A Blossoming Flower Stunted: The Enigma of the Modern Girl in , Both Past and Present

Abstract The Japanese modern girl was one who challenged all the traditional values and customs women were expected to maintain in early twentieth century Japan. Like the American “flapper,” she discarded typical dress and attitudes and dared to live a less inhibited life. She rejected ryosai kenbo ideology of living life solely for the sake of marrying and having children, and instead sought out education and work. However, the Japanese modern girl wasn’t nearly as pervasive in reality as the American “flapper” was. One need only study Japanese advertisements in the early 1900s to see that images of the modern girl were indeed prolific, but statistics show just how small a number of women actually lived this sort of lifestyle despite encouragement by popular culture. Fast forward to present day Japan. Popular culture no longer consists primarily of magazines and advertisements, but rather (Japanese cartoons) and (Japanese comic books). While women are certainly less inhibited than they were in the past century, and while certainly more women are able to live the independent lifestyle the modern girl advocated, popular culture today still expresses confusion regarding just what roles women should fill. Japanese women still face confusion to this day when they are told they can be one thing by the media while the restraints of cultural expectations prevent them from being the ideal figure the media encourages them to be. Primarily through analysis of early-twentieth century advertisements and case studies of present-day , this paper will explore the continuing confusion women face when pressured to live two conflicting lifestyles simultaneously. Analysis of secondary sources will provide contexts for both time periods and ascertain public response to the primary sources. My findings are consistent with my thesis – women in the early 1900s were pressured by popular culture to be the modern girl while society begged her to maintain tradition – a phenomenon today reflected in anime and manga.

The effects of certain aspects of popular culture have long been debated. Some people see popular culture as such an involved phenomenon that it can literally recreate its audience in accordance with the themes and ideas it is propagating – for example, children become violent because of violent video games. Others say that popular culture is a manifestation of the ideals of a particular subgroup and thus a culture created by its people, i.e. repressively violent people creating violent media to release tension. Still others say that popular culture is the amalgamation of these two theories. I have long been interested in popular culture and its impact on audiences and vice versa. For this reason, much of my studies in history classes have been in regards to Japanese popular culture, especially in terms of how the audience is shaped by or shapes the media. I myself am a big fan of anime, Japanese animated films or television shows, and manga, Japanese graphic novels or comic books. Female characters in these art forms are treated much differently than female characters are treated in Western forms of art, and I became curious as to why.

While researching the scholarship available on the portrayal of women in Japanese media, some common themes emerged amongst the discussion. In literature on the early twentieth century, scholarship is replete with discussions of the newly arrived Japanese modern girl – modan gyaru in Japanese and shortened to moga for simplicity – a woman who shed her restrictive traditional Japanese garb and instead donned short dresses and cut her long hair for more face-framing styles. She abandoned old notions of humility and submissiveness to her husband (or father, or brother, or whichever man was nearest) and instead set out to lead a more independent life. She was prominent in advertisements and magazine articles throughout the early and mid twentieth century. Scholarship on anime and manga focus on how audiences respond to and help create the media, the significance of anime and manga as unique art forms, and the redefining of roles so often represented as humans utilizing mechanical limbs as their own or girls transforming into superheroes with uncanny abilities. But no matter how progressive the art or how redefining their themes, the women somehow always seemed to be held back from true independence. That is the focus of this paper: questioning if the past representations and expectations of women still impact Japanese media to this day, maybe even subconsciously. The portrayal of the modern girl in Japanese advertisements and magazines pre-World War II attempted to liberate Japanese women from old ideologies1, but because men were primarily the only ones hired as workers, the majority of women were never able to truly escape their roles as wives and mothers. Only the rich and famous were able to live as modern girls, and because these women received the most attention, masses of women attempted to be like them and break from norms with no success. This phenomenon of the rare modern girl has an impact today on anime and manga, where one can see that animators and artists attempt to give women more freedom and independence, but there is still something that ties them to their roles as wives and mothers both in the media and in reality. Today, women do indeed have more freedom to live as modern girls, but they are given a confusing image as to what defines their gender role when even free, independent girls in anime and manga are often still worrying more about finding husbands and raising children than living life as they desire. What this paper will argue is that Japanese women face confusion to this day when they are told they can be one thing by the media while the restraints of cultural expectations prevent them from being the ideal figure the media encourages them to be.

1 Most notable of these ideologies is ryosai kenbo, according to which women were to stay at home, produce children, and follow every order their husbands dictated.

Current Literature As alluded to above in providing a frame of reference for this topic, there is indeed a large amount of literature and scholarship available on the modern girl and on anime and manga in general, but not much discussing how past themes and events affect those themes and representations of the present. Furthermore, the terms “modern girl,” “anime,” and “manga” almost never even appear in the same work. In the realm of modern girl research, many scholars have made significant contributions. Alys Eve Weinbaum and her colleagues Lynn M. Thomas, Priti Ramamurthy, Uta G. Poiger, Madeleine Yue Dong, and Tani E. Barlow all worked together to produce an exhaustive work titled The Modern Girl Around the World, which describes the modern girl phenomenon as portrayed in cultures all over the globe.2 As most works regarding the modern girl do, this book goes into great depth discussing the status of the modern girl in various societies, her perception of herself, and how the general public viewed her. One of the primary focuses of this work discusses how the modern girl is seen as a symbol of excessive consumption due to the fact that she is often associated with advertisements and decadent enjoyment (primarily through smoking, drinking, and other forms of pleasure), yet she is also a symbol of enlightenment and achievement because of her ability to break the social norm through efforts to become an independent woman. Barbara Sato is perhaps the most well-known for her work regarding the modern girl in early twentieth century Japan, particularly in her work The New Japanese Woman: Modernity, Media, and Women in Interwar Japan.3 Sato is considered the eminent scholar of the modern girl in Japan. In this work, Sato meticulously details all the changes a Japanese woman faced in identifying herself as “woman” during the twentieth century, notably theorizing that women’s changing identity was a primary way of catching attention in advertisements. She even briefly touches on the confusion everyday women faced when they could not become the ideal modern girl, but does not explore it further than saying that the modern girl was not in line with the contemporary ryosai kenbo ideology. Other eminent scholars include Kathleen Uno and Barbara Molony, who offer a kind of hybrid of these previous two theories in positing that “the mass media functioned as a conduit for commercial advertising interests that sought to redefine feminine identity based on the operatives of a model of consumption that promoted idealized images of independent and cosmopolitan

2 Alys Eve Weinbaum, Lynn M. Thomas, Priti Ramamurthy, Uta G. Poiger, Madeleine Yue Dong, and Tani E. Barlow, eds, The Modern Girl Around the World (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008). 3 Barbara Hamill Sato, The New Japanese Woman: Modernity, Media, and Women In Interwar Japan (Durham: Duke University Press, 2003).

women.”4 In other words, the mass media portrayed women in such a way as to redefine female identity in terms of consumerism. Many other scholars have also pursued similar topics, editing in their own nuances but mostly sticking to the same time periods and arguing the same ideas regarding the modern girl, which is why their research has also proved useful in understanding this phenomenon. However, none of the works studied analyze the recurring themes of confusion between media and reality in the past and today, thus providing a niche for original research. Many arguments also posited regard the modern girl as a feminist symbol. If one was interested in studying the modern girl of the early twentieth century in the light of feminism, a very good source is Flowers in Salt: The Beginnings of Feminine Consciousness in Modern Japan by Sharon Sievers.5 While discussion of the modern girl’s relation to feminism and liberation is important, it is critical to note that this paper does not make a feminist argument about whether the continued confusion between media and reality is a good thing or a bad thing. What this argument focuses on is the social implications of the modern girl as they have carried over from the earlier days of the modern girl to the present, where the modern girl is no longer necessarily present in everyday life, but nonetheless whose influence still affects Japanese popular culture. In regards to present day popular culture, there is again much work on anime and manga, as mentioned earlier, in reference to its status and legitimacy as an art form as well as the dynamic interaction between the media and its audience. Susan Napier is considered to be one of the most prominent scholars of anime and modern day Japanese popular culture. Her works typically focus on the themes anime encompass, particularly those related to gender and age.6 Napier claims that shojo anime, or anime aimed at younger females, does indeed possess strong, independent female lead characters, but overturning the stereotype of the typically male hero is a difficult one, no matter how hard creators try; this sparks a connection between the modern girl of the past and representations of women in present day. She and many other researchers also focus on how anime and manga have spread to create a fan cult in the United States, another popular

4 Kathleen S. Uno and Barbara Molony, Gendering Modern Japanese History (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Asia Center, 2005), 564. 5 Sharon L. Sievers, Flowers in Salt: The Beginnings of Feminine Consciousness in Modern Japan (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983). Sievers particularly focuses on the magazine Bluestocking, first issued in 1911, and how the women who produced the magazine originally wrote articles on art and culture but eventually argued for feminist causes under pressure by their readers. It was the spark that ignited the New Woman’s Society and their magazine Josei domei (Women’s League) to advocate women’s suffrage in later 1918. The Bluestockings weren’t the first feminists in Japan, but they were certainly the shapers of this era’s particular type of feminism. 6 Susan J. Napier, Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005).

topic for anime-enthusiast scholars.7 There is a wide variety of sources regarding different perceptions of themes and responses to anime, some including gender discussion – but none focus on how the modern girl may have impacted present-day popular culture and the representation of Japanese women. It is for this very reason that this paper was written; analysis of different scenes from episodes of anime will relate the connection with the twentieth century modern girl. The following discussion will provide a link between past and present that has not been established before. It is clear that the modern girl does indeed have an impact on present day Japanese popular culture, just as she did in the early twentieth century. Her legacy has left confusion, just as she stirred unrest in her day, between what is expected and what is realistically attainable. This confusion provides insight into the legacy of culture and historic ideals, and can even be utilized to understand perceptions of the status quo around the world. But first – a disclaimer and some background information, for context.

The Modernizing Japan8 Japan in the second half of the nineteenth century experienced an amazingly fast-paced period. In the 1850s, a span of 200 years of self-imposed isolation ended when Commodore Matthew Perry bullied Japan into signing trade agreements with western nations. Japan saw this as a heinous act of western imperialism in which it was forced to do things against its will that would benefit western nations more than Japan itself – but Japan still made efforts to grow as a nation. From 1868 to 1945, a time known as the Empire of Japan, Japan experienced drastic economic growth. Beginning in 1870, Japan’s industrial revolution produced railroads, textile industries of cotton and silk, and improved road and land reform plans to prepare for a developed Japan. In a desire to modernize, Japan adopted western institutions and business practices and sent its students to western countries to be educated. Styles of clothing changed from traditional kimono to business suits and ties. Media became less restricted and more liberal, and gender roles and family settings began to change. With material wealth and the perception that modernization necessarily required imperialism, Japan grew desirous of acquiring colonies. The Sino-Japanese war erupted between Japan and China over Korea in 1894, and in 1895 Japan came away victorious and encouraged by the prospects of its first great win. Japan again entered war in 1904, this time with Russia over rights to Manchuria, and again walked away victorious and the new owner of Manchuria in 1905.

7 Patrick Drazen, Anime Explosion! The What? Why? And WOW! of Japanese Animation (Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2003). 8 James L. McClain, Japan: A Modern History (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2002). My entire discussion of Japanese modern history relies on this renowned work (unless otherwise noted).

Japan then entered World War I on the side of the Allies and continued to expand its power as the gap between rich and poor widened and women were restricted from participating in this new world. Relations with western nations grew more and more strained as World War II approached. As political and militaristic goals evolved with Japan’s modernization, so too did social norms and expectations. While the duty of having children and raising a respectable family had always been key to Japanese culture, the way in which this was achieved changed with the modernization and attempted westernization of Japan. Women were indeed held in higher regard than in the past. Their opinions were valued and they were beginning to become involved in groups of their own, however limited in their scope, since they were still forbidden from engaging in political activities until 1946. No longer were they simply the bearers and birth-givers of children – they were now invited to participate in the process of raising children and educating them on life as a Japanese and the importance of being a “good little citizen.” The ideology that developed, called ryosai kenbo, embodied the ideals of being a perfect wife and mother as women’s contribution to society. It was because of the women that Japan could become great, but only if they took proper care in remaining at home, taking care of their husbands, and educating respectable children. As social, political, and militaristic norms and policies evolved, contemporary popular culture evolved as well. While for two centuries the ideal Japanese woman had a long thin face, fair skin, small lips, blackened teeth, a thickset neck, and rounded shoulders, ideals in 1907 shifted to pale faces, small mouths, narrow eyes, and an all-around more submissive appearance.9 Women were urged to get an education not in an attempt to promote the status of their gender, but rather so that they could make contributions to society in teaching their “little citizen” children well.10 The modern girl emerged in the early 1920s in defiance of these norms, as she wanted to be her own independent woman and live for the pleasures that life had to offer her rather than living as a tool for the nation. This is the modern girl whose impact on the twentieth century still affects popular culture to this day.

Japan’s Moga A symbol of modernity and western influence, the modern girl assuredly had an impact on Japanese society. The modern girl was very similar to the American flappers and Gibson girls

9 Laura Miller, “Media Typifications and Hip ‘Bijin’,” U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal: A Journal for the International Exchange of Gender Studies no. 19 (September 2000): 176-205. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed November 16, 2011), 177. 10 Sarah Frederick, Turning Pages: Reading and Writing Women’s Magazines in Interwar Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006), 44.

of the 1920s. She had short hair and threw aside her cumbersome kimono in order to be more free to dance and play.11 She threw tradition to the wind and instead of representing the humility women had always previously shown, her character was one of decadence. Thus, she was an ideal model for Japanese advertisements. She advertised everything: Sapporo beer, Suntory wine, Calpis (another form of drink), cosmetics, toiletries, and even the linkage of the Ginza and Asakua subway.12 In 1930, artist and social commentator Sakai Kiyoshi illustrated The Floating World on Parade, alluding to the “Floating World” of pleasure districts of Yoshiwara, and asserted that the decadent moga arose as a result of capitalism – it is only fitting that her creator would be the source of her publicity.13 The moga was “intricately related to the rise of mass consumer culture” in that her “defiance against patriarchal control of women’s body and sexuality, and cosmopolitan urban taste, all led a new sense of femininity.”14 The desire for everyday women to be the glamorous and exciting moga created a cultural crisis as more conservative thinkers15 and other generations believed that the pursuit for material wealth, beauty, and indulgence overshadowed the importance of family status, abilities, and character, to name a few.16 For those that admired her, she was considered to be embarking into a brave new world of humans because she was not concerned with work but rather with her own personal satisfaction and pleasure. In this case, however, the women became commodities personified and merely superficial people urged on by superficial desires.17 So said those that disapproved. Nevertheless, many approved of the modern girl and the change she proffered. While her counterpart, the modan booi (modern boy or mobo) was faceless and barely present, the moga’s face boldly showed. With long legs, curves unhidden by flowing kimono, short hair to facilitate “violent hugging,” and flirtatiousness, she courted men for their physical attractiveness rather than their spiritual beauty as was previously encouraged. Furthermore, she asserted her sexuality in such a way that she may have been misconstrued as a sexual object, but was instead trying to be herself for her own sake and not for the sake of men. The biggest reason people feared her

11 Barbara Hamill Sato, The New Japanese Woman: Modernity, Media, And Women In Interwar Japan (Durham: Duke University Press, 2003), 54. 12 Ibid., 46. 13 Mark Driscoll, Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2010), 136. 14 Alys Eve Weinbaum, Lynn M. Thomas, Priti Ramamurthy, Uta G. Poiger, Madeleine Yue Dong, and Tani E. Barlow, eds, The Modern Girl Around the World (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008), 240. 15 Particularly country-dwellers. Sharon A. Minichiello, ed., Japan’s Competing Modernities: Issues in Culture and Democracy, 1900-1930 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998), 93. 16 Laura Miller, “Media Typifications and Hip ‘Bijin’,” U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal: A Journal for the International Exchange of Gender Studies no. 19 (September 2000): 176-205. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed November 16, 2011), 176. 17 Driscoll, Absolute Erotic, Absolute Grotesque, 142-147.

was for her anti-motherhood attitude and yearning to be out of the house and alongside men instead of in the home coddling children. She was militant in the sense that she aggressively maintained her image despite any opposition or criticism.18 She was identified as one who was awakened, and although she was not very present in everyday life, her sheer defiance and strength made her a force to be reckoned with. She was the ideal of what women could be, even if 99% of women still wore the traditional kimono in 1925.19 Ultimately, she was fully utilized as the object of consumerism, and nearly every woman wanted to be her. The far-flung influence the Japanese moga had on everyday consumers necessitated her use in women’s magazines, particularly those that focused on her more risqué nature – pregnancies out of wedlock, vanity, and adultery. As women became more involved in these magazines, they even began submitting their own letters and articles, acts that were almost unheard of in Japanese culture before modernization. Women’s participation in literature was viewed as racy, and society criticized the modern girl for being a bad influence on society.20 Nevertheless, advertisers still used her and women still strived to be her, even against all odds and societal restrictions – but the striving was often in vain, for usually only the richest women could afford the life of indulgence enjoyed by the modern girl. Just as it was in the United States, the period of the 1920s in Japan was a time of rapid modernization and breaks with traditional gender roles. Japan had gone from having an agriculturally based economy to focusing on heavy industry and factory production in the course of a few decades, giving them a hugely growing economy and tremendous opportunity to expand their power. Turbulent times ensued as a result of worsening working conditions, and the government sought a way to unify Japan’s people – under middle-class values reminiscent of samurai code, epitomized by the new ideology of ryosai kenbo. While American women chopped their hair and donned “flapper” dresses, women in Japan followed suit by adopting western-style dress and participating in activities they had previously been barred from. With new societal expectations came changing notions of beauty, and thus representations of women changed in Japanese advertising. Advertisements by the cosmetic company Shiseido in particular serve as prime illustrations of women’s representation as newly independent women. This presented a wave of confusion to the Japanese public. Should women adopt the style of the

18 Miriam Silverberg, Erotic Grotesque Nonsense (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006), 52-69, 268. 19 Barbara Hamill Sato, The New Japanese Woman: Modernity, Media, And Women In Interwar Japan (Durham: Duke University Press, 2003), 47-52. 20 Sarah Frederick, Turning Pages: Reading and Writing Women’s Magazines in Interwar Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006), 14.

modern girl presented in advertisements, or live the life of a traditional mother as advocated by the state? Instead of living the life of indulgence that women in advertisements were portrayed to have, women were expected to selflessly dedicate their lives to their families so that children would grow up to be good citizens and so that their husbands could continue to support the nation in their careers. Advertisements from 1914-1930 portray the new image of the modern girl striving to be the new ideal of beauty while women in reality strived to be what society expected of a “good wife and wise mother”. As World War II dawned in the land of the rising sun, the misguided “democratic” government reverted to its roots and led its country in a more monarchial way. Women were banned from participating in the public arena, and the modern girl faded away as inflation and poverty stole any excess money away from consumers and rendered luxuries unobtainable. But the moga’s legacy continues to impact current day popular culture, as will be discussed later. The analysis of magazine advertisements and articles, a critical component of popular culture of the early to mid 1900s, provides examples of how the modern girl impacted Japanese culture in the past.

The Moga in Her Scene21 It was a fine line that women had to walk between tradition and progressivism, as both were expected of the ryosai kenbo ideology. The title “Taisho supermom”22 demanded that “good wives, wise mothers” carefully balance a notion of self- awareness with the requirements of traditional obligations.23 Her training would permit her to http://www.flickr.com/photos/g work part-time outside of the home if she wished, Figure 1 for she was not confined to the domain of her residence; rather, state-sanctioned women’s groups encouraged those of the ryosai kenbo ideology to participate for the betterment of society and to become a figure of public visibility so that her perspective could be seen and heard, as depicted in

21 A great majority of my images will be selected from Gennifer Weisenfeld’s digital archive MIT Visualizing Cultures, and I will provide links to the images as I discuss them. Otherwise, I will note where these images can be found. 22 A term coined today by historian James McClain in reference to all that a “good wife, wise mother” had to do. 23 James L. McClain, Japan: A Modern History (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2002), 348.

Figure 1.24 Further still, specific women’s magazines enabled women to communicate to learn the best ways to fulfill their roles as “good wives and wise mothers” while still developing the identity of the ideology as new ideas were born and discussed through editorial sections.25 When all was said and done, after managing all her household duties and possible external work, middle class ladies were still believed to be able to participate in “polite accomplishments” such as the tea ceremony, flower arranging, and others.26 The duties of “good wives, wise mothers” were neither few nor simple, so where did this leave time for the indulgence and luxury that advertisements so prolifically depicted women could enjoy with their products? As it happened, women were communicating more and more through editorials in magazines and within women’s groups thanks to government action to promote the spread of ideas amongst followers of the ryosai kenbo ideology. As women communicated within the realms of women’s organizations and magazines targeted at them, these notions of women’s roles and values began to change. Some believed that there were so many roles women had to fulfill – “daughter, wife, mother, friend to others, citizen to the nation, human being to the world” – and the role of “good wife, wise mother” only served as a stepping stone to fulfilling all the other roles a woman was expected to maintain.27 Because of this encouraged communication, surveys conducted between 1920 and 1934 in Japan found that 20 percent of factory girls read these magazines, along with 75 percent of other working women and 90 percent of students.28 Ume Tsuda, a prominent Japanese woman educator in the early 1900s, asserted that women would only continue to grow as people if they met their new expectations and took advantage of the freedoms they’d been granted – but that did not mean they should stop there.29 The government succeeded in establishing a role model for Japanese women, but it also restrained itself from interfering on a cultural level as deemed necessary by Japanese law, thus allowing women to continually redefine the roles and expectations they truly filled and met for the advancement of Japanese women.

24 Mark A. Jones, Children as Treasures: Childhood and the Middle Class in Early Twentieth Century Japan (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010), 136-139. Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatochy/382368196/. 25 Ibid., 142. 26 McClain, Japan: A Modern History, 375. 27 Ibid., 381. 28 Sarah Frederick, Turning Pages: Reading and Writing Women’s Magazines in Interwar Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2006) 6-7. 29 Ume Tsuda to the members of the Doso-Kwai, July 1908. N/A. 119.

Despite this image projected by the government, the modern girl was used to advertise every product imaginable. After all, she was what all women aimed to be to attract a perfect mate, and as women were primary consumers for their households, of course they would do what the ideal expected. The modan gyaru even served simply as a human accessory for men to enjoy the company of on a taxi ride to various work appointments.30 But nowhere was a woman more of an object of beauty than in cosmetic advertisements. By the early 1910s, women were indeed depicted in advertisements with products (Figure 2), but in a way that separated them from the product and thus http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/sh they were only there to be associated with the

Figure 2 product and attract an audience.31 These early advertisements were easily associated with ancient Japanese culture in symbolism and attire resounding with allusions to classics such as The Tale of Genji and The Tale of Ise, a sure way to attract customers by appealing to these long-held notions of ideal beauty. Gennifer Weisenfeld, an associate professor of art and art history at Duke University, says these women “with their dramatic porcelain-white powdered skin and layered opulent robes…proudly display their unbound long flowing black hair (taregami) that is the central visual feature of these images and becomes an exaggerated compositional device for foregrounding the product and its application.”32 If one wanted to be as beautiful as these time-honored women, one needed only to use whatever product was being advertised in order to be beautiful and what a future husband would want. This decade was one in which popular ideals most closely matched what was being advertised, and thus there are fewer discrepancies between what the Japanese populace expected women to be and how they were portrayed in advertisements.

30 Sato, The New Japanese Woman: Modernity, Media, And Women In Interwar Japan, 121. 31 Inoue, “Things That Speak: Peirce, Benjamin, and the Kinesthetics of Commodity Advertisement in Japanese Women’s Magazines, 1900 to the 1930s,” 531-532. Additional pictures shown. This image from: http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/shiseido_03/sh_gal_01_thumb.html. 32 Gennifer Weisenfeld, MIT Visualizing Cultures, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/home/index.html. Under heading “Introduction.”

As women were granted more freedoms, the women of advertisements began to change in the later 1910s. Ironically, this was also the time when the ryosai kenbo ideology began to gain popularity. Weisenfeld points out the fact that around 1914, women in Shiseido advertisements – a Japanese cosmetic company – “show[ed] a clear stylistic reference to the widely popular American Gibson Girl who was known for her wit, charm, and beauty, as well as her spirited independence” (Figure 3).33 This type of woman was typified by under-control, upswept hair and a sly head-tilt that indicated a newfound mischievousness and sense of self. She had a trendy http://ocw mitFigure edu/ans7870/21f/21f 3 kimono much less restrictive than those of ancient eras, and her “modish style [was] mirrored in the distinctive stylized blocky typography used for the product name.”34 Women became bolder in ways other than their appearance by either holding or pointing directly to products, and the product itself was further accompanied by direct testimonials of women who had used the product and loved it.35 Seductive glances and more revealing kimono showed viewers of this advertisement what women were expected to be in order to be physically attractive – as well as what products they needed to be so. However, this broke with the image of the demure, altruistic wife according to the ryosai kenbo ideology upon which the government based its ideal woman. In this case, should women do as the government said or continue to adopt their own ideals? In answer, women would typically don the personality consistent with ryosai kenbo ideology, but retain the look of the modern girl.

33 Ibid. 34 Ibid., under the heading “Cosmopolitan Glamour.” 35 Inoue, “Things That Speak: Peirce, Benjamin, and the Kinesthetics of Commodity Advertisement in Japanese Women’s Magazines, 1900 to the 1930s,” 535. Pictures on 533, 534, and 536.

The period of the 1920s was certainly a time of revolution for the Japanese woman’s image. As readership declined, magazines were increasingly forced to shut down if they didn’t move out of the “good wife, wise mother” mentality into one that was more desirable in the eyes of assertive women seeking freedom.36 Besides becoming more modern in dress and attitude, women were actually becoming more western, as illustrated by kimono frequently replaced with western dress and long, illustrious hair so sought after throughout Japan’s history chopped and replaced with flapper hairstyles (Figure 4).37 “From the 1920s,” Figure 4 states Weisenfeld, “the Euro-American icon of the rebellious and sensual flapper with her short sleek hairstyle, elegant shift dresses, visible makeup, and public cigarette smoking became a prominent stylistic inspiration for Shiseido imagery and modern girl fashion around the world.”38 As companies (especially Shiseido) began to realize how profitable advertisements could make a company, ads were increasingly inserted into actual text of magazine articles so as to maximize potential gain.39 So as not to confuse ad text with actual magazine article copy, advertisement text was becoming very minimalistic and pictures even more of a focal point. Thus, the model of the advertisement grew ever more important for attracting consumers and selling product. It was at this point that celebrities were even more heavily recruited so women could equate benefits of a product to the beauty and success of a celebrity.40 Again, one can see how women were subjected to being purely objects for attracting a mate, always comparing themselves with women in advertisements, because they either aspire to be them or to be better than them in terms of attractiveness, and men are left admiring the beauty or seductive qualities of the attractive women models. However, as mentioned above, this new transformation was mainly in personality and appearance rather than in lifestyle. Admittedly, some women did go out and make independent lives for themselves, but in reality, most remained at home to care for the children and their

36 Ibid., 519. 37 Richard S. Thornton, “Japanese Posters: The First 100 Years,” Design Issues 6, no. 1 (1989): 8. 38 Weisenfeld, MIT Visualizing Cultures, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/home/index.html. Under heading “Introduction.” 39 Inoue, “Things That Speak: Peirce, Benjamin, and the Kinesthetics of Commodity Advertisement in Japanese Women’s Magazines, 1900 to the 1930s,” 526. 40 Ibid., 538.

husbands. Magazines gradually fazed out advertisements depicting women consistent with the ryosai kenbo ideology as women began searching for a more popular reality for their existences, and women did adopt this persona. Nonetheless, actual reality was not exactly changed.41 The “new family” so heartily advertised as being the new wave of family values was supposed to be one in which men and women were totally equal – advertisements were sure to present this image as marketing directors bought into the new ideal. But, when it came time to test the effectiveness of the new ads, the marketing campaign was deemed a flop as women admired the new ideals but remained loyal housewives.42 Now, advertisements for ramen noodles portrayed a dutiful wife presenting her husband with the noodles she labored to make, instead of the two working together to prepare supper.43 Furthermore, women dominated the ads for hygiene and cosmetics while men advertised the latest information or entertainment, reinforcing the woman’s role to look desirable while the husband earned the family’s bread.44 Although advertisements attempted to give women a new opening in life, reality just did not line up with the developing ideal. The blurred line between reality and representation came to a pinnacle in the mid- to late 1920s. A 1922 advertisement for port wine (Figure 5) portrays a woman who appears to be naked but for some jewelry (she is covered in shadow from her shoulders down), her head slightly tilted, her smile expressing satisfaction for her full glass of wine. A 1931 drawing of a woman completely exposed but for a small censor bar on her lower abdomen is actually an advertisement for Meiji chocolate, and that sensor bar is actually the chocolate bar’s wrapper (Figure 6).45 The advertisement for wine tells the viewer how

happy and sexy they will feel while drinking this wine, Figure 5 while the chocolate ad also evokes the feeling that women will feel sexy, yet playful, by eating the chocolate. When women see these ads, they will expect that they can be more free and

41 Kathleen S. Uno and Barbara Molony, Gendering Modern Japanese History (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Asia Center, 2005), 100. 42 Aki Hirota, “Image-makers and Victims: The Croissant Syndrome and Yellow Cabs,” U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal: A Journal for the International Exchange of Gender Studies no. 19 (September 2000), 88. 43 Nanette Gottlieb, “Discriminatory language in Japan: Burakumin, the disabled and women,” Asian Studies Review 22, no. 2 (June 1998), 166. 44 Anne Cooper-Chen and others, "Sex Roles in East Asian Magazine Advertising," Gazette 55, no. 3 (1995), 218. 45 Thornton, “Japanese Posters: The First 100 Years,” 9. Pictures on this page as well.

playful in everyday life as independent women, but in reality they will still be demure and dutiful wives. A successfully beautiful woman, as evidenced in one 1927 Shiseido Cold Cream poster, can enjoy a fantasy life of leisure, while in reality, a “good wife, wise mother’s” work is never done.46 Perhaps an example of the starkest contrast between reality and expectations of women, outright nudity in photos cannot have made it any easier for women to find what they believed to be their ideal identity in Japanese society. The modern girl was everything a developing society expected a woman to be. She was free to live life as she wanted in the sense that she could get an education, work outside the home, and marry whomever she wanted and have a say in how their children were raised. Nevertheless, she was not free from the long-standing expectation that she be a “good wife and wise mother.” Advertisements for all different products – but especially cosmetics – from the time period 1914-1930 showcase beautiful, independent women. They started out in the traditional sense, beautiful as time-honored traditions have expected, but Figure 6 changed to become the more liberal modan gyaru who is more free from cultural restrictions in theory. In reality, most women were restricted to following the ryosai kenbo ideology that the government and society instituted.

Changes in the Latter Half of the Twentieth Century47 In 1931, the phenomenon of the modern girl in Japan ended with Japan’s reversion to nationalist policies and ideals. Japan grew even more desperate to preserve its “Japaneseness” and to prevent the influence of western culture. As a result, legislation such as the reinstituted Meiji Civil Code forbade women from appearing on a public scale such as they had before. Women were merely necessary to fill the spots in factories left by men as they went off to fight in the second Sino-Japanese war and the quest for Manchuria, which gradually evolved to be part of World War II. With Japan’s defeat in World War II, General Douglas MacArthur of the American Army was essentially put in charge of all the affairs of Japan as a sort of pseudo- emperor. It was his task to reinstitute a Constitution in Japan – a constitution for true democracy

46 Weisenfeld, MIT Visualizing Cultures, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/home/index.html. Under heading “Cosmopolitan Glamour.”

47 Again, much of what I write here can by found in James L. McClain, Japan: A Modern History (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2002), unless otherwise noted.

and not Japan’s previously held notions in which the lucky few were still the all-powerful. Nevertheless, although it was MacArthur’s task to spread democracy in the country and improve living conditions for men and women alike, destitution was rampant and food and shelter nearly impossible to come by. Women were used as prostitutes for the occupying soldiers and forced to toil away in whatever way possible to earn some food for their families and themselves. In 1945, the empire of the rising sun was thus dissolved, and in 1946 women were granted the right to vote. No longer an imperial nation, Japan set to restoring its relations with those it had harmed, most notably the United States, China, and Korea. Following the Cold War, Japan set a shaky peace treaty with the Soviet Union and set out in the pursuit of economic recovery. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Japan steadily grew to become one of the biggest economic powerhouses in the world; they became so powerful that western nations even began to fear them and flocked to them for security, in hopes of preventing Japan’s previous imperialism. The presence of women in the media resurfaced as feminist groups shifted from a presence in general magazines to one in specialty magazines defined by age, hobbies, and interests. They used these identifiers to appeal to men and women alike in efforts to improve the relegated situation of women in Japan despite the fact that they were finally able to vote. These women’s groups de-emphasized marriage, encouraged consumption, and criticized the media for its male-dominated image.48 Because of the changing times, the Japanese public was willing to listen to groups that just a decade ago would have been perceived as radical and unworthy of attention. As the economy continued to boom, the media of the 1970s focused highly on the independent woman – particularly on cosmetics, clothing, style, and diction as the most important things for a woman to devote her time to. She had a lot of catching up to do with men who had long been a presence in the white-collar workforce, so now she had her work cut out for her in making a statement herself. Businesses grew so wrapped up in this media that they began to market products to the “New Family” – a family in which men and women were equal in all respects, sharing chores fairly as men did some cooking and cleaning while women earned paychecks from their part-time jobs. However, these advertising campaigns were a flop – products were not bought as a result of these campaigns, because despite the fact that women were indeed present in the workforce, they were still the sole performers of chores at home.49

48 Kathleen S. Uno and Barbara Molony, Gendering Modern Japanese History (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Asia Center, 2005), 238, 533-566. 49 Aki Hirota, “Image-makers and Victims: The Croissant Syndrome and Yellow Cabs,” U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal: A Journal for the International Exchange of Gender Studies no. 19 (September 2000), 84-88.

Nevertheless, the media continued to call for a to return to traditional Japanese culture while simultaneously offering an escape from the stressful whirlwind that was the citizens’ busy lives. Women were offered advice through magazines50 on how to enjoy life in general, often with specific instructions reminiscent of school lessons.51 While women in the early 1900s were subject to the confusion of what magazines and advertisements told them they could be yet restricted to what reality would permit, so too were the lawfully free women of the 1970s torn between what the media told them they could be but reality restricted. They were forced to utilize media as an escape instead of an example, for their duties as wives and mothers still followed them into the present age. In the early 1980s, Japan was at the peak of its economic performance – but the late 1980s popped Japan’s blossoming economic bubble. The economy is still struggling even in the present day, but Japan continues to be one of the leading exporters of the latest technology and many forms of popular culture. Of course, the concepts of beauty changed with the changing popular culture. Today, the image of a beautiful woman contains huge eyes, sloping shoulders, and jutting chins, a more mature version of the popular cute idol (Lolita) that had developed in the 1970s. This present-day beautiful woman came to be known as the beautiful young maiden (bishojo), a perky, well-mannered, and well-dressed young woman. She became focused on being sexy and fit in the 1990s, and “bust-up” products were advertised in magazines and prominently displayed in Japanese comic books (manga). Unique styles developed in subcultures, including tanning, face-bleaching, streaked hair (often with gray), platform shoes, miniskirts, bleached hair, tall socks, and big white smiles. Emphasis was placed on having perfect eyebrows and skin, and women’s magazines even today so thoughtfully detail how women can be the perfect bishojo.52 Although many magazines now depict women as career- oriented individuals, many others still focus on this topic of appearance. Beauty and thinness are perceived as more important to obtaining a good career than education and networking. This resonates with housewives, who hope that being beautiful will somehow promote intelligence and thus freer lifestyles.53 They compare themselves to the women in these magazines because they want to be accepted by the society they mistakenly believe exists outside of their home. Manga

50 Six magazines launched during this time continue to be popular even in the present day, including An AN, Non-no, JJ, MORE, 25 ans, and With. 51 D.P. Martinez, ed, The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture: Gender, Shifting Boundaries and Global Culture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 91-125. 52 Laura Miller, “Media Typifications and Hip ‘Bijin’,” U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal: A Journal for the International Exchange of Gender Studies no. 19 (September 2000), 178-200. 53 Catherine Luther and Nancy Nentl, "Japanese Teenage Girls--their Ad-Inspired Social Comparison Behavior and Perceptions of Women's Roles," Gazette 63, no. 1 (2001): 25-37.

and anime – Japanese comic books and animated television shows – also perpetuate these themes. As mentioned above, women seek out these media not only for entertainment, but also to escape from the stresses of their lives. When manga and anime propagate the same confusion as the modern girl advertisements, women in the present day are left disillusioned with reality because of what society will not accept.

Manga and Anime: The Popular Culture of Today54 When asked what Japanese popular culture consists of in the present day, anime and manga jump to the forefront of the list. Manga was born during the occupation of General MacArthur in the 1940s, arguably as a result of western influence. Throughout the twentieth century, manga gained in popularity as its themes expanded to reach a wider audience. Originally, superheroes and people that were part machine (or even fully machine) ruled the fantasies of authors and audiences of manga alike. Eventually, as women became more of an audience, themes expanded to include questions of gender roles, notably putting women in independent lead roles as anything from everyday schoolgirls to crime scene investigators. A survey conducted in 2006 sought to ascertain just how popular manga is in Japan, with results justifying the conclusion that manga is certainly a form of Japanese popular culture. Big Comic Spirits reached an audience of 394,042 young “salarymen” (or recent college graduates new to the business world); YOU entertained 202,750 people with romance-oriented women’s comics; and Office YOU and Chorus, both also geared towards young women, entertained 120,000 and 164,583, respectively.55 Encompassing approximately one million of Japan’s then-population of about 123 million – and not even a comprehensive survey of all the manga media available – it is quite evident that manga is a considerable form of popular culture in Japan. Anime, manga’s animated counterpart, originated in about 1917 with Japan’s first animated features, but the characteristic style of anime known today truly got its start in 1960 with the ingenious work of and expanded to reach audiences outside of Japan in the 1980s. Again, arguably influenced by the success of Walt Disney’s works, Japan, in its time of asserting “Japaneseness” and unique culture, sought to exercise its own ideas of animated films to eventually become so all-encompassing that anime is even used to advertise products in commercials or to launch internet-based releases. Anime television shows satisfy every genre,

54 Much of my general discussion of manga comes from Fred Patten, Watching Anime, Reading Manga (Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2004). The general discussion of anime and its themes borrows a lot from Susan J. Napier, Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005). Consider this unless otherwise noted. 55 Mark W. MacWilliams, ed, Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime (Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2008), 12.

and while there are anime shows specifically for children, anime is typically a media veered toward adults. One can always spot an anime, signaled by exaggerated emotions illustrated in big eyes and sometimes even comical body proportions. Again, the survey mentioned above delved into just how popular anime was in Japan in 2006, with the following results: “On Japanese TV currently, over eighty anime shows reach tens of millions of consumers each week. It is clear that the manga and anime culture industries are a powerful presence in Japanese mass media today.”56 That is tens of millions of Japanese people observing anime on a regular basis. Anime and manga are certainly a form of popular culture in Japan in the present day, both influencing and reflecting the popular thought of today just as magazines and advertisements did in the popular culture of the early to mid-1900s.

Sailor Moon and Naruto: A Case Study on Opposite Ends of the Manga/Anime Spectrum To provide specific examples of the continued confusion women face regarding how they should be as opposed to how popular culture presents them, two different anime that are aimed at two completely different audiences have been selected for analysis. First, an overview of the themes, audiences, and plots, will be provided, followed by detailed analysis to show the confusion they still represent to women viewers. As a bit of background, Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon, or “Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon,” debuted in Japan on March 7, 1992 and ran for 200 episodes throughout 1992-1997, appearing in the United States in 1995. Throughout this time, three full-length animated movies were made to provide further insight into the sailors’ lives. Fred Patten, a scholar of both manga and anime, sums up the plot as follows: “Fourteen-year-old Usagi (which means “Bunny” in English; she is “Serena” in the U.S. version) is a giggly junior-high student who is given a magic brooch by Luna, a talking cat from the Moon Kingdom. This transforms her into Sailor Moon, a superheroine who fights the evil monsters from the Dark Universe with a growing team of Sailor Scouts: , , etc. Sailor Moon took the formula of boys’ superhero teams and made it respectable for girls, running for 200 weekly episodes in Japan. Only sixty- five were dubbed for the United States, and when it was taken off the air, a 1996 Internet protest campaign is said to have won 30,000 signatures to put it back on.”57

Susan Napier, probably the most eminent female scholar of Japanese anime and manga, has argued that Sailor Moon possibly gained so much popularity from an older audience because

56 MacWilliams, ed, Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime, 13. 57 Fred Patten, Watching Anime, Reading Manga (Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2004), 50.

Sailor Moon does not achieve her independence and power from acting like a man – she gets things done in her own cute, ditzy way, making her all the more endearing to her audience.58 Furthermore, Sailor Moon was able to attract younger audiences with her “cuteness” and beautifying abilities, symbolized in her transformation sequence – which is essentially a makeover, complete with nail polish, makeup, new clothes, and a new hairstyle – every single time she goes out to fight evil. Young girls ate up the products sold in her name – everything from her magical accessories to simple notebook paper – so that they too could emulate this beautiful soldier.59 Further still, Sailor Moon almost never has to resort to outright violence to defeat her opponent – she does it with a kind spirit and the humility representative of a traditional Japanese woman. As long as they adhered to the code of the samurai before them, they too could join the ranks of honorable warriors – even as women.60 One can already begin to see the confusion women and even young girls face regarding how they should fulfill their gender roles – should they be strong and independent like a man? How can they do so if they must be meek and resort to their “kind spirits” to always win the day? Is there anything really so wrong with adhering to tradition? Why not be what the past has expected women to be, if Sailor Moon and her friends can save the day while maintaining those time-honored values? Sailor Moon has received a great deal of scholarly attention because of these questions and the fact that she was one of the first in the “beautiful fighting girl” phenomenon that has had so much of an effect on bewildering the roles women feel they need to maintain. Saito Tamaki, a respected and eminent Japanese male scholar on manga and anime, has argued that Sailor Moon is so lovable because she is so rare in western cultures as a beautiful fighting girl strong in her ideas and actions but entirely feminine in her personality. It is almost paradoxical, and thus, he asserts, “while beautiful fighting girls do contest the traditional image of women, they may at the same time be a reflection of the idea of the ‘weak female.’ As long as fantasy has any basis in reality, young girls will always be weak beings; they cannot fight until they change into their battle uniforms.”61 Jason Thompson, in his ambitious endeavor to review every single manga created to the time of the publication of his guide, assesses that Sailor Moon is undoubtedly about love, marriage, and the baby carriage (as later examples will illustrate), but gender roles are not

58 Susan J. Napier, From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Mind of the West (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007), 181. 59 Susan J. Napier, Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005), 7. 60 Patrick Drazen, Anime Explosion! The What? Why? And WOW! of Japanese Animation (Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2003), 117-119. 61 Saito Tamaki, Beautiful Fighting Girl (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2011), 52.

entirely reactionary. For example, Sailor Moon becomes less weak throughout the series as her boyfriend, Tuxedo Mask, is repeatedly kidnapped and brainwashed, leaving Sailor Moon to be the savior instead of him.62 Women’s roles in anime and manga, exemplified by the quintessential performance of Sailor Moon, create confusing images for women in portraying that they can achieve certain things that are clearly impossible in the real world, just as the modern girl of the early 1900s created a confusing image for what women could or should achieve in their realities. Undoubtedly, Sailor Moon does indeed “show images of powerful young women” (Figure 7) and “certainly suggests alternatives to the notion of Japanese women as passive and domesticated.”63 Being of the shojo genre, Sailor Moon is targeted at young and teenaged girls, thus showing these girls that they do not have to live a passive existence as tradition has taught them. In

Figure 7 episode 45 (40 in the English dubbed version), “The Sailor Warriors Die! The Tragic Final Battle,” Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, , and Sailor Venus set off to the kingdom of the evil Negaverse to destroy the evil queen who has been draining the energy of the world in an attempt to be queen of the entire universe. Along the way, every single one of Sailor Moon’s friends sacrifices themselves in epic individual battles against warriors the queen sends out to hone in on each sailor’s individual weaknesses. They fight bravely and even give up their lives so that Sailor Moon can continue on to defeat the queen. In the next episode, “Usagi’s Everlasting Wish! A New Reincarnation,” Sailor Moon does indeed defeat the evil Queen Beryl with the help of the souls of her friends. With the last of Sailor Moon’s magical powers – and the last of her life-giving energy – she wishes for her friends to be reincarnated and, luckily for her, she is included in the group for a second chance at life. Although they don’t remember each other at first, they gradually remember what happened to them throughout the course of the next episode as they embark on their next world-saving escapades. Obviously these young women are not the typical demure Japanese girls as dictated

62 Jason Thompson, Manga: The Complete Guide (New York: Del Rey, 2007), 309. 63 Susan J. Napier, Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005), 33. Picture from a Google Image search.

by tradition. They are strong, powerful, and the only people who can save the world from the terrors the Negaverse throws at them. Even the title of one episode, “Women Should Be Strong and Beautiful! Rei’s New Killer Move,” reminds us of how powerful these girls are. As Susan Napier so eloquently states, “…because Japanese women are still relatively disempowered, the overturning of the stereotype of feminine submissiveness may create a particularly festive resonance. In the animated space, female characters seem to glory in manifestations of power still denied in the real world.”64 The sailor scouts are visibly exuberant with the pride accompanying their victories and the powers they possess. However, just as the life of the modern girl in the early 1900s was really only possible for the rich few and the majority of the public couldn’t live a fully uninhibited life, there is always something that holds the sailor scouts back from being fully uninhibited by tradition as well. In those same episodes mentioned above, while Sailor Moon does indeed defeat the evil queen with the help of her friends, she does it with the power of love and humility. While there is certainly nothing wrong with prevailing under such noble virtues, this reflects traditional notions that women should be quiet, unassuming, and virtuous in all their ways. Meanwhile, men in the show, like Tuxedo Mask, win their battles with brute strength and force, again reflecting traditional values that men are more powerful. Furthermore, the girls often rely more on their accessories and clothing to defeat their enemies than actual weapons. For example, in “Usagi’s Crisis! The Tiara Doesn’t Work,” Sailor Moon can not fight her enemies briefly due to her malfunctioning tiara, and thus she flails around helplessly, relying on Tuxedo Mask (Figure 8) to help her save the day with his sharp cane and piercing roses. To Figure 8 top it all off, in "An Angel? A Devil? Mysterious Girl from the Sky," Sailor Moon learns that she will some day trade in her sailor uniform permanently as the mother of Chibiusa (“Little Usagi”) – the ultimate adherence to tradition, as even one of the most powerful women gives it all up to become a mother. Japan is a country where women’s identities are still “ambiguous and circumscribed. Beautiful fighting girls [such as Sailor Moon] offer an escape from these kinds of

64 Susan J. Napier, Anime from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005), 31. Picture from a Google Image search.

bonds. For young Japanese girls, there is value in the idea that they protect themselves and the people they love.”65 However, just as the modern girl left women confused as to how they could actually be strong and independent themselves, Sailor Moon also tries to depict powerful women but falls short with an ultimate maintenance of tradition in the form of mother Sailor Moon.

Naruto To illustrate the fact that this is not just a phenomenon occurring in solely shojo anime, one need only look at the shonen (targeted at males) anime Naruto. Featured first as a manga in the popular boys’ manga magazine Akamaru Jump (Shonen Jump in America) in 1997, Naruto was Figure 9 undeniably aimed at boys both young and teenaged, just as Sailor Moon was aimed at girls of this age. Compared to the level of scholarly research available on Sailor Moon, there is essentially nothing examining the themes and plots of Naruto – possibly because it is still running to this day. Naruto ran for 220 episodes in Japan from October 3, 2002 to February 8, 2007 and now, the second part in which the characters are two years older, Naruto: Shippuden has been running since February 15, 2007 for 288 episodes and counting. Many movies have also been made of this show, and it truly has attracted cult following both in Japan and in the United States. To summarize the plot, Naruto is a child who has had a hard time in life because his parents sacrificed themselves to save their village of ninja from a rampaging demon by sealing the demon inside their baby, Naruto. Everyone avoids him due to this burden he carries, and Naruto grows into a troublemaker with no friends. Eventually, Naruto does make friends (Figure 9) when he shows how powerful of a ninja he has become, and eventually is even considered the hero of his village. He and his friends Sakura and Sasuke go through many adventures to maintain relationships with neighboring villages and to save their own village when danger strikes. Because of a troubled past as well, Sasuke eventually runs away from the village and

65 Saito Tamaki, Beautiful Fighting Girl (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2011), 51. Picture from a Google Image search.

turns into a ruthless killer bent on wreaking vengeance on his brother for killing his family when he was a young child. Now, after a turn of events, Sasuke has a new object to set his vengeance upon – his own home village – and Naruto and his friends continue to search for him while fighting in a great world war amongst all the villages. Possibly because of its target audience, most of the main characters are male and most of the most powerful people are male. Again, Naruto does offer some promising roles for empowering women to be more than what tradition would dictate. One of the three “legendary sannin,” or the three most powerful ninja of Naruto’s time, is a woman named Tsunade. She is even made leader of Naruto’s village and her remarkable actions save countless lives. Sakura, Naruto’s teammate, friend, and love interest, also saves many lives with the medical ninjutsu, or powers, she learned from Tsunade herself. She is always there “with the boys” on the front lines of battle and her contributions allow Naruto’s team to be continually successful. Naruto’s mom, as mentioned earlier, sacrificed her life to save the village, and possibly the entire world, from the demon that was ravaging their land. Women continue to step outside the traditional gender roles accorded by tradition by fighting on the front lines and leading the people. That being said, there are still many instances in Naruto when women, even on the front lines of battle, are relegated to the confinements of tradition. Immediately in episode four, "Pass or Fail: Survival Test,” Sakura proves to be the most useless one of the group as she sits around hiding while Sasuke and Naruto try their best to capture the bells and pass their teacher’s test. In multiple episodes afterward, Sakura spends most of her time crying or pining over Sasuke as he and Naruto handle most of the work. Sakura is repeatedly injured or rendered useless as she freezes with fear while fighting one of their biggest enemies, Orochimaru, and Naruto and Sasuke must constantly save her from certain death if she doesn’t get moving. In episode 32, “Sakura Blossoms,” Sakura finally finds a way to be useful to the group – but as a medical ninja instead of as a warrior. Her friend and rival Ino also makes the same decision later on to become a medical ninja, and thus two of the limited supply of women are taken off the battlefield and instead spend all their time as nurses with other women to wounded men. Furthermore, Kurenai, one of the female ninja who dedicated her life to defending the village and training young ninja, becomes pregnant in Naruto: Shippuden and disappears from the scene entirely because of her condition. Because of her pregnancy and childbirth, Kurenai gives up her life as a ninja (at least according to how the story has developed thus far). Tsunade herself, as strong-willed and powerful as she is, only continues to fight because she lost her younger brother (like a son to her, almost) and her lover in a previous war and she needs a way to null the pain and avenge their deaths. Finally, episode 281, only translated in October 2012 for

American audiences and thus a representation of very recent thoughts, contains a sub-plot that fits this thesis so perfectly that it is clear the thesis is on the right track. “Allied Mom Forces!” literally has a village of mothers defend their town while men are out on the front lines of the larger war with pots and pans and brooms – all in the name of defending their children who are at home with them. This is a blatant reference to the fact that women are expected to be good wives and wise mothers by staying home, taking care of the children, and fighting enemies off with womanly items such as cooking and cleaning supplies. This is the largest number of women fighters depicted at any one time in the show, and they are all fighting specifically as mothers. Even a show with strong-willed female characters cannot help but depict a confusing picture for both the female and the male audiences it targets.

Conclusion It is evident that the same confusion women faced in establishing identities during the early 1900s due to the prominence and appeal of the modern girl seen in magazines and advertisements accompanying the numerous restrictions that prevented women from actually living this sort of lifestyle has been carried into the modern-day popular culture in anime and manga. There are still conflicting views presented in popular culture about what a woman should be: should she be a strong, independent fighter, or should her sights be set on finding a husband and having children? Should she be fighting on the front lines or simply “doing her part” by attending to men’s wounds? Should she pursue dreams of balancing a career and a family, or should she give everything up to raise children? To reiterate, it was not the intention of this paper to argue what is right or wrong, but simply to point out the continuing legacy of the modern girl in present-day popular culture. It is not just Japan that faces this confusion either – examine popular culture in just about any country and one can see similar confusion. Further work on this topic could explore ideas such as how this impacts women in ways such as personality disorders, reluctance to marry, or even suicide rates. It is clear that popular culture both influences the masses and is a product of public thought, and thus could be difficult to decipher. Either way, popular culture speaks volumes about a country’s culture, and in this case Japan still leaves women confused regarding just what roles they are supposed to fill.

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