RINGO MAGAZINE 2.0
RINGO Magazine published its very first issue in December 2024.
Some of you may have been wondering, “When is Issue 3 coming out?” and waiting patiently for what probably feels like forever.
Some of you may have felt worried by the silence—or maybe even a little frustrated.
I’m sorry that we haven’t properly explained what has been happening for such a long time.
For me, the journey from Issue 1 to where we are today has been anything but straightforward.
It all started as if I had fallen under a spell.
And little by little, I began to discover both the difficulty and the joy of making a magazine.
As RINGO continued, two big questions began to emerge.
How can we build RINGO into a magazine that can continue sustainably for years to come?
And:
How can RINGO become more than a magazine—something that stays connected to the stories of the creative talents we meet through it, even after the pages end?
Before starting RINGO Magazine, I worked in a completely different field from publishing.
So everything was new to me.
I have poured everything I have into making RINGO. But at the same time, I’ve had to acknowledge how much further I still have to go—in design, editorial work, and the overall quality of what we create.
After publishing Issue 2, we began preparing for Issue 3.
And somewhere along the way, I realized I had stopped moving forward.
There were simply too many things I couldn’t do alone.
I also came to understand something else: a magazine holds so much potential, but because it becomes something physical—something that stays—it also carries the possibility of letting someone down, or even hurting someone.
That realization made me stop and think.
I made RINGO because I love it.
But precisely because I love it, what we create should never let someone down.
I never want someone to pick up RINGO and feel disappointed by what they find inside.
So I decided that we needed to pause.
Becoming a professional takes time.
There is an idea widely associated with Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: the “10,000-hour rule.”
The idea of spending a long time with something—practicing, experimenting, failing, learning, and continuing.
I realized RINGO needed that time too.
And while we’re still learning, I hope you’ll stay with us as we grow.
So instead of rushing to publish Issue 3, we decided to take the time to build something that would allow RINGO to keep going far beyond it.
To everyone who felt worried because there were no updates, and because so much time passed without a proper explanation: I’m truly sorry.
And during that time, we have been working on three things to build RINGO 2.0.
- Building the business foundation that will allow RINGO Magazine to continue
If we want to keep making a magazine, creating beautiful pages alone isn’t enough.
The magazine industry itself is changing dramatically, and we realized that RINGO needed to face that reality honestly and build a new business model if we wanted it to last.
Fortunately, new opportunities are now beginning to grow around RINGO.
The unique talents of each of our members.
The fact that our team is spread across different parts of the world.
The people we have met through RINGO.
We are bringing all of these things together and, right now, planting seeds for what comes next.
Our goal isn’t simply to keep RINGO alive.
We want to create work and opportunities that could only exist because of RINGO—and let those opportunities lead to the next project, and then the next.
That is the cycle we want to build.
- Not building it alone. Building it together.
Until now, I had been trying to carry far too much on my own.
And I realized that RINGO could never continue for the long term that way.
Today, RINGO is no longer something I build alone.
Each member brings their own talent, perspective, and world into it.
And together, we are slowly building a stronger foundation for RINGO.
But we don’t simply want to become “a team that makes a magazine.”
I want RINGO to be a place where each person can understand their own talents and individuality, build a career that feels true to who they are, and shine even brighter.
The brighter each individual shines, the stronger RINGO becomes.
And when one person succeeds, that success can open a new door for someone else—both inside and beyond RINGO.
Together, we are beginning to build the world of RINGO.
- RINGO Collective — Another Slice of RINGO
You appear in RINGO Magazine.
And then, with the turn of a page, the story ends.
I never wanted that.
I want to see where the encounters and unexpected chemistry created through RINGO might take us next.
Maybe a new collaboration begins.
Maybe two people meet and create something together.
Maybe an encounter that started in Tokyo somehow finds its way to another city, another country, another world.
RINGO Collective is a place for creating what comes next—the stories that begin with RINGO Magazine but continue far beyond its pages.
It follows the world RINGO is trying to create, just from a slightly different perspective.
RINGO Magazine is only the starting point.
We hope you’ll stay with us and see where these stories go next.
Finally, to everyone who has supported RINGO.
RINGO now has a new mission.
To create our own “Anywhere Door”—a door that allows you to freely express your own world, wherever you are in the world.
Where you come from.
What language you speak.
What title you have.
Who you know.
We don’t want those things to determine how far you can go.
Your work. Your character. Your talent. Who you are.
We want those things to be what open doors to the world.
And RINGO wants to become one of those doors.
We are still figuring things out.
There may be times when we need to stop again.
But we will keep learning, keep growing, and hopefully become a little riper with every step of the journey.
And we’ll keep building—with all of you—a world that only RINGO can show.
To everyone who has crossed paths with RINGO, I hope your life becomes so Fruitful that you can’t help but take a big bite out of it.
Issue 3 is coming soon, and we have already stepped into Issue 4.
RINGO Magazine is still a magazine.
But now, it is also the beginning of everything that can happen after the page turns.
Welcome to RINGO 2.0.
Miki Kakebayashi
Editor-in-Chief
RINGO Magazine