※Please note that the information is subject to change.

Overview

【Theme】
“Japanese Culture &You” 

Protect Japanese culture by sharing the lost traditional culture of Japan with people around the world.

To connect with people all over the world who love Japanese traditional culture and pop culture.

A part of the proceeds from the magazine will be used to support the welfare office for people with disabilities that KUDEN by TAKAHIRO SATO plans to open.


【Language】
 Japanese and English written together


【Publication】
・Basically, the magazine will be published as a digital magazine
・Main magazine…3 times / year

・Bulletin ( Member magazine) … 9 times / year


【Price】
・General sales will be published on the amazon kindle store 

・Purchase of the e-magazine is included in the monthly fee for subscribers 

・Bulletin will not be sold to the general public and only available for subscribers to read
 

●If you register as a subscriber, you will be able to join the magazine's editorial forum.

●In the forum, you will be able to see the editorial process of the magazine. You can also post your opinions and ideas and join in the creation of the magazine.

KUDEN rinlife Magazine is an online magazine published by KUDEN, a fashion brand for kimono lovers that brings to the world the stories of Japan's traditional culture and arts and crafts that are being lost, and the “people” who behind them.

KUDEN has been offering “Kimono Motif Clothes” with a modern design to people all over the world and to the younger generation as an opportunity to experience the Kimono in order to preserve the Kimono culture, which is already disappearing. KUDEN's activities have been highly evaluated and have won international design awards.

In the first issue, we cover Nishijin-ori, a traditional Japanese technique for weaving delicate silk, and the artisans' studio of wet-painting yuzen, where water and a brush are used to paint.

From the art of Bunraku, the art of storytelling, we look behind the scenes at the tayu, Sakijudayu, and the Japanese spirit that is passed down from generation to generation.

In addition, through contemporary pop culture such as anime, manga, and video games, we aim to build a bridge between the present and our roots, across cultures and eras.

 

MAGAZINE SAMPLE

※Images are samples.

※The contents are subject to change without notification.

Why do fashion brands create cultural magazines?

KUDEN began with a father's wish to create a place where he and his son with disabilities could work together someday

What we want to show through our clothes is not only “beauty” but also "way of life.”

And this magazine, like the clothes, is also an activity to protect the culture, even if only a little, and to connect it to the next generation by sharing the beauty of Japanese culture, people's craftsmanship, and spirit of life.

Proceeds from the magazine will be connected to disability welfare.

The more this media grows, the wider the circle of support will expand.

" Reading" preserves culture and creates a place for someone to work.

KUDEN rinlife Magazine.

This is an online magazine where your curiosity and kindness can make the future just a little bit better.


The editorial team of rinlife magazine is made up of members of ”The Space-time Information Compile Task Force”, who work together to create the magazine.

It is a participatory online magazine editorial board where friends who love Japanese culture such as anime, manga, and games can gather and enjoy just reading, writing a little, or participating fully.

Basic members and above receive an online magazine published three times a year and a members-only online bulletin.

Furthermore, in the members-only forum, “just reading is OK,” “just commenting is OK,” “ideas are welcome,” and "a little creative entry is also welcome.”

No skills required, no pressure to post. You can join at your own pace.

Subscribers can participate in creative activities that make the most of their “likes” by posting article ideas, illustrations, writings in the forum, while becoming part of the story as a “Samurai Dan member” in the world of science fiction adventure action drama.

The magazine produced in this realistic world will not only link to the world of science fiction adventure stories and provide entertainment to the story of the novel, but the proceeds will also be used to support the welfare of people with disabilities.

While having fun and creating, you can also help someone else.

The “The Space-time Information Compile Task Force” is such a new type of online magazine + community.

Subscribers enjoy the following

Enjoy easy access to every issue of the magazine without forgetting to buy it. 

Subscribers can have magazines delivered automatically and easily. Never miss your favorite features.

Connect with friends on the forum whenever you want. 

A place where lovers of Japanese culture, anime, and manga can gather, just read, and feel free to share and exchange information.

Your ideas and artwork have a chance to be featured in the magazine!

An exciting experience of your idea being published or your name being mentioned in the magazine awaits you.

Enjoy the behind-the-scenes of the magazine's creation as if you were a member of the editorial team!

You can take a peek at the progress of the production process and enjoy the finished product together with everyone.

Encounter people with similar values in Japan and overseas through the things you like.

Connect with friends with whom you can “talk frankly” through the magazine.　Forum is Google Translate compliant.

You get the pride and joy of being able to say, “I support this magazine, too.”

Your subscriptions will be the power to grow the magazine and connect Japanese culture to the future.

Introduction to the members-only The Space-time Information Compile Task Force Forum

The greatest feature of “KUDEN rinlife magazine” is that it does not end with "just reading."
The magazine has an editorial forum feature, ”The Space-time Information Compile Task Force," in which members can participate only.
This is an online forum for the editorial board, where people can join not just as readers, but as “friends who create magazines together”.

Main features and what you can do

You can follow the production process in real time 

・The editorial team will post progress reports on articles and features as needed.

・You can also get a behind-the-scenes look at how the magazine is created.

You can participate in editorial meetings 

・Give your opinion on the theme of the magazine's features.
・Your viewpoint as a reader will be reflected in the actual magazine.

Suggest ideas and potential interviews

・You can suggest interview topics and article themes, such as “I want you to introduce this kind of culture,” “I want you to talk to this person,” etc
・Your voice may be adopted as an actual project!

Members can communicate with each other on topics

・You can communicate with members on topics such as Japanese culture, traditional crafts, pop culture, etc.

・Google Translate button is included, so you can communicate with members from all over the world.

Possible to contribute to writing and creation (with selection only for those who request it).

・Writers, photographers, designers, and creative writers (novels, manga, etc.) can also take on the challenge of writing articles and creating visuals.

・The steps to be considered for publication in the magazine will be reviewed by the editorial department and evaluated in the forum.
 

・It will also be possible in the future to purchase magazine advertising / editorial space (content that does not fit the theme or tone of the magazine will not be accepted).

*Membership does not automatically ensure publication in the magazine.

Participate in online events such as public interviews LIVE

・We will also be turning the magazine interviews into online events.

・You will be able to attend events for free or at a special discount as a member.

・You will have the opportunity to hear from Japanese cultural artisans and pop culture creators that you would not normally have the chance to hear about. 

Step 1

registering as a member of Samurai-Dan

Register as a member for 350 yen/month and up

  • Download your digital membership card
  • Access to our exclusive forums
    Benefits vary depending on your plan!

Step 2

Activities in STIC room

Join the forum at your own pace

  • Posting article ideas about Japanese culture
  • Participate in online editorial meetings ( YouTube LIVE assumed)
  •  Discuss and communicate with other members across borders
  • Share fan art
  • Not only discussing “likes” but also participating in actual creation

Step 3

Completion of online magazine

Main magazine…3 times / year
Bulletin ( Member magazine) … 9 times / year

  • Each online magazine is a progression of the story of STIC Task Force (a novel is published in the magazine).
    • Possibility to have your contribution published as an article in the online magazine
    • STIC Task Force members Basic Plan and above will receive the online magazine in PDF format.

Step 4

Contribution to Society

  • A part of the proceeds from the magazine will be used to establish welfare facilities for people with disabilities.
    • Enjoying the magazine gives hope to others.
    • Sharing Japanese culture with people around the world


KUDEN Nikko base (tentative)
-An antenna store with fashion + goods + café

Gerbera Design Inc., which operates the fashion brand KUDEN, has always been a company specializing in design. We would like to open our first physical store as KUDEN in Nikko. At the store, KUDEN's kimono motif fashions, as well as Nikko's undiscovered attractions and local specialties are re-edited and branded through the power of design, and introduced to customers in Japan and abroad.
Furthermore, a café offering freshly baked bread and specialty drink will be set up so that sightseers can take a break from their travels and local residents can casually drop by for a social gathering. We aim to create a base that connects tourism and daily life as a place where people can learn more about the Nikko region and talk with each other.

And we have a strong desire to make this location not just a store, but "a place where people with disabilities can work and play active roles with peace of mind."

We would like to operate this store as a Type B Continuous Vocational Aid Center and provide the community with new values that fuse welfare, business, and design.
We want to create a place in Nikko where people with disabilities can work with pride, and people who see them are moved and want to support them. We want to create such a place in Nikko.

In particular, taking advantage of Nikko's location, which attracts many tourists from overseas, we offer attractive products that “make you want to pick them up” through their packaging and logos.
We aim to create a place that both communicates the appeal of the local area and supports welfare, while handling local specialties and products carefully made at welfare facilities for people with disabilities.

Through this store, we hope to make Nikko more vibrant by providing experiences and encounters that will make tourists “glad to have visited” and “want to come back again”.

As a father. As a creator.
 

Hello, I am Takahiro Sato, aka Tak, designer of the kimono motif fashion brand "KUDEN by TAKAHIRO SATO.”
I am now working to open a Type B Continuous Vocational Aid Center in order to realize a future where I can work with my son who has disabilities.

This project
is a new challenge for that purpose: "
We are trying to expand the people's understanding of disability welfare in a fun way through animation and
cartoons.”

For many people, “welfare” may still be somewhat distant.
However, in stories such as anime, manga, and science fiction adventure stories, everyone will naturally cross “boundaries,” and empathy and dialogue will be born.

Therefore, I have decided to launch the “The Space-time Information Compile Task Force,” a “participatory editorial team” that will work together with you to compile a magazine about Japanese culture and its people.
It is a magazine with an editorial forum where people who like Japanese culture, anime, and manga can casually participate in editing, enjoy the behind-the-scenes production, or just read.

This is not just a fiction.
It is a “real chronicle” in which each person's “likes” will gradually change the real world.

 

 

Why take on this challenge now?

I have a son who is in the ninth grade with intellectual disabilities and autism.
He will graduate from high school in four years.
By then, I want to create a place where my son can work with peace of mind.
With this desire at the core, we decided to evolve KUDEN into a lifestyle brand.

However, the operation of a labor support center requires continuous funding.
Rather than a short-term donation, “ creating a sustainable business while weaving a story together with those who support us” -
this subscription-based magazine was the result of our search for such a system.
The model for this project is the system of “Big Issue,” which provides assistance to the homeless.
With this project, we want to create a cycle in which “readers' enjoyment” becomes "the power to protect someone else's future.”

 

Your “likes” will turn into someone else's “place of work”.

The magazine is full of content that connects you through your “love” of Japanese culture, including interviews, planned articles, creative fiction, and interaction in the editorial forums on the Japanese culture you love.
But it is more than just a hobby.
The more you read and participate, the more you can support the future.

Your “like” turns into a “place to work” for someone like my son.


Please join us and share your help with us.
The first step is to let us know about this project.
And if you feel empathy, please join us in weaving the rest of this story together.

We sincerely look forward to your participation as a “The Space-time Information Compile Task Force” who will change the future.

Urgent message from the future scientist “Sanjuro”.
"We are gathering records of Japanese culture that has been lost to chaos in the far future. Civilization, culture, and pride have been lost, and Japan has become a ‘ blank’.
But it is not too late.
If you can compile a “Beautiful Japan” and send it to the future..."

it was a warning from a future that is losing its culture and falling into chaos.
One day, led by a mysterious voice, you find a one-eyed samurai.
"Save our planet and our world...!"
He appeared from a destroyed future and entrusted us with a red stone inlaid menuki and a mission: "Collect beautiful Japanese culture and send it to the future."
At the moment the man disappears, your smartphone is covered in a red shine, and an unknown app appears. From there, you hear the voice of Sanjuro, a scientist from the “Samurai-Dan” far in the future.
He has entrusted the compilation of records to you in the past in order to save the future Japanese culture from being absorbed by chaos.
Your mission is to collect the memories of beautiful Japan with people living in the “present” and create a chronicle for the future.
This is a story that connects reality and another Space-time　――
The beginning of a journey to deliver the lost pride and culture to the future.

Learn more about alternate worlds

  • Joe Yamazaki

  • Hibiki Taketsuru

  • Sanjuro Tani

  • ？？？

Samurai-Dan Seventh Squad, Separate Unit, “The Space-time Information Compile Task Force”
Leader

Joe Yamazaki

● He also takes on the role of leader of the Samurai Dan's inspection team.
● He is young and friendly, but has a somewhat shadowy appearance.
● 166cm
● He is responsible for both intelligence gathering and special missions.
● Good at undercover work. He is a master of disguise.
● Armed: Small two-sword saber ( 小太刀二刀流 )
● Katana : Small dagger ( 小太刀 銘　来国俊　黒漆蛭巻太刀拵 )

Deputy leader／Communications and Information Analysis

Hibiki Taketsuru

● Talented woman who doubles as the deputy leader of the Samurai-Dan Seventh Squad and the deputy leader of The Space-time Information Compile Task Force.
● cheerful personality and a mood-maker on the team, but he also says strict things clearly with a smile on her face.
● 162cm
● Heavy drinker. She loves traveling and drinking.
● Not only skilled in information processing, but also has outstanding swordsmanship for self-defense.
● Armed : Katana ( Japanese sword ) made of special metal held by Samurai-Dan members（There is a rumor that the laser blade function is activated by the original customization by Sanjuro.）

Samurai-Dan Seventh Squad Leader / Future Records Supervisor

Sanjuro Tani

● Leader of the Seventh Squard
● Scientist and researches lost steel swords. At the center of a future cultural preservation effort to investigate existing Japanese swords in a world where the earth has been destroyed.
● He is a bit of a communicator. He is very talkative in his favorite field.
● Sword enthusiast
● 174cm
● Armed : Spear ( he uses an invented weapon )
● Spear : Tonbokiri（The handle is a gimmicky, self-invented design with Tonbokiri blade attached.）

The Last Sword smith

Horyusai Takanobu

CV: Kazuhiko Inoue
Character Design: Toh Azuma

 

● Novel KUDEN Samurai Sword Jam's one-eyed protagonist
● The last blade smith. He is the central figure in the commotion surrounding the “steel forged by human hands = steel sword”, which has become a rare metal and has mysterious powers.
● Lives with his handicapped son Takeru.
● He has stopped using a sword after a certain incident in the past, and lives quietly in the iron scrap area.

For those for whom just talking about their “likes” is not enough.
To a world where “having fun” becomes someone else's hope.
Your love for Japanese culture will be the trigger to change the future.
With the Samurai-Dan badge on your chest, we are taking this project to the next stage.
Each issue of the magazine will eventually establish a bright base in Nikko.
This story is not a fiction. It is a real chronicle that you yourself will write.
"Now--let's begin our communication through time and space."
We are waiting for you to join us.

Register as a member now!

Create KUDEN rinlife magazine with us!

The only one who can change the future of destruction is you, living in this era.

Join The Space-time Information Compile Task Force

Click here to expand the list.

Recommended Plan for you




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Most Recommended Plan

￥980/month

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For those who would like to participate in the forum first

￥350/month

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If you want to savor all the fun, this is the plan!

￥1,500/month

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