奈良部氏 2

１部署に２編集部、
５誌発行という
珍しい出版部
CHIEF EDITOR
INTERVIEW
プレスクール第二出版部 部長
奈良部 あゆみ
だいぶ慣れてきましたが、ひとりの編集長
がふたつの編集部をみるというのは、なって
みてはじめてわかる忙しさですね。前任の編
集長がどれだけ大変だったが、身にしみて感
じています。
プレスクール第２出版部で出している『お
ともだち』
、
『おともだち♡ピンク』
、
『たのし
い幼稚園』
、
『たの幼ひめぐみ』の読者は、９
割が女児です。
『おともだち』
、
『おともだち♡
ピンク』は２、３、４歳の、まだ言葉も満足
に話せない段階から、ようやく自分に対する
意識が高まりはじめた女の子の雑誌です。
『た
のしい幼稚園』
、
『たの幼ひめぐみ』は、４、５、
６歳の、おともだち、先生、おとうさん、お
かあさんなど、他の人と自分とのコミュニケー
ションも上手にとりたい、その中で自分がな
るべくかわいく楽しくいたいと思う女児に向
けた雑誌です。
『おともだち★ゴールド』は、ヒーローが活
躍して悪いやつをやっつけるのが大好きな２、
３、４歳の男児向けですが、男の子って、４歳
前後でいきなり世界観が変わらないので、実
際は５歳、６歳くらいまで読まれています。
おかあさん向けには、
『おともだち』
、
『たのしい幼稚園』
とは違う５歳を過ごしていたんだから、５歳前後のこと
に別冊を付けています。コンセプトは、絶対におかあさ
を狭く考えてもしようがない、可能性はいくらでもある。
んを疲れさせないこと。
『おともだち』と『たのしい幼稚
ぐちゃぐちゃ考えないで楽しく過ごそうよというメッセー
園』に関しては、子どもが自分で熱が出たとか、怪我を
ジを伝えたい。
したとか、おともだちとなかよくなれないとか主張でき
育児はまだまだ孤立しがちなところがあるので、おか
る年頃なので、へたな情報で疲れさせないように、育児
あさんたちは、そういう有名人から大変だよという声が
はこんなに楽しい、子どもといるといろいろな自分も喚
聞きたい、ただテレビでキラキラしているだけじゃなく
起できるというふうにしようと思っています。私が『た
て生活しているところを見たい。それで大変なのは私ひ
のしい幼稚園』で連載を立ち上げた、５歳前後の子ども
とりじゃないと思いたがっているのだと思うのです。
を持つタレントママのインタビューページが比較的人気
というのは私自身も、未就学の、まだ社会性もついて
です。自分と同じ年齢の子どもを持つ人が、テレビに出
いない子どもとずっといっしょにいて、
「おかあさんは子
てこんなに若い。こういう人たちの５歳のときはどんな
どものそばにいなきゃいけないのよ」とか、
「今がいちば
子だったろうということを聞いています。５歳のときは
んかわいいときなんだから」とか、ワァーと言われたの
人みしりだったのが、成長して今は人前でこんなに楽し
がきつかったんです。外で働いている、働いていないに
く仕事をさせてもらっていますというようなことを語っ
関係なく、未就学児を持つおかあさんが、世の中でいち
てもらいながら、テレビで輝いている有名な人たちが今
ばん偉いと私は思っています。
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
おかあさんにも子どもにも好かれる
キャラクターと付録
もちろん書店で、子どもが本を握ってはなさないとい
イントです。それをわかってもらって、買ってもらって
うこともあるでしょうが、本はおかあさんが見て買って
実際に開いてみたときに、やっぱりかわいいなあ、これ
くださいます。だから、おかあさんたちに合わせて雑誌
を持つと私の３歳児、４歳児、５歳児の生活が明るくな
も変えるようにと、会社からは言われています。どう変
るなと思ってもらわないといけないので、子どもが好き
えるか考え中ですが、強みを生かすことと、おしゃれ要
な色合いと、子どもが好きな大きさと、子どもが手に持っ
素を加えることは外せないと考えています。
て運べるサイズ感を大事にしています。あとは絶対に怪
『たのしい幼稚園』
、
『たの幼ひめぐみ』
、
『おともだち』
、
我をさせてはいけないし、簡単に壊れてもいけない。な
『おともだち♡ピンク』を見ていただくと、全部「プリ
るべく箱を開いてすぐ遊べるもの、親が疲れていても、
キュア」が出ています。東映アニメーションさんがつくっ
子どもだけでも遊べるものを考えています。 ていらっしゃいますが、絶対におかあさんに嫌われるも
今私はその上にあぐらをかかせてもらっていますが、
のは作らないという姿勢です。「プリキュア」は今年で
おもちゃ付録を作りはじめた３年前は、中国のメーカー
８作目になって、出発のアイディアとなった「セーラー
へ出張して帰ってくると、編集者が倒れていたというぐ
ムーン」を放映期間で抜きました。
らいきつかったそうです。この付録をどれだけの努力で
なぜこれほどうけているかというと、悪者をやっつけ
編集者がやっているかというと、中国の工場に必ず出向
るという女の子像の新しさ、自分で幸せをつかみ取ると
いて、これはダメこれはこうしてと、編集のアイディア
いうというコンセプトだと思うのですが、敵を武器でやっ
と努力で価格は押さえてやっている。他の業種の人がや
つけることは一切ありません。武器ではなくてアイテム
ろうと思ってもできないと思います。この付録を包んで
を使って、敵を浄化してあげる。もとからの悪者ではな
いるパッケージ、中のエアパッキンの質、セロハンテー
いので、プリキュアの力でいい者に戻してあげて、世界
プの貼り方までこだわっています。中国の工場が横にき
が幸せになるために頑張り続けるというテーマです。
「女
れいにはらないで、縦にペタっとはっていると、強度が
の子が戦うなんて」という感覚は古いですね。みんなを
低くなるから注意してと。セロハンテープに黄色いもの
幸せにしてあげて、かつ、カッコいい強い女の子像とし
があると、それはダメだと。子どもたちがどれだけ楽し
ておかあさんたちにも認められている。しかも他社では
みに付録を待っているかわからないのに、その最初のと
読めない。「プリキュア」というキャラクターがあるこ
ころが黄色かったら価値が下がるから、全部とりかえる
とは、この出版部の第一の強みです。
ように指示するとか、ものすごく細かくチェックします。
二番目の強みが付録ですが、書店店頭ではパラパラ見
また、危険がないようにこんなことをしちゃいけないの
ることはできなくて、表紙だけが情報です。表紙で見た
よということを全部書いて、子どもたちを守る。最初に
ときにこれでどんな遊びができるだろうとか、これはど
このやりとりを見たときは本当に驚きました。あなたた
んな具合に自分を可愛くしてくれるだろうということが、
ちは編集者なの、それともメーカーのデザイナーなのと
ひと目で子どもの頭に焼きつくかどうかがいちばんのポ
いう感じです。
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
幼児誌の価値は
ロングライフ
「プリキュア」は８年も続いているので、最初に見てく
自分の身の回りを飾るものになって現れると、目の前を
れていた読者が来年、さ来年には高校生です。ですので、
ただきれいなものが通りすぎるのではなくて、懐かしく、
その子たちに向けても何かできるんじゃないかなと考え
抵抗なく近寄ってくれる、だから幼児誌ははずせません、
ています。いずれはママになるわけで、そうなるとおか
と言い切られます。これは３、４、５歳のときの刷り込
あさんと娘と両方で楽しめるムックや増刊を出して、仮
みが、生涯の顧客を育てているということだと思います。
面ライダーみたいな長く人気のあるキャラクターになっ
少子化の影響を受けて、子どもの数は減っていくかも
てほしい。
しれませんが、「プリキュア」に代表される人気キャラ
サンリオさんは、キティに代表されるように大人向け
クターと付録という強みは、何年かは通用すると思って
のキャラクターでも大成功して、海外にも進出していらっ
います。ただそれが『たのしい幼稚園』と『おともだち』
しゃいます。それこそ潰れるかもしれないという時期を
にあるということが、知られていません。それを知らし
乗り越えてＶ字回復された企業です。そのサンリオさん
めるのが私の使命だと思っています。女性が生涯で産む
が、雑誌の中で何年にもわたってキャラクターを見慣れ
子どもの数も下げとまっています。ですから、多くを望
たファンが、成長してまた戻ってきてくれることが何よ
まなければ、２、３、４歳児約300万人の１割とかが確実
りありがたいとおっしゃいます。子どものときに好きだっ
に入ってくれれば、そして成長して帰ってきてくれれば
たキャラクターが大人向けのステイショナリーだったり、
いい。そのために努力していこうかなと思っています。
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
幼児誌のビジネスソースを
広げてゆきたい
女性誌では、純広よりもタイアップのほうが注目率が
くみせるかということが重要になると思うんですけれど、
高いという調査データもでていると聞きますが、これだ
幼児誌の場合は一度隠して、子どもにここは何だろうと
けたくさんのおもちゃ提供とか、キャラクターを通じて
携わせることが、関心・注目度を上げるために必要です。
協力体制にある日本屈指のおもちゃメーカーさんも、誌
私は幼児誌のことをあまり知らずにこの立場になって、
面での展開はよくわからないとおっしゃいます。３次元
子どもの特性とか、おもちゃ世界の独特さということに
のおもちゃを２次元の平面にして、さらに、大人の脳と
まだ驚きを持っているので、幼児誌を知らない人と同じ
は違う子どもの脳で注目をさせて、それをおかあさんが
目線で考え、ポイントを伝えられるかなと思っています。
横で見て、この子がこんなに興奮するのだったら買いに
また電子書籍化、電子雑誌化は必ずやらなくてはならな
行こうって思わせる方法がわからないと。しかし、幼児
いことだと思っています。今日もテレビ局の方とその話
誌の編集部には、そのスキルは話せば出てくるというか、
をしていたのですが、コラボレートみたいなことができ
それが勝負なので、こういうことをすると子供さんが喜
ればいいなと思います。
「プリキュア」がもしそういうこ
びますよとか、元気に遊んでくれますよとか、泣き叫ぶ
とをやるのなら、『おともだち』と『たのしい幼稚園』
ようなことはありませんよとかということはアイディア
系列でやらせてくださいと立候補したいと思います。私
としてどんどん提供できると思います。 も『たのしい幼稚園』が23万部までいけばいいなとか、
どのページをいちばん子どもさんが喜びましたかとい
『おともだち』もコンスタントに15万部出したいなあと
うアンケートでは、毎回、シールのページが上がってきま
思っています。ただ、大部数だけを目標に追い求めるよ
す。子どもの関心を集めるのに欠かせないものというと、
りも実売率を上げて、いろんな企画にトライしたいとい
手遊び、特にシールは欠かせません。自分でまだ本が読
う考えのほうが大きいです。電子書籍だったりおかあさ
めない子どもは、誌面を目で追いながら、あそこに自分
ん向けのムックだったり、そういうものでキャラクター
が参加できるシール貼りがあるという感じで、参加して
とか幼児誌のものづくりを生かしたものを作っていった
いくうちにページを開くことを覚えて、話の展開を覚え
ほうが生き残れるし、コンテンツを生かしていろいろな
ていくので、銀はがしとか、いかに手を使って遊ばせな
ものができますよと言うほうが、仕事として楽しくなる
がら、ページを開かせるのかというのがポイントです。
気がします。
女性誌ではページをひらいたときにいかに商品を美し
AYUMI NARABE
奈良部あゆみ
1990年入社。 ViVi編集部、生活
文化第一出版部、生活文化第三出
版部、プレスクール第二出版部を
経て現職。
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
C
CH
HIIE
EF
F ED
E DIIT
TO
OR
R IINT
NTER
ERV
VIIEW
EW
Preschool Second Publishing Department
Department Manager
Ayumi Narabe
A rare publishing department with two editorial desks
in one department that publishes five magazines.
The busyness of having one chief editor over looking two editorial desks is something that one
learns only after becoming one. I have gotten accustomed to it now, but I have learned first
handedly how tough it must have been for the previous chief editor.
90% of the readers of the magazines published from Preschool Second Publishing Division,
Otomodachi (“Friends”), Otomodachi
Pink (“Friends
Pink), Tanoshii Youchien (“Fun
Kindergarten”), and TanoYou Himegumi (“Fun Kindergarten PrincessDen), are girls. The target
readers of Otomodachi (“Friends”) and Otomodachi Pink (“Friends Pink) are girls from the ages
two to four. These are magazine targeted towards girls that are barely speaking to those who
start to develop a sense of self. The target readers for Tanoshii Youchien (“Fun Kindergarten”),
and TanoYou Himegumi (“Fun Kindergarten PrincessDen) are girls from the ages four to six.
These are magazines targeted towards girls who want to have good communications with their
friends, teachers, father, mother and other peers while being as cute and fun as they can be.
Otomodachi
Gold (“Friends
Gold”) is a magazine for two to four year old boys who love to
watch heroes in action, defeating their enemies. The perspective of the world from a boy of
around 4 years of age does not change as much. In reality, our readers will continue to read our
magazines until they are five to six years old.
Otomodachi (“Friends”) and Tanoshii Youchien (“Fun Kindergarten”) have supplement
magazines for the mothers. The concept of these supplements is making sure that it never tires
the mothers. In regards to Otomodachi (“Friends”) and Tanoshii Youchien (“Fun Kindergarten”),
the children are at the age where they easily catch fevers, get injured, and can express their
problems, such as if they have issues making friends. This is already enough to tire a mother.
Therefore our goal is not to give too much information that could trigger more stress on them. We
would like to allow the mothers to realize that raising a child can be very fun and that they can
discover a whole new side to themselves through their interaction with their children. I started a
series in Tanoshii Youchien (“Fun Kindergarten”) where we interview celebrities who are mothers
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
to children who are around five years old. This series is fairly popular amongst the mothers of the
readers. It makes them see that people they see in television programs are raising children
around the similar age as theirs and can still be youthful. We ask these celebrities what kind of
child they were when they were five years old. We have them talk about how they used to be
very shy but how they have grown so enjoy working with and in front of so many people. This
allows the mothers to realize that these famous and beautiful people that they see on television
used to be different when they were children. I would like this to be a message to mothers that
they should not have a narrow view of what is occurring to their children now and that there are
so many possibilities waiting for them in their future. I would like this to make them realize that
they should not be too stressed and think too much, but to enjoy the time that they are sharing
now with their children.
Raising a child still tends to evoke a sense of detachment from the outside world. Mothers
want to hear from celebrities that they are also suffering and that their lives are not just
glamorous as we tend to perceive it. They want to see that they are also living lives like everyone
else. I assume that they want to think and know that they are not alone who are suffering through
daily lives.
I say this because I also have a child of my own and of course went through a time where I
was raising a preschooler who still lacked in social skills. It was very difficult and stressful when
people kept on telling me that “a mother should always be by their child’s side” and that “now is
when the child is the cutest” and so on. That is why I believe that mothers, whether they are
working or not, who are raising preschoolers are the most admirable.
Characters and supplements that are loved by both mothers and children.
Of course there are cases where a child will not let go of a book at the bookstore. However, in
most cases the mother is the one who makes that decision of purchasing a book. That is why our
company advises us to change our magazines so that it matches the needs of the mothers. We
are still contemplating what changes to make. However, we believe that there is a need to create
a new strong point and also add some fashionable factors as well.
If you take a look at Tanoshii Youchien (“Fun Kindergarten”), TanoYou Himegumi (“Fun
Kindergarten PrincessDen), Otomodachi (“Friends”), and Otomodachi Pink (“Friends Pink), you
will see that they have “Precure” in them. This cartoon is created by Toei Animations and their
policy is to created animations that will never be disliked by the mothers. Precure is now in its
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
eighth season. This means that it has outrun the Sailor Moon series, which was the departure
point and idea which Precure was based on.
The reason why Precure is so popular is because it is a new style of a female figure where the
girl fights the villains, along with the concept where she finds and grabs her own happiness.
However, they do not use weapons to defeat their enemies. They use items to purify them. Since
the enemies are not originally evil to begin with, Precure use their power to return them to their
natural, good state. The theme is that these heroines continue to strive for the happiness of the
world. Even the sense of “girls fighting and battling” is old. Mothers now embrace this strong and
cool female figure who makes everyone happy. They cannot read it in any other magazines from
other publishers. One of our publishing department’s strongest suits is that we have Precure as
our character.
Our second strong suit are the supplements. A reader cannot see them at the bookstore and
therefore all the information they can obtain about it is from the magazine cover. The most
important point is that we make sure we leave an instant impression on the children as to what
kind of ways they can play with it and how it will make them pretty. We need for the mothers to
think that the supplement is cute as well and will enrich and brighten up their three, four, or five
year olds lives once they open up the magazine and actually take a look at it. Therefore we need
to make sure that they are in colors and sizes that children like as well as keeping it to a size
where they can carry it around with them if they like. We believe that this is very important. Of
course, we have to make sure that it does not cause any injuries or break. We also aim to make
supplements that can be played with right away once they open it up and that children can play
with them on their own, even when the parent is too tired to do so.
I am currently resting on the efforts of previous editors. Three years ago, when we started
making supplements, work was so hard that all the editors who went to the manufacturers in
China would come back and collapse. To give an idea of how much effort editors put in these
supplements, the usual workflow involves going directly to the factories in China and informing
them what works and what does not while they put their ideas and efforts into keeping costs
down as well. I do not think anyone from any other line of business would be able to handle it.
We are meticulous about the packaging of the supplements as well. We fixate on the quality of
bubble sheets and where scotch tapes are placed. Chinese factories do not place the tape in a
clean manner from the sides, but rather place them straight across. We have to notify them that
their method lacks in the strength necessary for packaging. We also have to tell them that we
cannot use yellow tape because it will bring down the value of the much awaited supplement in
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
the eyes of the children. If yellow tape is used, we have to make sure that they redo all of them.
We monitor the manufacturing of supplements as closely as possible. We also make sure that
we protect the children by making a list for the company of various taboos when making
supplements for them.
I was very surprised when I saw this interaction. I was confused whether these people were
editors or manufacturer designers.
The value of children’s magazines is their longevity.
“Precure” has been running for eight years now. This means that its first readers are going to
become high school students in a year or so. I am considering something that we can do
targeting these original fans. Since these former readers will eventually become mothers
themselves, we would like to create mooks and special issues which can be enjoyed by both
mothers and daughters. I would like to make Precure a character that is popular for a long time
just like “Kamen Rider (The Masked Rider).”
Sanrio has been successful in converting characters, such as Hello Kitty, into characters that
are targeted towards adults. They also succeeded in expanding business overseas. They are a
company that has overcome the risk of folding up and succeeded in a massive recovery. Sanrio
says that they are most grateful for their returning fans, those who grew up accustomed to their
characters in magazines. Having these beloved characters around one in a form of stationary
and other items made for adults means more than being surrounded by appealing things. There
is also a sense of nostalgia and can easily be approached at ease and without resistance. I can
without a doubt say that this is why children’s magazines cannot be put aside. I believe this
imprinting at the ages of three to five cultivate lifetime customers.
With the influence of the drop of birthrates, there may be a decrease in the number of children.
However, I believe that the strength of the popular character Precure and our supplements will
have a positive effect for a couple more years. However, it is not known that this strength is
represented by Tanoshii Youchien (“Fun Kindergarten”) and Otomodachi (“Friends”). It is my
mission to make this known. The average number of children that women give birth to is
dropping as well. Therefore if we do not ask for much, I would have to say that we should wish
to secure around 10% of the 3 million population of two to four year olds and have them return
once they are adults. I intend to put in the efforts to make this possible.
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I would like to expand of the business source of children’s magazines.
I hear that there is research data stating that tie-ups attract more attention than advertorials.
However, even one of the best toy manufacturers who provide an abundant amount of toys and
who have cooperative structures through characters, say that they do not really understand the
development within the magazines. They say that they do not understand this conversion of the
three dimensional into a flat two dimension, catching the attention of children’s brains which are
different from adult’s brain, triggering mothers to buy a magazine that gets children so excited.
However, the editorial desks of children’s magazines have this skill and can convey it through
discussion. I believe that we can provide various ideas as to how to make children happy and
play happily with their toys without crying or screaming and so on.
From our reader questionnaires, the sticker page always comes up when we ask what page was
the child’s favorite. A must-have to draw the attention of children are play that they can do with
their hands. Stickers are especially important amongst them. Even children who cannot read can
follow the pages with their eyes and can get involved by placing appropriate stickers in them.
This way, they can learn from what they hear while they interact with the stickers and recall the
storyline development. An important aspect is how to make them open the pages while having
them play with their hands, such as scratch-offs.
For women’s magazines, it is important to make the products on the page look the most
appealing and beautiful possible. However, for children’s magazines, it is necessary to hide it so
that it raises their interest and attention by making them wonder what is behind those pages. I
entered this position without much knowledge about children’s magazines and am still surprised
by the attributes of children and the uniqueness of the world of toys. However, I believe that this
will allow me to face children’s magazines from the same point of view as someone from the
outside and therefore makes developments from there.
I also believe that the shift to electronic books and magazines is necessary. Just today, I talked to
a person working in television and discussed that it would be great if we could collaborate. I
would like to raise Otomodachi (“Friends”) and Tanoshii Youchien (“Fun Kindergarten”) as
candidates if we are to collaborate with Precure. I would like to reach 230,000 issues in sales for
Tanoshii Youchien (“Fun Kindergarten”) and have a constant sale of 150,000 issues for
Otomodachi (“Friends”). However, instead of merely raising a goal of a large number of issues
and circulation, I would rather increase the sell-through rate and challenge various new projects
and plans.
Some ideas so far are electronic books and mooks targeting the mothers. Creating
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them with a backbone of characters and know-how of children’s magazines publishing should
allow us a better chance of survival. We can also create much more with the usage of various
contents. I believe this will make work much more fun.
Ayumi Narabe
Entered the company in 1990. Before entering her present post, she worked in the ViVi editorial
department, Lifestyle First Publishing Department, Lifestyle Third Publishing Department and
Preschool Second Publishing Department.
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