Some magazines meet their end with a whimper. Last month, however, a monthly called Shincho 45 went out with a bang.
On Sept. 25, Shincho 45's publisher, Shincho-sha, announced it would suspend publication of the magazine in response to protests from the LGBT community and others over several articles that appeared in its August and October issues. Company President Takanobu Sato explained that the magazine — which was launched in 1982 — had been "facing declining sales and during the process of trial and error, an editorial malfunction occurred."
That "editorial malfunction" began in Shincho 45's August issue with a four-page article by Mio Sugita, a 51-year-old Lower House member representing Hyogo Prefecture who occasionally airs outspoken conservative views in the media. Sugita noted that the liberal Asahi Shimbun had run 260 articles on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual issues over the previous year, compared to 159 and 73 articles by the more conservative Yomiuri and Sankei newspapers.