[1] It was Japan’s first successful commercial science fiction magazine.

[1] It began publication with the February 1960 issue, which appeared in bookshops in December 1959.

At first the magazine published translations of English language science fiction stories.

Later, the magazine began publishing original fiction by Japanese authors.

S-F Magazine has conducted Hayakawa's S-F Magazine Reader's Award (SFマガジン読者賞, Esuefu Magajin Dokusha Shō) where the magazine’s readers vote annually for best foreign short story, best Japanese short story and best illustrator from their issues in the previous year since 1989.