Brutus (magazine)

Brutus
Cover of the 1 May 1984 issue,
illustrated by Kazuhisa Ashibe
EditorRo Tajima
CategoriesMen's magazine
FrequencySemimonthly
Founded1980
First issueMay 1980
CompanyMagazine House
CountryJapan
Based inTokyo
LanguageJapanese
Website

Brutus (stylized as BRUTUS) is a Japanese men's magazine published by Magazine House, focusing on pop culture and lifestyle. The name is licensed from King Features Syndicate.[1][2]

History

Brutus launched in May 1980, conceived by Magazine House as a companion to its existing men's title Popeye.[3][4][5][6] Where Popeye had been founded four years earlier around admiration for West Coast American culture, Brutus was conceived as its older brother, oriented toward a longing for life in New York.[7] The magazine's logo was designed by art director Seiichi Horiuchi, who also designed the logos for sister publications Popeye, an an, and Olive.[8] The logo directly references Brutus, the antagonist in E. C. Segar's Popeye comic strip; each letterform ends in jagged strokes that resemble the character's beard.[8]

In 1998, a design- and architecture-focused special edition called Casa Brutus was launched and became a standalone monthly publication in 2000.[9]

Publication

Brutus is published by Tokyo-based Magazine House.[4] The magazine was initially published monthly,[10] then biweekly,[11] and is now semimonthly.[4][7] Sister publications include an an, Popeye, Casa Brutus, and Olive.[3][4]

Because themes vary issue to issue, most Japanese readers buy individual copies rather than subscribing, with each edition drawing a different audience.[7] In November and December 2025, the magazine published its first English-language editions.[7]

Editors-in-chief

Name Tenure
Yoshihisa Kinameri 1980[12]
Jirō Ishikawa 1981–1985[8]
Mitsunori Iwase 1985–1988
Yutaka Hirasawa 1988–1989
Giichiro Hata 1989–1992
Mitsunori Iwase 1992–1994
Koichi Tezuka 1994–1996
Kazuhiro Saito 1996–2001[13]
Takefumi Ishiwatari 2001–2007
Zenta Nishida 2007–2021[14]
Ro Tajima 2022–present[7]

Reception

A 1991 Associated Press article described the magazine as popular.[15] In 2013, the magazine and Popeye received the Best Magazine Award.[16]

As of the fourth quarter of 2025, Brutus had a circulation of 60,667.[17] The magazine targets trend-conscious males aged 20 to 50.[10]

References

  1. ^ Bratt, L. Erik (13 May 1992). "Clear Sailing for Some". The San Diego Union-Tribune.
  2. ^ Holley, David (27 March 1995). "Japanese Guru". Los Angeles Times. He was interviewed sympathetically, for example, for an article on new religions published in the well-respected magazine Brutus in 1991.
  3. ^ a b "History of Magazines in Japan: 1867–1988". Kanzaki. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d Wilson, Fiona (November 2015). "Press Ahead". Monocle. No. 88. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  5. ^ Moeran, Brian (1996). A Japanese Advertising Agency: An Anthropology of Media and Markets. University of Hawaii Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-8248-1873-9.
  6. ^ "A Guide to the Bold and Vibrant Japanese Magazines That Matter". Typorn. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Ro Tajima from 'Brutus', Nelson Ng from 'Lost' and Jane Gleeson from 'Guzzle'". The Stack. 14 March 2026. Monocle. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  8. ^ a b c "Brutus, May 1, 1984". People's Graphic Design Archive. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Casa Brutus Magazine Questionnaire: Editor in Chief Ko Matsubara". Designboom. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Brutus Magazine Seeks Saipan Appeal for Cartoon Magazines". Saipan Tribune. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  11. ^ The Far East and Australasia 2003. Psychology Press. 2002. p. 625. ISBN 978-1-85743-133-9.
  12. ^ "Kinameri Yoshihisa". Arts of Japan. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  13. ^ Parker, Ginny (11 July 1999). "In Japan, Beauty Salons Are Busy with Men Seeking 'Pretty Boy' Look". The Seattle Times. Tokyo. AP. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  14. ^ "A Take on Fashion: Nishida Zenta". Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  15. ^ "How-to Guides Ever Popular with Japanese". The Pantagraph. Associated Press. 14 January 1991. "How-to magazines attract Japanese readers, who are always fearful of doing something different, by showing a standard of what people should be doing," said Masayoshi Kinjo, editor of the popular men's magazine Brutus.
  16. ^ "The Fifth Best Magazine Award Winners Including Brutus and Popeye Announced". Fashion Headline. 19 March 2013. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  17. ^ "Number of copies with print certification". Japan Magazine Publishers Association. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
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