Public Relations Magazine "Juku"

2019/01/31

Image: Winter 2019 Issue [Keio Gijuku Shachu Special Issue] Cover

The public relations magazine "Juku," published by the Office of Communications and Public Relations, reached its 300th issue with the Autumn 2018 issue.

"Juku" was first published in 1963 (Showa 38). As of 2018, over 70% of general entrance examination applicants are from Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures, but in that year, it was still just over 50% (52.6%). It was an era before the Tokaido Shinkansen opened (it opened the following year), and transportation infrastructure that allowed easy travel between regional areas and Tokyo was not yet in place. "Juku" was launched with the aim of communicating the university's status and stance to parents who had sent their children there.

In its first year, it was published four times a year in B5 size with 16 pages, but it was well-received and grew into a 36-page booklet published six times a year the following year. It was packed with a variety of projects, including various articles related to education and research written by faculty members, roundtable discussions for parents, introductions to students' activities and interactions between students and parents, and episodes related to the history of Keio University and Yukichi Fukuzawa.

In 1965, campus disputes occurred in conjunction with tuition revisions. Triggered by this, the "Keio University Gazette" was published the following year in 1966 with the aim of providing information to students. It was an information paper published six times a year (later ten times a year) in a 16-page half-tabloid format.

Entering the 1980s, campus disputes subsided, and partly due to changes in student temperament, the "University Gazette" changed into a newspaper centered on campus news and event announcements, with the number of pages steadily decreasing. In response to these changes, the Office of Communications and Public Relations conducted a large-scale reader survey in 1994, which revealed that the text-heavy "Juku" was hardly being read. Based on these results, a major revamp of both public relations media was carried out: the "University Gazette" was simplified to a single double-sided B4 sheet, and "Juku" expanded its target audience to include students, aiming for diversification of the magazine and enrichment of its content. Meanwhile, the amount of text was significantly reduced to make it easier to read, the pages were colorized, and it was transformed into a handy-sized booklet with a smaller format.

The renewed "Juku" was well-received and came to be used in various situations. When the "University Gazette" ceased publication in 2000 due to the spread of the internet, "Juku" absorbed its functions, and the separately published "Junior College and Affiliated Schools News" also merged with it in the same year. "Keio SPIRIT," a public relations magazine for Keio University alumni launched in 2005, was also integrated into "Juku" in 2010. Currently, "Juku" is a quarterly magazine of 30 to 40 pages published four times a year, and the winter issue is the "Keio Gijuku Shachu Special Issue" sent to all Keio University alumni.

The cover of "Juku" was a simple single-color print until the 20th issue, but from 1967, Keio University alumni and printmaker Tetsuro Komai took over. After his passing, Keio University alumni and Western-style painter Taiji Kiyokawa took over from 1975, continuing even after the format change. From 2001, Keio University alumni and shadow artist Seiji Fujishiro drew campus sketches, and since 2005, the covers have featured landscape photographs of each campus.

(Office of Communications and Public Relations)