is a monthly Japanese

fashion magazine Fashion journalism is a component of fashion media, with a focus on writing and photojournalism. Fashion journalists write about fashion events, trends and have to cultivate and maintain a relationship with stylists and designers. A fashion jour ...

for female

teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the ...

s published by

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

. Launched in 1967 as a weekly magazine based on the original American ''Seventeen'', the magazine changed the name to ''SEVENTEEN'' in 1987, and to ''Seventeen'' in 2008. Since the late 1990s, ''Seventeen'' has been the highest-selling teenage fashion magazine in Japan, and has featured its exclusive teenage models as ''ST-Mo'' (STモ - Seventeen Model).Hatena Dictionary
/ref> ''Seventeen'' is very sought after among models (teenage models) because being featured on the magazine especially on its cover and certain pages, strongly helps them to get high-quality endorsements and prestigious contracts. Well-known former ''Seventeen'' models include Megumi Asaoka, Keiko Kitagawa,

Nana Eikura is a Japanese actress, model, and occasional radio show host affiliated with Ken-On Group. Biography She was born in Izumi, Kagoshima, and raised in Sagamihara, Kanagawa.

, Mirei Kiritani, Rie Miyazawa, Anna Tsuchiya, Hinano Yoshikawa, and Emi Suzuki.

Controversy

In the late 1990s, some people criticised several young female magazines, including ''Seventeen'', for "forcing their readers to have unhealthy lifestyles". Seventeen kept silent about it, but in the early 2000s, Seventeen eventually started to feature some "fat" female models. Since then, there are always some "fat models" among the Seventeen models, however, the percentage is still low. Besides, almost all of the "fat models" are actually not fat; at least under the BMI theory. Notable current or former "fat models" include Keiko Kitagawa and

Kaela Kimura is a Japanese pop rock singer, lyricist, fashion model and television presenter. Career Born in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan to a Japanese mother and British father, Kimura started working as a model in 2002 for the Japanese magazine ''Seventeen''. ...

. From 2005 to 2007, Seventeen fired all its "mixed-race" models, in this case, of

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

ancestry, who had modeled for the magazine and usually been considered to be overweight models. It was described as the "moggy zero movement" (or the "lard purge", "lard-free") by critical third parties, critics and some journals such as '' Weekly Gendai'' (June 4, 2007). After this, the sales of the magazine significantly began to surge. ''Weekly Gendai'' pointed out that ''Seventeen''s "radicality" had escalated since around 2005, because of the strong influence of the now-defunct lifestyle magazine '' Burst''. Burst, having originally been an indie accessory magazine created by Nishijin stylists from Higashiyama,

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...

and known for its radicality and aggressiveness, featured many female models and most of the female models who were featured by the magazine became millionaires. Soon after the magazine stopped publication, Seventeen hired at least three former Burst editors as prominent staffs. On the editorial of ''Weekly Gendai'' (June 4, 2007), Tetsuya Miyazaki described Seventeen as the "flaming pastel-colored magazine being taken over by the ghost of Burst", and he pointed out that many "characteristic phrases" of Burst have appeared in Seventeen, especially as its headlines, since around 2005.

References

Fashion magazines published in Japan Women's magazines published in Japan Teen magazines published in Japan Magazines established in 1967 1967 establishments in Japan Monthly magazines published in Japan Shueisha magazines Weekly magazines published in Japan Magazines published in Tokyo {{Japanese fashion magazines