Since its launch in 2011, lifestyle magazine Kinfolk has promoted a lifestyle based on the concept of "small gatherings." Its fan base has grown to include many stores in Japan, where the magazine regularly sells out. We recently spoke with editor-in-chief Nathan Williams, who visited Japan on June 4th to celebrate the launch of the Japanese edition, about the secret to the magazine's popularity and future plans. ——How did it feel meeting Japanese fans on your first visit? Everyone was so warm and welcoming, I was delighted. It's amazing that so many people in Japan, far away from home, have picked up a magazine like Kinfolk, even though it's a small magazine produced in Portland. Kinfolk initially launched online to gauge reader reaction. Later, only 250 copies were printed to distribute to interested parties, which grew to 3,000, and the latest issue has sold 50,000 copies. ——That's impressive growth. We've heard you've decided to publish in other countries besides Japan.

We're about to publish the Korean and Russian editions. We received offers for these, but the circumstances surrounding the Japanese edition are a little different.

-- What do you mean?

The English edition is sold in over 30 countries, with particularly strong sales in the US, Canada, Thailand, the UK, Australia, and Japan. The growth in sales in Japan since last year has been particularly interesting. So we contacted the publisher to see if we'd consider publishing a Japanese edition.

The Japanese people's cherishing of tradition, family, and everyday meals shares much in common with the Kinfolk concept, and we can also relate to their appreciation of carefully crafted items, their commitment to materials, and their valuing the skills required to create functionally superior products. So we were convinced that the Japanese edition would help expand the reach of the original Kinfolk.

-- So the Japanese edition was a long-awaited one.

Now that it's in Japanese, I think it will be even easier for Japanese readers, who previously paid high customs duties to purchase the English version, to pick up Kinfolk. The Japanese edition is basically being produced by the same staff as the original edition.

However, specialized staff are needed to create the book-in-book, which is content exclusive to the Japanese edition, and to typeset the Japanese text. We also took great care to maintain the same quality of the photography and design as the original edition.

--The latest issue features a Japan special. How did you go about doing that?

I've always wanted to do a Japan special. But I didn't have any connections in Japan, so I asked a Japanese acquaintance to gather information from writers and editors living in Japan, and that's how we created it. Incidentally, we had been planning to release a Japanese edition since the previous issue, which featured ice cream, but the timing shifted. It was just a coincidence that the Japanese edition and the Japan special overlapped.

--How did circulation grow so quickly, and why did an international edition even start being published?

Hmm, I wonder... I studied economics at university and worked in a financial institution after graduating. So I didn't have any experience in publishing, a solid business model, or a strategy at the start. We just wanted to share our lifestyle - cooking meals together, entertaining people, and simply spending time together - and we wanted to create a magazine to do that.

Many creative professionals, such as photographers, graphic designers, editors, and writers, work freelance, but in reality, they, including us, spend a lot of time in front of a computer. For these people, Kinfolk's concept - its proposal for a simple lifestyle of cooking your own meals and inviting friends over to eat - is probably a good way to help them regain balance in their lives.

To be continued in Vol. 2.