Passionate Friendship: The Aesthetics of Girl's Culture in Japan

Image Plates

Plate 1. “December Wind.” Cover illustration by Takabatake Kashō. Kashō combined an Art Nouveau influence with the flat plane of nihonga and careful rendering of the latest fashions. The exaggerated eyes, small mouths, and sensual lips are typical of his work, as is the pairing of two girls with similar features. (Cover for Shōjo gahō, December 1928.© Yayoi Museum) Plate 2. “On the Grass.” Illustration by Takabatake Kashō. A typical pairing of two girls with similar features, one in kimono and one in Western clothes, suggesting the S relationship. (Insert for Shōjo gahō, April 1928. © Yayoi Museum) Plate 3. Title unknown. Illustration by Takabatake Kashō. Another example of two girls in Japanese and Western clothes. (Insert for Shōjo gahō, November 1928. © Yayoi Museum) Plate 4. Cover illustration for Shōjo no tomo by Nakahara Jun’ichi, May 1940. The exaggerated eyes and delicate body are typical of his work. (© Junichi Nakahara/Himawariya) Plate 5. Illustration by Takahashi Makoto, 1973. Typical example of Takahashi’s mature work, featuring highly decorated images of girls with starry, exaggerated eyes. (© MACOTO) About the Author Deborah Shamoon received her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley , in Japanese literature. Her research specialization is modern Japanese literature, film, and popular culture. Among her publications are “Misora Hibari and the Girl Star in Postwar Japanese Cinema” (Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 2009); “Humanity Grows Up: Lacan and the Science Fiction Manga To Terra” (Manga and Philosophy, ed. Adam Barkman and Josef Steiff, 2010); “Films on Paper: Cinematic Narrative in Gekiga” (Mangatopia: Essays on Manga and Anime in the Modern World, ed. Timothy Perper and Martha Cornog, 2011); and “The Modern Girl and the Vamp: Hollywood Film in Tanizaki Jun’ichirō’s Early Novels” (positions: east asia cultures critique, forthcoming). She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at the National University of Singapore. Passionate Friendship is her first book. Production Notes for Shamoon / Passionate FriendshiP: the aesthetics oF Girls’ culture in JaPan Interior design and composition by Mardee Melton, in 9.5-point Janson Text Hawaiian, with display type in Hiroshige Hawaiian. Printing and binding by Sheridan Books, Inc. Printed on 60# House White, 444ppi ...