Toshiko Nakashima

Toshiko Nakashima is a veteran editor at Magazine House, one of Japan's foremost fashion and lifestyle publishing companies. In 2011, she became Editor-in-Chief of Ginza and oversaw its rejuvenation.

On her appointment, Toshiko told Nippon.com, “Most of my work until now has been for magazines with a strong cultural slant, but my first direct experience with Japanese women’s fashion came when I started working for Ginza. While I can’t deny having felt that Japanese fashion magazines are only relevant within the fashion industry, at Ginza I’d like to present fashion as one aspect of the world to women who want to follow the latest happenings in various fields and who have an interest in topics like music, art, film and design.”

While at Magazine House, Nakashima worked in the editorial division of several game-changing lifestyle publications such as Brutus, Tarzan and the now-defunct Relax, all of which have been hugely influential and widely emulated.

Nakashima believes fashion is currently undergoing a seismic shift, telling Nippon.com, “The essence of fashion is supposed to be individuality and bringing out what’s inside a person, but now it’s all about the ‘collective consciousness.’ We’re not talking about members of an obsessive subculture like otaku, but about regular young people. People are all pursuing this collective consciousness where things considered ‘wrong’ or ‘embarrassing’ are to be ditched. They choose what’s ‘safe’ instead.”