If you have ever been in a Japanese bookstore, you have probably noticed magazines bundled thick with various freebies ranging from simple stationery items to things like hair accessories, bento bags, and even passport cases! These free gifts, called furoku in Japanese, are commonly included with manga magazines and magazines for girls and women. I remember the first time I saw this was while living in Japan in the mid-aughts and assumed this custom was a more recent phenomenon as print was trying to compete with online content. However, I was quite surprised to discover that furoku have been included with a magazine purchases since the late 1800s, and with Shojo magazines (magazines targeted at school-age girls) since the first Shojo publication in 1902!
Initially, furoku were included as a way to entice readers to purchase their own magazine copy rather than sharing one issue amongst friends. Prior to the 1960s, ‘fancy goods’ or kawaii goods featuring beloved characters or illustrations by popular designers were not as widely available or affordable by most families like they are today. During that time, furoku were often the main source for young girls to fill their world with kawaii. Over the years the types, styles, and the even quantity of furoku have evolved but they continue to play a special role in disseminating kawaii culture.
The custom of including furoku started with Shonen magazines (magazines targeted at school-age boys) during the late Meiji period, around the turn of the century. At that time, it was common for the New Year’s issue to come with a pull-out paper board game known as Sugoruka which could be played with friends and family during the New Year’s holiday. The first Shojo magazine, Shojo-Kai (Girl’s World) debuted in 1902 and followed suit, generally including a pull-out Sugoruka game board with the New Year’s issue. This practice continued throughout the Taisho period (1912-1926) and was adopted by other Shojo magazines, including Shojo Gakubu and Shojo No Tomo. Below are some examples of some Sugoraku included with girl’s magazine during the Taisho and early Showa Periods:
Starting in the early Showa period (late 1920s), the Shojo magazine Shojo Gakubu started to include different types of furoku with issues other than New Year’s. This change in practice must have led to an increase in sales, because it wasn’t long after that their major competitor, Shojo no Tomo, also starting including a variety of furoku designed by their popular fleet of illustrators including Nakahara Junichi and Katsuji Matsumoto. Common furoku during this time included postcards, letter sets, paper bags, and also short pull-out manga. The revolutionary manga The Mysterious Clover by Katsuji Matsumoto was actually a furoku included with the April 1934 issue of Shojo no Tomo! Matsumoto’s cute and bubbly little Kurumi-chan was also the most popular character during this period, and she supposedly still holds the title for most times featured on a furoku (although I’m not sure who is tallying these statistics…).
Another type of furoku that became popular during the pre-war period were paper objects that the reader could assemble by cutting, folding, and pasting together printouts included with the magazine. The concept for this type of DIY furoku is attributed to Nakahara Junichi who wanted to create a furoku where girls could build their own usable objects such as pen cases and paper boxes. Furoku were no longer limited to postcards and stationery; girls could now turn a simple piece of paper into a functional kawaii object featuring characters or designs by their favorite artists. Not surprisingly, these fancy new furoku proved to be super popular and are still common today (I can attest by personal experience there is something magical in turning a simple piece of paper into something cute and functional). With the ease and affordability in which one can purchase kawaii goods today, it’s hard to fully grasp what these simple paper boxes and toys embellished with designs by artists such as Nakahara or featuring the cute smiling face of Kurumi-chan must have meant to young girls during this time. These furoku often became special treasures for young girls and during the war as access to toys and cute items became even more scarce. These treasured furoku would be even passed down from sister to sister or shared between friends.
As with many non-essential items, furoku all but disappeared during the rough years of the war. However, as life started to trend back towards normalcy, Shojo magazines along with furoku made their way back into daily life as well. Not surprisingly, it was the bubbly little Kurumi-chan that had the honor of being featured on the first post-war furoku included with an issue of Shojo no Tomo. The popularity of furoku soared during this early postwar period surpassing their pre-war status. In the mid-’50s, furoku by Rune Naito were especially trendy and caried the reputation that including of a Rune furoku would have issues flying off the shelves, regardless of the magazine content. Furoku by designer Tamura Setsuko, as well as those featuring pictures of popular actresses and music bands were also quite popular. The types of furoku also increased during this time period and included items such as broaches, rings, hairbands, crafts kits, paper bags, and paper napkin items in addition to the standard stationery and DIY items.
During the 1960s, the popularity of furoku declined as nicer and more affordable kawaii goods started to flood the marketplace and these lower quality freebies could no longer compete. However, in the early 1970s the popular Shojo manga magazine, Ribon started to include higher quality stationery goods featuring designs by popular manga artists. These items were advertised as being ‘limited editions’ and only available with a magazine purchase increasing the cache of these freebies, and once again furoku started to gain in popularity. Shortly after Nakayoshi, Ribbon’s main competitor, also started including furoku by artists such as Ado Mizumori and Kyoko Mizuki, the illustrator for the hit manga Candy Candy. Furoku continued to gain in popularity through the 1980s and ‘90s. While the types of furoku didn’t change much during this time, competition between magazines started to drive up the number of furoku included with each issue. By the late ‘80s it wasn’t uncommon for up to 7 or 8 different furoku to come with just one issue!
The biggest revolution to furoku since Nakahara’s DIY design came in 2001 when the requirement for furoku to be made of paper was lifted, opening up a whole new world of possibilities for different types of furoku. Up until that time, furoku were always made of paper due to regulations set in the late 1800s by the Meiji government, which had rules about the materials, size, and weight of magazines. In 2001, the Japanese Magazine Association relaxed these regulations and furoku could now be made of materials such as plastic, metal, and fabric! The first non-paper furoku was a plastic bracelet that came with the April issue of Chao. Soon after a whole new variety of furoku sprung up such as fake fur pouches, compact cases, nail polish, fabric bags, and even craft kits. With the lifting of these regulations enabling more variety of items, furoku started to be more commonly included with other genres of magazine as well and continue to be as popular today.
Over the past 20 years, as magazines have continued to compete with each other and with online content, the quality of furoku has also continued to grow. Furoku included women’s fashion and cooking magazines can be quite nice and I have actually bought magazines just to get the furoku. For example, my go-to overnight travel bag that I have been using for years was actually a furoku included with a ladies magazine I purchased while traveling in Japan (need the extra luggage space to bring home all my purchases!). Also, as a sign that kawaii goods are not just for kids, it’s not uncommon to see Rilakkuma or Moomin characters on furoku included with magazines targeted at the middle age women. While over the years, the popularity of furoku may have ebbed and flowed, furoku have clearly cemented themselves as part of kawaii and consumer culture in Japan and don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
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