''Tokion'' was a Japanese-based magazine covering art, fashion, music and film first published in Japan in 1996, followed by

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, UK, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

editions. The magazine's makers also produced the annual Creativity Now Conference, a weekend-long seminar of panel discussions with speakers from across the creative spectrum.

History

The magazine was started in 1996 by Lucas Badtke-Berkow and Adam Glickman, two American

expatriates An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

living in Japan, as a cultural bridge between

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and the

. In 1998, ''Tokion'' opened an American office in

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. In 2000 it moved into a retail space/office in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, while maintaining a retail space/office in Tokyo. While in New York, the magazine's focus shifted from Japanese-influenced content to street culture aesthetics and then to a more global arts magazine featuring interviews with recognized artists such as

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

Richard Prince Richard Prince (born 1949) is an American painter and photographer. In the mid-1970s, Prince made drawings and painterly collages that he has since disowned. His image, ''Untitled (Cowboy)'', a rephotographing of a photograph by Sam Abell and ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

Francesco Clemente Francesco Clemente (born 23 March 1952) is an Italian contemporary artist. He has lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various art ...

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

Ed Ruscha Edward Joseph Ruscha IV (, ''roo-SHAY''; born December 16, 1937) is an American artist associated with the pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography and film. He is also noted for creating severa ...

and

Jeff Koons Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror- finish su ...

, while continuing to cover up-and-coming artists such as

Harmony Korine Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973, some sources report September 1, 1974)
" Retrieved on 2009-10-26. is an Ame ...

Miranda July Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, singer, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art. She w ...

Cory Arcangel Cory Arcangel (born May 25, 1978) is an American post-conceptual artist who makes work in many different media, including drawing, music, video, performance art, and video game modifications, for which he is best known. Arcangel often uses the ...

and Simone Shubuck. In 2002, Badtke-Berkow sold his share in the magazine to Glickman. Badtke-Berkow began publishing ''Papersky'' and ''Mammoth'' magazines in Japan, while Glickman began publishing Japanese and US editions. In 2005, the Japanese edition was sold to Infas Publishing Company. In 2006, the American edition was sold to independent publisher Larry Rosenblum. In 2009, ''Tokion'' and ''Creativity Now'' were sold out of foreclosure to Donald Hellinger, president of Nylon Holding, Inc. In 2010 the magazine was renamed ''Factory'' in the US.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Tokion'' web site

knee high media japan web site
1996 establishments in Japan Defunct magazines published in Japan Magazines established in 1996 Magazines with year of disestablishment missing Visual arts magazines