According to a survey of Japanese consumers conducted by  PR Times in 2021, when purchasing an outfit, 41% of females refer to something, and 48.8% of them check fashion magazines. Japanese people are trend conscious and it’s quite common, especially for young people, to check fashion magazines at the beginning of the season to choose what to wear during the time.
The hard copy circulation is dropping, but on the other hand, page views on fashion magazine websites are increasing and behavioural patterns appear to be unchanged.

Japanese students are educated through textbooks from an early age, that stick to their mind, and even after graduation, not a few of them feel they require instruction in many aspects of their lives. Especially, when it comes to fashion, they need a “textbook” and pick up fashion magazines.

The population of 18 – 60 year old females was 32,198,000 in 2021, and to meet the complexity of their preferences, numerous fashion magazines are published. These ladies fashion magazines are categorised by the age groups and styles that they prefer. In fact, those can also be textbooks for marketing professionals to study the market trend, optimal pricing range, and more to set the target consumer and hero SKUs.

Categories and examples of Japanese female fashion magazines

The following are the categories and names of major magazines whose target readers are in their 20s and upwards. Lifestyle and beauty magazines are not included.

Akamoji (赤文字)
“Akamoji” is a well-known female magazine category. The meaning of Akamoji is “red letters” and it indicates four magazines; CanCam, Ray, JJ (online only since 2021) and ViVi which used to have iconic red logos in 90’s. Target readers are in the age group 20–34 years old (categorised as the F1 generation in Japanese marketing) and seek a feminine style which appeals to males. Models featured in these magazines have been considered style icons and powerful influencers.

Aomoji  (青文字)
“Aomoji” means “blue letters”, but the logos of the magazines in this category are not actually blue. It’s only a name to express how they are the polar opposite of Akamoji.
Aomoji is for girls who wish to be perceived as indivisualistic and like more creative and casual Harajuku style fashion. Many of readers are students and graduates of apparel, hair and make-up, and design colleges. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu used to be one of the icons of them. Examples of Aomoji are; Zipper, mini, Soup.plus+ (online only), InRed,  steady., sweet, SPRiNG, Mina, mer.

OL-kei  (OL系)
“OL” is an abbreviation for “Office Lady,” and OL-kei magazines are those targeting female office workers in F1 group.  This category contains a larger number of magazines such as Oggi, MORE, BAILA, WITH, Classy, Ar.

Mama (ママ) magazine
“Mama” is a term of “Mum” in Japan. Until the early 2000s, Japanese women were expected to marry and become housewives by the age of 30, and in order to meet the demands of those who became housewives, a number of magazines had been established and are still published now, with the style transforming gradually.
Many targeting married women are lifestyle magazines and fashion magazines are limited. Major ones in this category are VERY and LEE, for women in their 30s who are married and have children. Those that read Akamoji and OL-kei likely switch to VERY, while many of Aomoji girls shift to LEE when they reach a certain age. VERY had significant influence on F2 (35～49) age group till mid 2010s.

Aro-for (アラフォー) & Aro-fif (アラフィフ) magazine
“Aro-for” and “Aro-fif” are commonly used abbreviation for those around 40 and 50 years old. For these age groups, people who read fashion magazines are likely upper middle class housewives, and the contents are often intended for their needs.       
Aro-for magazines: STORY, GLOW, PRECIOUS
Aro-fif magazines: eclat, HERS, 大人のおしゃれ手帖 

Besides those, interestingly, the website of Domani, which targets female office workers in their forties and is no longer publishing hard copy, got the highest unique user rate among female magazines’ websites in Q2 2022.

Reference:

Amazon Japan female fashion/lifestyle magazine ranking
https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/bestsellers/books/46425011

Rakuten weekly ranking of female magazine
https://books.rakuten.co.jp/ranking/weekly/007606/#!/1/

Female magazine list sorted by age group (data includes circulation/ data source and date unknown)/ by 雑誌広告ドットコム
https://www.zasshi-ad.com/media/woman/

2023 Q1 data on magazine website access/ by Japan Audit Bureau of Circulation
https://www.jabc.or.jp/news/abc_report/2023/05/30_3183.html

Detailed report on related topics can be generated upon request.