda University. I researched Japanese masculinity associated with salarymen and capitalism. After school, I founded a creative agency in Paris called Normal.