Shōjo magazines have played a key role in the development and dissemination of girl culture throughout Japan. First published in the early 20th century, these publications provided a unique platform for young schoolgirls (shōjo) to develop a shared cultural identity during a time when the demographic of Japanese girls attending secondary education was expanding. Eventually evolving into the shōjo manga publications still enjoyed today, pre-war shōjo magazines were more like literary journals, featuring serialized novels, poetry, and educational essays promoting ideals of purity and government values, particularly ryōsai kenbo (“good wife, good mother”). These magazines were also filled with gorgeous illustrations by prominent artists like Yumeji Takehisa, Kashō Takabatake, Katsuo Matsumoto, and Junichi Nakahara. Their distinctive styles helped to shape modern shōjo and, by extension, the kawaii aesthetics. In the upcoming series of articles, we will look at the history of shōjo magazines from the pre-war period through the modern day to understand their lasting influence and impact on the kawaii illustrative style.
While the term “shōjo” as a general description for young unmarried girls had been used since the Heian period (794–1185), it was during the Meiji period (1868–1912) that it became synonymous with ‘schoolgirl,’ coinciding with the rise in young girls attending elementary and secondary education. As Japan strived to modernize during the Meiji period, education for girls was an area of contention. In 1872, three years of primary education became mandatory for both girls and boys. However, secondary education was much less regimented and, for girls, was largely limited to daughters of nobility and the urban nouveau riche. Additionally, many of the schools for girls established during the early Meiji period were run by missionary organizations, raising concerns about an overemphasis on Western and Christian values. Fears of losing traditional Japanese values led to backlash, with many families reluctant to send their daughters to secondary schools. In 1899, the ‘Girls’ High School Law’ brought all schools under government rule and standardized curricula, gradually increasing access and acceptance. By the Taishō (1912–1926) and early Shōwa (1926–1989) periods, girls’ schools became more accessible, and among middle- and upper-class families, attendance was seen as a marker of refinement and good upbringing, with graduation symbolizing elegance and purity.
The Meiji period also marked significant advancements in Japan’s printing technology and media, including the proliferation of magazines. The country’s first magazine, Seiyō-Zasshi (“Western Magazine”), was published in October 1867 during the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate. While there were only a few publications in early Meiji, interest in periodicals grew in the late 1900s and publications targeting specific demographics, including women and children, started to emerge, leading up to publications specifically targeted at shōjo in the early 1900s.
The first women’s magazine, Jogaku Zasshi (“Women’s Education Magazine”), was published from 1885 to 1904 with the goal of promoting the social and intellectual advancement of women. While progressive for it’s time, early contributors were predominantly male. However, by 1889, most of the writers were women, reflecting a shift in societal roles and opportunities for women. Other popular women magazines from this period included Jogaku Sekai (1901–1925) and Fujin Sekai (1906–1933). These magazines featured some of the aesthetics later associated with shōjo publications, including illustrations by artists such as Yumeji Takehisa.
Children’s magazines also gained popularity during this time, beginning with Shōnen’en (“Child’s Garden”), published from 1888 to 1895. It was soon followed by Shōnen Sekai (“Children’s World,” 1895–1914), which became the leading children’s publication of its time. These magazines featured stories, illustrations, and educational content aimed at young readers.
While the term shōnen is now synonymous with “boy” and considered the counterpart to shōjo, at the time it was a more general term for “youth,” with its kanji literally meaning “few years.” In one of the covers above, the translation for shonen-kai is shown as “Youth’s World” rather than “Boy’s World”, as one might expect today. However, while these early shōnen publications were not strictly gender-specific, readership likely skewed male, as boys were more likely to attend school, and content was generally written about and for boys. In 1897, Shōnen-Sekai introduced a special section called Shōjo-ran (“Girls’ Section”), which featured content specifically for young girls. This marked one of the earliest instances of content directly targeting a shōjo audience.
The first shōjo magazine, Shōjō-kai, made its debut in 1902, providing a unique space for girls. This was followed by Shōjo-Sekai in 1906, a sister publication to Shōnen-Sekai, which focused exclusively on literature, poetry, and illustrations designed for girls. These early shōjo magazines were instrumental in fostering a distinct cultural identity for girls. Meanwhile, shōnen publications evolved to focus solely on content aimed at boys. While the creation of dedicated spaces for girls allowed for the development of a unique shōjo culture, it also reinforced gendered cultural expectations and distinctions that would continue to be reinforced in modern Japanese society.
These two early shōjo publications were targeted at girls of all ages but placed a stronger emphasis on younger, primary-school-aged girls. However, the three shōjo magazines that had the largest influence on shōjo culture during this pre-war period were Shōjo no Tomo (Girls’ Friend, 1908–1950), Shōjo Gahō (Girls’ Images, 1912–1942), and Shōjo Kurabu (Girls’ Club, 1923–1962). The target audience for these publications was primarily middle- and high-school-aged girls, typically between the ages of 12 and 18. They featured a wide variety of content, including essays, serialized romantic fiction, and poetry. Reader-generated content, ranging from submitted essays and drawings to interactive columns, was also a key element in these pre-war publications and helped create a sense of community between readers across Japan, as well as foster emerging literary talent.
Beautifully illustrated Table of Contents pages from Shojo Club, Shojo Gaho, Shojo no Tomo (left to right)
The content of these pre-war shōjo publications often reflected societal ideals for young women, particularly the concept of ryōsai kenbo (“good wife, wise mother”). Stories and essays frequently promoted virtues like loyalty, kindness, and modesty, and moral lessons were woven into narratives, reinforcing these values. Another prominent theme was ren’ai (“spiritual love”), especially common in the serialized romantic novels that became extremely popular. These stories, often authored by women and illustrated by well-known artists, depicted idealized relationships between girls attending all-girls’ schools. This phenomenon, referred to as “passionate friendship,” was thought to redirect romantic or emotional focus away from boys and was seen as a way to uphold the values of purity, innocence, and chastity. While these types of stories may seem unusual today, especially in societies where acceptance of same-gender romantic relationships is relatively new, they aligned with contemporary efforts to shape young women into the idealized moral and social standards of the time.
Of the three publications, Shōjo Club was the most conservative, featuring a larger proportion of educational content and material focused on upholding the ideals of the “good wife, wise mother.” It also had the least amount of reader-generated content. In contrast, Shōjo no Tomo and Shōjo Gahō were relatively more progressive and catered to larger urban audiences. These two publications included numerous articles about pop culture, such as the popular all-female acting troupe Takarazuka Revue (still popular today!) and features about the lives of schoolgirls in Western countries. By the 1930s, Shōjo Club had the largest circulation based on subscriptions. However, since sharing magazines among friends was common, surveys from that time reveal that Shōjo no Tomo was the most widely read, with about half of all fifth-year students being frequent readers.
One of the aspects that made Shōjo no Tomo so popular was its emphasis on reader-generated content, such as special columns, submitted essays, and letters. While all shōjo publications, starting with Shōjo-kai, featured this type of content, in Shōjo no Tomo, it could account for up to 25% of the content in a single issue. Over time, as avid readers formed regional fan clubs, the publication introduced the “Correspondence and Conversation” section to specifically feature members and events held by these fan clubs. Uchiyama Motoi, the lead editor in the 1920s and 1930s, even contributed to this section, communicating directly with readers. Over time, these columns fostered an in-group conversation, developing inside jokes and unique slang that further contributed to the sense of community among readers and connected girls across the country, similar to modern chat boards or even platforms like Reddit today. Shōjo no Tomo also actively encouraged submissions of literary content and published an annual anthology of reader-submitted stories. This provided a path for girls to start their professional literary careers, with some readers later becoming writers for the magazine.
Readership for these pre-war shōjo publications peaked in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In the latter half of the 1930s, especially following the invasion of China in 1937, there was increasing pressure from the government to focus more on patriotic content and less on anything that could be seen as ‘Western.’ After the government issued the “Joint Opinion on the Purification of Children’s Reading Materials” in 1938, these magazines came under heightened scrutiny and censorship. Illustrations by artists such as Kashō and Nakahara did not align with the wartime expectations of the ideal girl. In 1938, the Ministry of Home Affairs ordered Shōjo no Tomo to stop printing illustrations by Nakahara, though it took until 1940 for the editors to comply. Readership also began to decline due to increasing rationing and economic hardship. By 1942, Shōjo Gahō was merged with Shōjo no Tomo, and Shōjo no Tomo and Shōjo Club were the only two shōjo publications to continue after the war. While early post-war content focused on how to cope with the aftermath of the war, such as food shortages and rationing, as the rebuilding progressed, the magazine started to evolve to include new content especially more manga, which was gaining in popularity following the war. This evolution will be examined further in future posts. However, in the next post, we will stay in the post-war period to explore the illustrators of these pre-war publications and the evolution of the shōjo style. Stay tuned.
