THE PROJECT: Facing a difficult market at home, Wenner Media's Rolling Stone magazine is launching in Japan this month, for what will be the magazine's 15th international edition. The new publication -- which will feature a mix of local stories and translated articles from the U.S. -- will license content from Rolling Stone and be printed locally by Tokyo-based International Luxury Media.

THE BUZZ: Rolling Stone has hit some snags in its international expansion. Last spring, its Chinese edition was almost forced to shut down after the inaugural issue when it failed to print the Chinese rendering of the magazine's title in sufficiently large type. But the edition survived and is still publishing. Rolling Stone has continued its international push, launching in Brazil in the fall. "There's a tremendous interest in pop music and American culture in Japan, which we certainly hope will be to our advantage," says Joe Levy, executive editor. "It arrives with one of the biggest brand names in pop culture."

THE OUTLOOK: Rolling Stone is betting that this launch goes better than its ill-fated foray into Japan, from 1973 to 1976, when the magazine folded "for financial reasons," according to Wenner. This time around, the inaugural issue is kicking off with an homage to a famous 1999 cover of Kurt Cobain.

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