Being a big fan of Tyler Brule, editor-in-chief of Monocle magazine and the Fast Lane article of the Financial Times, I was amused by his take on the new Japan magazine OilyBoy, targeting upwardly mobile men from mid-50’s age up. Please enjoy Tyler’s take on OilyBoy:
On the far side of the Pacific, in the new Book 1st megastore in Shinjuku, I stumbled upon what seemed like Japanese answer to Zoomer, only with the slightly more edgy title of OilyBoy. Anyone would be excused for thinking it was a particularly raunchy gay manga – yet OilyBoy couldn’t be more innocent. As its tagline boldly explains, this is a “magazine for elder boys”. Another stamp on the cover even confidently promoted that this was a venture brought to its readers “from old editors”. Inside, it was a slickly produced style magazine clearly created for a male consumer who grew up on trendy fashion mags from the late 1970s but was now looking to remix his personal style or even revisit parts of his wardrobe that he now thought fit for the charity shop.
Always quick to build on a trend, Japanese newsstands are heaving with Lohas (lifestyle of health and sustainability) titles, cosy parenting magazines that encourage young mums to wear smocks and potato-shaped shoes and dads to wear similar get-ups, magazines for 60-year-old women who behave like they might be turning 40 – and now there seems to be a growing shelf for graying men with titles such as Brio and Geothe sitting alongside OilyBoy.
Western titles venturing into the territory have failed either because of their cheesiness or patronizing tone and imager. Oilyboy, on the other hand, is a simple, commonsense guide to looking and acting your age. It gas also won support from advertisers who see their audience the same way and aren’t necessarily trying to flog the fountain of youth behind a series of different facades.
From front to back there were weathered surfers hanging out and cooking, 60-plus CEOs looking chic in Tuscan countryside-meets-New Hampshire weekend attire, illustrated shopping maps of Tokyo, loads of fashion tips, lots of recipes, the odd vintage car, the odd vintage guitar and plenty of pointers about essential winter footwear.
The cast of characters populating the pages were all acting their age, showed none of the tell-tale signs of perma-surprise that might suggest Botox or surgery and there was a sunny sense of optimism from cover to cover. I ended up adding OilyBoy to my stack of purchases because I spotted at least four shops I wanted to visit and there were plenty of shoes that I’d happily add to my closet.
OilyBoy actually made being over 60 a quite chic constituency to be a part of, and there wasn’t a virility advertisement or cheesy grin in sight. Given Japan’s rapidly graying population, it only makes sense that its publishers are leading the way with magazines that speak to a demographic that has considerable spending power and is also hyper-fashion conscious. The trick is that these publishers are having the same conversation they’ve always been having with their readers – only now they’re reshuffling and refining the looks and faces they put on page rather than dressing them up for a one-way trip to the nursing home.
According to the AARP:
“Oily Boy” is the actual nickname of the late Jiro Shirasu, once the coolest guy in Japan.
Tall, rich and movie-star handsome, Shirasu was educated at Cambridge University, where he drove a Bentley. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, his excellent English and smooth demeanor helped when he was called on to negotiate the terms of the U.S. occupation with Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
Shirasu was one of the first Japanese men of substance to allow himself to be photographed while hanging out in jeans. He owned and often tinkered with fine automobiles. On social occasions, his pants and shirts were sometimes stained with oil.
“That kind of man never forgets the ‘boy’ in him,” says the OilyBoy Declaration, which can be found in the magazine’s first edition. “The boys became not adults, but ‘elder boys.’ And that is why we cry out loud: We are Oily Boys.”
Kanno concedes that OilyBoy is not a perfect name for a fashion magazine aimed at 50-plus men, Not everyone of that vintage remembers Shirasu or his nickname or his cool. In fact, Kanno’s first choice as a name for the magazine was “Old Boy,” but a trademark dispute nixed that.
With 22 percent of the population already older then 65 (compared with about 12 percent in the United States), and with the old predicted to outnumber the young 4 to 1 by 2040, Japanese retailers, marketers and publishers are all trying to tease more purchases out of the elderly.
The government desperately wants them to succeed. It is trying to wean the economy from an unhealthy dependence on exports. Growth here depends almost entirely on exports, which have collapsed as part of the global economic downturn and are considered unlikely to come back for at least a year or two.
A government spokesman said last week that for Japan to bounce back, “we have to transform the shape of the economy from saving to spending,” adding: “There are elderly Japanese who are financially secure but refuse to spend.”
OilyBoy, however, is run by Kanno and a cadre of editors who 30 years ago invented a hugely successful men’s fashion magazine called Popeye. Its readers, like its editors, were then young.
“At OilyBoy, we think we can probably make fashion happen again,” Kanno said. “Our intent is to bring them back.”
OilyBoy tries to do so without triggering sticker shock. Instead of $6,000 suits, it features $500 sports jackets. Its male models are on the far side of 50 or 60. They look fit and healthy, but not insanely so. They are out at the beach or in big kitchens or with their beautiful daughters. They wear loose-fitting sports shirts, relaxed-fit shorts and sensible-looking shoes.
- Randy Lynch
