Since the 1980s, its unrivalled photographic content alone have made it a favorite, even among non-Japanese readers.
Koku-Fan used to publish an English-language summary insert, but was dropped some time ago, as was the inclusion of fold-out color profiles and scale plan drawings.
Over such a long history the magazine has naturally undergone several changes, but the first quarter of the magazine is still given over to its renowned color section, with military and World War II vintage material predominating.
Air-to-air gems from the lens of such aviation photography luminaries, such as renown aircraft photographer Katsuhiko Tokunaga, provide real visual impact. Color reappears in the middle features, including the KF Special File and occasional Airline Update.
Articles cover in-depth both one-off and serialized subjects. A series on IJN and IJAAF unit histories ran from September 1995 to August 2002. Past features included a series on the Area 51 test facility, the Arado Ar234 and individual accounts of Japanese operations in World War II.
The magazine concludes with news sections, including "From Base Side" devoted to US military bases worldwide, book and model reviews. Every two months Bunrindo produces another title for its excellent softback Famous Aircraft of the World profiles, which are similar in content to the Airplanes Digest feature that used to appear in the magazine. A March 2003 edition covered all variants of the Heinkel He111 and included eight pages in color, a fold-out color side view, and 80 pages in black and white.
In Japan, these superb magazine-type books retail for around ¥900, or about USD$10.