Remembering the Dreams, Forgetting the War: How the Republication of Shōjo no Tomo Reconstructed Japanese Girls’ Culture

Shōjo no Tomo, one of the leading prewar girls’ magazines in Japan, was republished in 2009. Magazines including girls’ magazines were the important media for propaganda during WWII. At the same time, however, girls’ magazines enabled girl readers to have a site to express themselves. Therefore, some readers attach themselves in it and establish their own girls’ culture. Such a passion led the republication of Shōjo no Tomo. This talk will explore what is included, excluded, and marginalized in the process of the republication. Through this case study, I also aim to show how prewar girls’ culture is reconstructed outside of wartime contexts.