--- title: "The 80th anniversary of Kitan Club magazine (奇譚クラブ)" date: 2026-10-22 author: "Sr. Interior (流庵殿)" intro_image: "https://shibari-dojo.online/images/news/act0301_sq.webp" fulltext_image: "https://shibari-dojo.online/images/news/act0301_lg.webp" categories: - name: "News" url: "https://shibari-dojo.online/act-en.md" tags: - name: "History" url: "https://shibari-dojo.online/tags/history.md" --- # The 80th anniversary of Kitan Club magazine (奇譚クラブ) ![The 80th anniversary of Kitan Club magazine (奇譚クラブ)](https://shibari-dojo.online/images/news/act0301_lg.webp) **Kitan Club (奇譚クラブ)** is a Japanese magazine unique in the history of postwar popular and fetish culture in Japan. Founded on **October 25, 1947**, the magazine held a singular place in the Japanese publishing landscape for decades: it was at once a space of expression for readers with unconventional tastes and sensibilities, and a forum for sharing concerns and affections between people who would otherwise have remained isolated. Kitan Club (奇譚クラブ) worked as what today we might call a community built around a print medium: its readers did not just consume the magazine, they wrote in it, related to one another through its pages and, in some cases, built lasting bonds. That is why the publication has been described as the **“mother house” of enthusiasts**—a space of learning, encounter and belonging for those who found a refuge or a voice in its pages. The magazine was published by **Akatsuki Shobo (暁書房)**, under the editorial direction of **Yoshida Minoru (吉田稔)** and **Sugihara Koji (杉原幸治)**, key figures in its history whose memory is now at risk of being lost for good, since everyone directly involved in the publication has died. This makes Kitan Club (奇譚クラブ) a **valuable historical document** whose recovery and preservation has become urgent: any testimony, however small it may seem, about the magazine, its publisher or its editors is of great value to the history of Japanese fetish subculture. In October **2027**, Kitan Club (奇譚クラブ) will turn **80** since its founding, an anniversary that has prompted a far-reaching commemorative project. ## Who is preparing the tribute? The commemorative project is being driven by **Kawahara Azumi (河原梓水)**, a researcher and editor affiliated with Fukuoka Women’s University (Faculty of International and Humanities Studies), and editor of the online literary magazine *Antitled*, published by the **Friends of Antitled (Antitled友の会)**, which will act as organizer and publication medium for the tribute. ## What will the tribute consist of? The commemorative project will take two complementary formats: **a) A special dossier in the online magazine *Antitled*:** all the testimonies received—personal essays and letters from readers—will be gathered and published as a special issue of *Antitled*, specifically its **issue 6**, scheduled for May 2027. This digital publication will be available online through the Friends of Antitled website. **b) A print edition:** in addition to the digital publication, the dossier will be printed in physical form. This printed book will be given **free of charge** to those who contributed personal essays. Authors of reader letters will be able to buy it by paying only the **actual production cost**, estimated at roughly **between ¥500 and ¥1,000 per copy**. The aim of the tribute is twofold: on the one hand, to celebrate the magazine’s 80th anniversary with the living testimony of its readers; on the other, to **preserve for posterity** the memory of a publication whose history is at risk of disappearing along with those who experienced it firsthand. ## Requirements for taking part The call for submissions **closed on August 31, 2026**. For submissions by post, a postmark of that same day was accepted as a valid date. The only essential requirement for taking part was to have **bought and read at least one physical copy** of Kitan Club (奇譚クラブ). It did not matter in which period the magazine had been read: any period of its history was equally represented and welcome. No restrictions by nationality, age or origin were specified, which made this call an open invitation to all readers who had had direct contact with the printed publication over its decades of existence. ## Ways to take part Two types of contribution were accepted: ### (1) Personal essay A text of between **1,200 and 12,000 characters** (approximately). The topic was completely free: favorite works or authors from the magazine, experiences as a contributor, exchanges with other readers, the personal meaning Kitan Club (奇譚クラブ) had in the author’s life, anecdotes about the publisher Akatsuki Shobo (暁書房) or the editors Yoshida Minoru (吉田稔) and Sugihara Koji (杉原幸治), among any other memories or reflections. Each participant could send **at most one essay**. Depending on the total volume of contributions received, publication of every essay is not guaranteed; in some cases the text may be asked to be shortened or revised. ### (2) Reader letter A text of **up to 1,200 characters**. A shorter, more informal format, intended to gather impressions, specific memories or brief reflections on the magazine. **Multiple letters** per participant were allowed. The letters will be published vertically in 4 columns, so the recommendation was to use the **tategaki (縱書き)** typographic style and **kanji numerals (一、二、三、十、百…)**. **Note on content:** any sexual descriptions, if included, had to be limited to the level that was usual in Kitan Club (奇譚クラブ) in the **early fifties**. ## How the contributions were received Essays were received as Word files, by email, or as handwritten originals on paper, by post to the Faculty of International and Humanities Studies at Fukuoka Women’s University, addressed to Kawahara Azumi (河原梓水). Reader letters were sent through a Google form on the project’s special website or by post. In all cases, signing with a pseudonym was allowed. ## Custom Fields **Content Type — The formal and communicative nature of a piece of content, based on its documentary function.:** News Item **Knowledge Type — The nature of knowledge according to its role within practice.:** Scene **Field of Study — The specific area of practice that the content focuses on.:** History **Corpus — A structured body of reference knowledge that underpins the content.:** Industry **Criteria — A cross-cutting perspective that defines the emphasis or intent from which the content is approached.:** Entertainment **Summary — A brief synthesis of the content that presents its main topics, purpose, or most relevant aspects.:** The commemorative project for the 80th anniversary of Kitan Club (奇譚クラブ) gathered testimonies from readers around the world for publication in 2027.