Founded in 1826, the French newspaper Le Figaro is France's oldest daily newspaper. Le Figaro, the publisher of the newspaper, launched the free women's magazine Madame Figaro in 1980. In the 10th anniversary year of Madame Figaro's launch, Madame Figaro Japon was launched by TBS Britannica with Seko Atsuko as editor-in-chief. The inaugural issue featured a portrait of a determined and intelligent French woman, along with a message from Marie-Claire Pauwel, then editor-in-chief of Madame Figaro: "Based on the adage that where there's a will, there's a way, Madame Figaro is a magazine with a positive image, a magazine of proven value that values quality above all else in terms of writing, photography, and subject matter." Looking back at the social climate of the time, France enacted the "Equal Employment Opportunity Law" in 1983, and Japan enacted the "Equal Employment Opportunity Law" in 1986. Women's advancement in society was a major theme. Giorgio Armani proposed smart, soft suits for career women, which, along with Donna Karan's power suits, gained immense popularity. Madame Figaro also packed lifestyle articles for opinion leaders, portraying the image of women in a new era. When Figaro Japon launched in 1990, Paris was still a distant, dreamy destination for Japanese women. The inaugural issue included a separate supplement: a guidebook that evoked the scent of Paris with every page, something not found in the "Travel Guide to the World." The birth of travel features, based on meticulous and thorough research, became a part of Figaro Japon's DNA from the very beginning, and later became a well-received feature that "even locals want."

Within a year of publication, the Parisian scent of Figaro Japon had permeated its readers. As the name became known, it stepped up to the next stage and entered a period of perfecting its style.

Starting with the October 1991 issue, Ebina Yoshihiro, formerly of Magazine House, was appointed editor-in-chief. Since the magazine's launch, the cover had always featured a Western model, but the cover of the October issue was boldly changed to a close-up photo of a man and woman's lips, with the meaningful copy "I want to win against that woman," and the message "Figaro is changing."

8/11--Continuing on from Editor-in-Chief Ebina's boldness.