I am a media person. I grew up watching TV, reading magazines and listening to radios that led me to pursue some works in the media industry. I then got very passionate to advertising, marketing and to the platform that doesn’t limit information only in tri-media, the world wide web.
But being exposed to publishing in the Philippines for quite a long time, I can say that ‘free papers’ are becoming a trend now and unlike the former notion that since they’re-free-they-don’t-have-good-info, I noticed that they are now becoming ‘glossier’ and thicker.
But as I started working for the Philippine Primer, I got more and more exposed to a several Japanese free papers in the Southeast Asia and I started to wonder if this trend is from Japan just like the famous Hot Pepper. What do you think?
When I had a short chat with Philippine Primer’s President, Hiromichi Fujita, I realized that Japanese people are having a hard time doing business abroad because of the language and since there are many of them who are interested in investment and business in developing countries like the Philippines, the more they need information in their language that can truly assist them to maximize opportunities in business and life.
Surely, blogs are helping (like the blog of my wonderful CEO, Motokatsu Sunagawa and the one from guy with the small eyes, Takuya Oka) but I think free papers are still the best for the Japanese to maximize their stay in the country or for the local entrepreneurs and brand to take advantage of these high-end market. I looked for some of the helpful Japanese free papers in Southeast Asia:
LAOS
They have Taste of Laos for Laos!
VIETNAM
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| Photo is from http://aab.co.jp |
Heritage Japan is a media that appeal to tourists and business people who travel to Vietnam. The magazine is distributed to 1,400 Japanese companies in Vietnam and it is considered a reliable medium among local Japanese publications.  |
| Photo from http://fujisan.co.jp |
CAMBODIA
Krorma Magazine is a bi-monthly magazine in Cambodia for the Japanese residents and tourists.
SINGAPORE
INDONESIA
Indonesia is also one of the favorite SE countries of the Japanese. In Bali, Japanese travelers and investors are flying back and forth. I was awed when I had a vacation there and noticed that most of the locals even speak Nihonggo making a vacation so much easier for the Japanese. And of course, Api Magazine always make their lives easy-riffic!
THAILAND
According to Fujita san, maybe the SE Asian country with the biggest number of Japanese is Thailand with an estimated count of 40,000. No wonder they have around 14 Japanese free papers there! And here to name a few:
Wise Weekly is a very popular weekly free paper that captures the biggest percentage of Japanese in Thailand. The information that they give is concentrated in Restaurants, Beauty, Schools, and several other industries that help businesses. They also circulate in Vietnam now in Ho Chi Minh city.
WOM is one of my favorites for its petite size and beautiful layout.
DACO is also distributed in Thailand every month.
PHILIPPINES |
| Photo Source: kyodonews.jp |
Pocket Page Weekly is the famous Japanese free paper in HONG KONG.
And I’ve found out that there’s a Japanese Media Network and the association of Southeast Asian Japanese free paper, Asia Furipe Editors, that help each country’s free paper to share and recommend information about their respective countries.
There are also magazines like Domo, J-Style, Move, Concierge, G’day Japan, KauKau, You Maga, etc which I find interesting as well.
I wonder if there are some Filipino free papers abroad since there are so many Overseas Filipino Workers.
As I trace and research on the famous titles of free papers in the Philippines, I adulate how most of them are owned and managed by Hinge Inquirer, the magazine arm of Inquirer Group of Companies. Free papers based on interests, location and lifestyle..name it, Hinge Inquirer has it!
Note: All photos were taken from the internet.
