我的旅日办刊生涯

蒋丰

真快，《人民日报海外版》授权日本新华侨通讯社创办、编辑、发行的日语版《人民日报海外版》日本月刊，到2021年11月迎来了10岁的生日。作为这本月刊的总编辑，看着眼前厚厚的9个年头的合订本，心中可谓百感交集。

在《中国青年》杂志历练打磨的6年

先说一点个人的故事。20世纪80年代，我从北京师范大学历史系毕业以后，到北京一所中学教了10个月的书，就“跳槽”到中国共产主义青年团中央机关刊物《中国青年》杂志。

我在《中国青年》杂志工作了将近6年的时间。这一时期，我庆幸杂志社内有共青团的工作部主任赵艳大姐、政理部主任杨泉福老师手把手地教我，他们带着我出差采访，为我修改稿件。有时候一篇稿子被他们用红笔修改了四分之三，但最后还是署我一个人的名字。这种“训练”，在当时的他们看来，或许是理所当然，但在当时的我看来，觉得有点“苛刻”、甚至“啰嗦”。谁也没有想到，所有这些，成为我从事将近40年传媒工作的“基本功”。我也曾开玩笑地称：“《中国青年》是我人生的‘黄埔军校’。”

回忆起在《中国青年》杂志工作的日日夜夜，我最难忘的一次采访，应该是1984年11月对时任中共河北省正定县委书记习近平的采访。那时，没有网络，没有录音机，采访就是要与被采访者“零距离”地接触。白天，县委宣传部安排我采访方方面面的人物;晚上9点以后，我们在县委书记简陋的办公室里长谈。整整13天。1985年1月的《中国青年》用4个版面刊登了我写的长达8000字的通讯——《他耕耘在正定的原野上》。2015年12月，河北人民出版社精选了习近平总书记当年在正定县工作的数十篇讲话，结集为《知之深，爱之切》出版，里面还收录了当年中央媒体的三篇报道，《他耕耘在正定的原野上》就是其中的一篇。

自费留学日本后开启新的办刊生涯

当代中国的改革开放始于1978年12月中共十一届三中全会。而这种改革开放，特别是“开放”惠及到民间，已经是20世纪80年代了。那个时候，国门徐开，从“公费留学”拓展到“私费留学”，日本在众多留学目的地中占天时地利人和之优势，因而有了中国学子的“东渡大潮”。1988年8月，我到日本自费留学。

长话短说。到日本后，我一边读书，一边参与华文媒体的采编工作。当时，数万中国留学生涌入日本，却没有一份中文报刊。那种文化荒芜、孤寂的“沙漠感”，我至今记忆犹新。

就在1988年底，一份名为《留学生新闻》的中文月报诞生了。当时，我打电话自报家门，希望在里面打一份工，对方的回答是“中央媒体的记者都在外面排着队呢”。但是，我并没有因此放弃，反而是一篇稿子接着一篇稿子地投，最后不但是进入其“打工”的序列，而且在九州大学研究生院硕士毕业后，还直接进入其“就业”的队伍。

在《留学生新闻》做到副总编辑的位置后，我又一次跳槽，把一份叫做《东方》的月报改办为《东方时报》周报。在《东方时报》作为总编辑有了实际操办经验后，又独立创办了中文版《日本新华侨报》（现更名为《日本华侨报》）。我自己把这次变动不称“跳槽”，而称“跳坑”，没过多久，《日本新华侨报》就成为当地一家响当当的华文媒体。

或许是因为我有过在中央媒体《中国青年》杂志社工作的经验，或许是因为我又在日本当地有经营华文媒体的经验，2011年初，《人民日報海外版》负责人约我在北京见面。围绕着创办日语版《人民日报海外版》日本月刊，各级负责人与我前后进行了17次交谈。用官方的语言说，这叫“考察”。

在日本创办《人民日报海外版》日本月刊时，一位长期致力于日中友好的日本老人对我说：“这份杂志如果出来，寿命不会超过三期的。”甚至有人跟我讲，20世纪50年代，东京街头曾有人因为手中拿着一份《人民日报》就被警方逮捕了。更有日本友人善意地提醒我：“这样的杂志发行后，日本右翼分子带有扩音器大喇叭的街头宣传车可能会经常出现在你们公司周围。”但是，我坚信这是“冷战思维的蔓延”，中日两国民众需要更多的是相互了解和相互理解，因此需要更多的窗口和平台，需要更多的桥梁和渠道。

海外办刊的心得体会

现在，《人民日报海外版》日本月刊已经创办整整十年了。虽然我不敢说“十年磨一剑”，但却切身体会到办刊的艰难。迄今为止，在日本创办的同类型刊物中，能够持续发行十年的，唯有《人民日报海外版》日本月刊！

如果说到编辑、经营经验的话，我也愿意讲一些心得和大家分享。

第一，内容上一定要有针对性。曾经有人建议，每月把《人民日报》《人民日报海外版》乃至其系统内的对日报道和评论收集起来，就可以成为《人民日报海外版》日本月刊的内容了。我认为这是在用“内宣”思维办外宣。如果这样，就容易成为“ 批判日本集 ”。因此，我们针对日本人特别是日本经济界人士、企业家关心的中国经济问题、社会问题做集中报道，特别是针对日本媒体对中国的偏向性报道，在杂志上做出有回应、有针对性的报道，结果受到了欢迎。

第二，坚持“影响有影响力的人”。为此，我们拿出一定的篇幅采访日本国会议员、著名的政治家、日本经济企业界的代表人物。当他们出现在这份杂志上的时候，他们就会成为杂志热心的推荐者。有的国会议员看到自己的采访记后，会购买5000份杂志;有的企业家接受采访后，也会购买数千份杂志发给在日本以及中国的企业员工。

第三，积极获得当地实力人物的支持。为此，我们成立了“《人民日报海外版》日本月刊理事会”。他们在财力、人力、信息方面都给予了大力支持，夯实了杂志的编辑、发行基础。

第四，做好发行工作。坦率地讲，杂志办得再好，如果发行量上不去，那也只能是孤芳自赏、自娱自乐。因为我们坚持抓发行，在东京以外，另外请日本友人设立地域性的发行代理事务所，然后辅以各种讲演、学习、交流活动，让杂志的发行量始终保持在5万本左右。

第五，打造造血功能。有人说，“凡是做外宣的媒体，都是获得资金援助的媒体。”但是，我所看到的是，凡是依赖资金援助的媒体，也就是依靠着“输血”的媒体，都没有能够长期经营下去的。我们把封面人物、内文宣传、广告以及中文推广做成一个“套餐”，受到日本经济界的欢迎。现在，预约接受封面人物采访的企业一般要排队半年以上。他们都把出现在《人民日报海外版》日本月刊封面上作为自己的光荣。

第六，申請专利。当一份杂志成功的时候，出于各种各样的原因，总会有人模仿。《人民日报海外版》日本月刊，一方面得到的是《人民日报海外版》在日本的唯一授权，另一个方面申请专利，形成一个品牌专利，从法律上保持了它的独有性和可持续性发展。

时至今日，还没有一份海外“官媒”能够总结出来这样的经验。我愿意把自身实践积累出来的经验与大家共享，让中国的外宣能够真正地走出去，让当地的民众真正地能够看进去。十年来，日本众参两院700多名国会议员中有160多人接受了《人民日报海外版》日本月刊的采访，就是一个明证。

（作者系《人民日报海外版》日本月刊总编辑、《日本华侨报》总主笔）

Running Newspapers and Magazines in Japan

By  Jiang Feng

How time flies！ In November 2021 we have celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the People’s Daily Overseas Edition Japan Monthly. As the editor-in-chief， looking at the thick bound volumes of the magazine in the past nine years， I can’t help but be a bit emotional.

In the 1980s， after graduating from the Department of History at Beijing Normal University， I taught in a middle school in Beijing for 10 months， before joining China Youth， a magazine hosted by the Communist Youth League of China. It was the six years’ experience there that helped sharpen my basic journalism skills and prepared me for the next 40 years working in the media. I once joked that China Youth was akin to the Huangpu Military Academy for my career.

Recalling my working days in China Youth， the most memorable interview was with General Secretary Xi Jinping in November 1984， who was serving as the Party chief of Zhengding county in Hebei province. In a series of interviews that lasted for 13 days， I spoke to various people in the daytime and had long talks with General Secretary Xi in his simple office after 9 o’clock at night each day. In January 1985， China Youth published my 8，000-words feature story — “He is working hard in the fields of Zhengding”. What delighted me more was that the story was also included in a collection of speeches he made while working in Zhengding， published by Hebei People’s Publishing House in December 2015.

I started my study abroad in Japan in August 1988. Although tens of thousands of Chinese students went to Japan at the time， there was no Chinese newspaper available. To this day， I can still remember the loneliness and the desolation in a foreign land.

At the end of 1988， a Chinese monthly newspaper called Liuxuesheng Xinwen or News for International Students was founded. When I first called to see if I could join， the reply was that “many professional journalists from China’s state media are on the waiting list”. That didn’t deter me： I wrote story after story for the publication， first getting a part-time role there and landing a fulltime job after my graduation from Kyushu University. Later， when I became the deputy editor-in-chief of News for International Students， I jumped ship again. First， I turned the monthly Dongfang or East into a weekly， rebranding it Dongfang Shibao or Eastern Times， which helped me accumulate rich practical experience in running a Chinese newspaper in Japan. Then I left Eastern Times and founded the Chinese publication Japan New Overseas Chinese Newspaper; before long， it grew into a leading local Chinese newspaper.

Perhaps for my experiences both at China Youth and in operating Chinese publications in Japan， in early 2011， I was invited for a meeting in Beijing by the man in charge of People’s Daily Overseas Edition. Later， on the establishment of the People’s Daily Overseas Edition Japanese Monthly， I had 17 conversations with those in charge at all levels from the newspaper. To use an official term， this is called “vetting”.

In Japan， the plan was met with lukewarm responses at best. One elderly Japanese gentleman， who had been working on promoting China-Japan relations for a long time， told me that the publication wouldn’t last three issues. Another Japanese friend reminded me that in the 1950s， people were arrested for holding a copy of People’s Daily on the street of Tokyo， and that after its publication， Japanese rightwing activists would pester my company with their loudspeakers. However， I dismissed all the concerns as “Cold War mentality”. What the Chinese and Japanese people truly needed were more channels and bridges to connect and understand each other.

Now， among so many publications of a similar genre in Japan， the People’s Daily Overseas Edition Japan Monthly is the only one that has been in publication for a decade. As the editor-in-chief of the magazine， I have experienced various difficulties. Here I would like to share a few thoughts.

First， we make the content targeted. We have focused on reporting economic and social topics that the Japanese readers， especially the economists and businessmen， are most interested in. In particular， we publish stories in response to the biased reporting of China by Japanese media. It has been well received.

Second， we insist on “influencing the influential people”. We have devoted a certain amount of our coverage to Japanese parliamentarians， politicians and prominent figures in Japan’s economic and business circles. When the interview article is published in the magazine， they recommend it to other people.

Third， we seek support from influential persons or organizations. To that end， we have set up a board for the Japan Monthly and won lots of support from them in terms of finance， manpower， information， which have greatly aided our editing and circulation.

Fourth， we work hard on circulation. Outside Tokyo， we have set up regional distribution offices， and co-organized， among other things， lectures， learning and cultural exchange activities， to keep the circulation of the magazine at about 50，000.

Fifth， we find ways to achieve financial self-sufficiency. My experience was that a publication cannot always rely on financial support. We have bundled the stories of cover figures， publicity stories， advertising and Chinese promotion into a package， which is quite popular with Japanese companies. Now， those who would like to feature on the cover have to wait for over six months. They all consider it an honor to be the cover figure of the Japan Monthly.

Sixth， we apply for patents. When a magazine becomes popular， it is inevitable that imitation will follow. Patent protection helps legally maintain its uniqueness and sustainable development.

Now， I am more than willing to share my experience in the hope that China’s stories can be truly heard in the world and that local readers can truly listen to China telling its stories. Over the past decade， more than 160 of the 700-odd members in both houses of the Japanese Parliament have received interviews from the People’s Daily Overseas Edition Japan Monthly. This number is perhaps the best proof of our success.