我的旅日辦刊生涯

蔣豐

真快，《人民日報海外版》授權日本新華僑通訊社創(chuàng)辦、編輯、發(fā)行的日語版《人民日報海外版》日本月刊，到2021年11月迎來了10歲的生日。作為這本月刊的總編輯，看著眼前厚厚的9個年頭的合訂本，心中可謂百感交集。

在《中國青年》雜志歷練打磨的6年

先說一點個人的故事。20世紀80年代，我從北京師范大學歷史系畢業(yè)以后，到北京一所中學教了10個月的書，就“跳槽”到中國共產主義青年團中央機關刊物《中國青年》雜志。

我在《中國青年》雜志工作了將近6年的時間。這一時期，我慶幸雜志社內有共青團的工作部主任趙艷大姐、政理部主任楊泉福老師手把手地教我，他們帶著我出差采訪，為我修改稿件。有時候一篇稿子被他們用紅筆修改了四分之三，但最后還是署我一個人的名字。這種“訓練”，在當時的他們看來，或許是理所當然，但在當時的我看來，覺得有點“苛刻”、甚至“啰嗦”。誰也沒有想到，所有這些，成為我從事將近40年傳媒工作的“基本功”。我也曾開玩笑地稱：“《中國青年》是我人生的‘黃埔軍校’?！?/p>

回憶起在《中國青年》雜志工作的日日夜夜，我最難忘的一次采訪，應該是1984年11月對時任中共河北省正定縣委書記習近平的采訪。那時，沒有網絡，沒有錄音機，采訪就是要與被采訪者“零距離”地接觸。白天，縣委宣傳部安排我采訪方方面面的人物;晚上9點以后，我們在縣委書記簡陋的辦公室里長談。整整13天。1985年1月的《中國青年》用4個版面刊登了我寫的長達8000字的通訊——《他耕耘在正定的原野上》。2015年12月，河北人民出版社精選了習近平總書記當年在正定縣工作的數十篇講話，結集為《知之深，愛之切》出版，里面還收錄了當年中央媒體的三篇報道，《他耕耘在正定的原野上》就是其中的一篇。

自費留學日本后開啟新的辦刊生涯

當代中國的改革開放始于1978年12月中共十一屆三中全會。而這種改革開放，特別是“開放”惠及到民間，已經是20世紀80年代了。那個時候，國門徐開，從“公費留學”拓展到“私費留學”，日本在眾多留學目的地中占天時地利人和之優(yōu)勢，因而有了中國學子的“東渡大潮”。1988年8月，我到日本自費留學。

長話短說。到日本后，我一邊讀書，一邊參與華文媒體的采編工作。當時，數萬中國留學生涌入日本，卻沒有一份中文報刊。那種文化荒蕪、孤寂的“沙漠感”，我至今記憶猶新。

就在1988年底，一份名為《留學生新聞》的中文月報誕生了。當時，我打電話自報家門，希望在里面打一份工，對方的回答是“中央媒體的記者都在外面排著隊呢”。但是，我并沒有因此放棄，反而是一篇稿子接著一篇稿子地投，最后不但是進入其“打工”的序列，而且在九州大學研究生院碩士畢業(yè)后，還直接進入其“就業(yè)”的隊伍。

在《留學生新聞》做到副總編輯的位置后，我又一次跳槽，把一份叫做《東方》的月報改辦為《東方時報》周報。在《東方時報》作為總編輯有了實際操辦經驗后，又獨立創(chuàng)辦了中文版《日本新華僑報》（現更名為《日本華僑報》）。我自己把這次變動不稱“跳槽”，而稱“跳坑”，沒過多久，《日本新華僑報》就成為當地一家響當當的華文媒體。

或許是因為我有過在中央媒體《中國青年》雜志社工作的經驗，或許是因為我又在日本當地有經營華文媒體的經驗，2011年初，《人民日報海外版》負責人約我在北京見面。圍繞著創(chuàng)辦日語版《人民日報海外版》日本月刊，各級負責人與我前后進行了17次交談。用官方的語言說，這叫“考察”。

在日本創(chuàng)辦《人民日報海外版》日本月刊時，一位長期致力于日中友好的日本老人對我說：“這份雜志如果出來，壽命不會超過三期的。”甚至有人跟我講，20世紀50年代，東京街頭曾有人因為手中拿著一份《人民日報》就被警方逮捕了。更有日本友人善意地提醒我：“這樣的雜志發(fā)行后，日本右翼分子帶有擴音器大喇叭的街頭宣傳車可能會經常出現在你們公司周圍?！钡牵覉孕胚@是“冷戰(zhàn)思維的蔓延”，中日兩國民眾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臺，需要更多的橋梁和渠道。

海外辦刊的心得體會

現在，《人民日報海外版》日本月刊已經創(chuàng)辦整整十年了。雖然我不敢說“十年磨一劍”，但卻切身體會到辦刊的艱難。迄今為止，在日本創(chuàng)辦的同類型刊物中，能夠持續(xù)發(fā)行十年的，唯有《人民日報海外版》日本月刊！

如果說到編輯、經營經驗的話，我也愿意講一些心得和大家分享。

第一，內容上一定要有針對性。曾經有人建議，每月把《人民日報》《人民日報海外版》乃至其系統(tǒng)內的對日報道和評論收集起來，就可以成為《人民日報海外版》日本月刊的內容了。我認為這是在用“內宣”思維辦外宣。如果這樣，就容易成為“ 批判日本集 ”。因此，我們針對日本人特別是日本經濟界人士、企業(yè)家關心的中國經濟問題、社會問題做集中報道，特別是針對日本媒體對中國的偏向性報道，在雜志上做出有回應、有針對性的報道，結果受到了歡迎。

第二，堅持“影響有影響力的人”。為此，我們拿出一定的篇幅采訪日本國會議員、著名的政治家、日本經濟企業(yè)界的代表人物。當他們出現在這份雜志上的時候，他們就會成為雜志熱心的推薦者。有的國會議員看到自己的采訪記后，會購買5000份雜志;有的企業(yè)家接受采訪后，也會購買數千份雜志發(fā)給在日本以及中國的企業(yè)員工。

第三，積極獲得當地實力人物的支持。為此，我們成立了“《人民日報海外版》日本月刊理事會”。他們在財力、人力、信息方面都給予了大力支持，夯實了雜志的編輯、發(fā)行基礎。

第四，做好發(fā)行工作。坦率地講，雜志辦得再好，如果發(fā)行量上不去，那也只能是孤芳自賞、自娛自樂。因為我們堅持抓發(fā)行，在東京以外，另外請日本友人設立地域性的發(fā)行代理事務所，然后輔以各種講演、學習、交流活動，讓雜志的發(fā)行量始終保持在5萬本左右。

第五，打造造血功能。有人說，“凡是做外宣的媒體，都是獲得資金援助的媒體。”但是，我所看到的是，凡是依賴資金援助的媒體，也就是依靠著“輸血”的媒體，都沒有能夠長期經營下去的。我們把封面人物、內文宣傳、廣告以及中文推廣做成一個“套餐”，受到日本經濟界的歡迎。現在，預約接受封面人物采訪的企業(yè)一般要排隊半年以上。他們都把出現在《人民日報海外版》日本月刊封面上作為自己的光榮。

第六，申請專利。當一份雜志成功的時候，出于各種各樣的原因，總會有人模仿。《人民日報海外版》日本月刊，一方面得到的是《人民日報海外版》在日本的唯一授權，另一個方面申請專利，形成一個品牌專利，從法律上保持了它的獨有性和可持續(xù)性發(fā)展。

時至今日，還沒有一份海外“官媒”能夠總結出來這樣的經驗。我愿意把自身實踐積累出來的經驗與大家共享，讓中國的外宣能夠真正地走出去，讓當地的民眾真正地能夠看進去。十年來，日本眾參兩院700多名國會議員中有160多人接受了《人民日報海外版》日本月刊的采訪，就是一個明證。

（作者系《人民日報海外版》日本月刊總編輯、《日本華僑報》總主筆）

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.