In the U.S., a healthy resurgence of print media is underway, with more than a handful of independent outdoor print magazines launching or being revived in recent years (spoiler: Field Mag print is coming soon, too!). Despite the growing energy, you'll still have to head to specialty magazine shops to find a title beyond an increasingly thin issue of Outside. Overseas, it's a whole different story; in Japan, where I have lived since 2017, you just pop into a convenience store and browse dozens of highly specialized titles, each as beautiful and thoughtfully compiled as the next. Global declines in print media be damned, Japan still prints thousands of titles, many of which land somewhere between a magazine and a book, making them especially ripe for collecting.
Even if you don’t read Japanese, there is as much value in the visuals as the paragraphs. Inside you can find detailed route maps, full-page mountain photography of less-traveled areas, highly curated gear layouts, and an enormous variety of brands and styles popular in Japan. There's no shortage of reasons to grab one to have on your coffee table long after the trip.
The following selection of outdoor magazines shows how Japan’s print scene is thriving, each representing a different corner of the culture. While these are widely available across Japan, getting your hands on them in North America or Europe can be very difficult. Kinokuniya bookshops in the U.S. does offer subscription import programs, so reach out to them if you're interested. Otherwise, if you were looking for a reason to make a trip to Japan, here are ten more.
[Ed Note: Check out our guide to the best Japanese outdoor brands next!]
