Heibon (published by Magazine House) was founded as a literary magazine in 1945, but it changed into a popular magazine for amusement in 1948. It had two main elements-photogravures and stories. Being tied up with both radio and cinema in many ways, it enlarged its circulation during the first half of the 1950's. However, with the spread of TV during the 1960's, Heibon changed into a magazine whose main element was photogravures featuring TV celebrities. By doing so, it expanded its circulation again during the first half of the 1970's, but was finally discontinued in 1987.
The discontinuation of the magazine may be explained by three factors influencing each other. First, the change from the age of radio and cinema into that of TV diminished the role of Heibon. Second, Myojo (published by Shueisha) gained more popularity than Heibon since the 1970's. Third, Magazine House changed into a company mainly publishing ‘lifestyle-magazines’ which depend heavily on income from advertisements.
The three changes about Heibon - two changes of itself and one change of its publisher are very important when we examine popular magazines in post-war Japan.
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