The Big Issue sells more than 30,000 copies every two weeks across Japan and reaches an audience of 150,000 young, educated and active opinion formers. Sixty-four percent of our readers are female and nearly 60% of our readers are between twenty and forty years of age.
The stories are consolidated based on the following four concepts:

• An international paper that crosses over Japan and the world
• An informative paper that acts as a springboard for the young generation
• A peoples' paper that gives a voice to the diverse 'normal'
• A post entertainment paper that reaches the off-centered

The magazine consists of three sections: 'international', 'real life' (domestic topics) and 'backbeat' (entertainment). The Big Issue strives to create an opinion magazine for readers in their 20s and 30s and cuts deep into social issues and tackles negative social conditions with a positive attitude. It goes one step further by offering ideas for solutions to these problems. The magazine also aims to entertain, and with its alternative arts section focused on younger readers, it attracts readers from a broad spectrum of society. The international stories are excerpted from many of our affiliate street papers in England, as well as in 80 cities in 28 countries across the globe.