Shoujo Bouquet

NOTE: This website is currently under construction! While certain pages are already up, others may take more time (in adition to general updates as more sources and such are found).

What is "shoujo"?

Shoujo (少女) simply means “young girl” in Japanese; in English, however, this word tends to refer to media aimed at this demographic, such as manga (漫画, comics), anime (アニメ, animation), literature, etc. At its core, shoujo is not a genre of literature, but a simple marketing tool: the only thing which truly makes a work “shoujo” is that it is aimed towards a demographic of older girls to young adult women, and nothing more. In practice, however, over time certain traits and tropes have become so associated with the shoujo demographic, many people do indeed treat it as a genre.

Shoujo arose as a demographic during the early 20^th century. Since then it has played a fascinating role in Japanese history, and has had an incredibly large (yet often underrated) impact on Japanese and global pop culture.

SPELLING NOTE: The word 少女 (しょうじょ) can be transcribed in various ways in English. This website prefers the spelling "shoujo," which mimics how the word is written in Japanese. However, many academic works in particular use a macron to transcribe the long "o" sound—"shōjo." Due to the strange way that is rendered on this site, for quotes from works that use that spelling, this site will simply use "shojo."

For any original writing on this site, the Japanese name order will be used for Japanese names: surname first and given name last.

About Shoujo Bouquet

Shoujo Bouquet is part history project, and part vintage shoujo fan site. It seeks to gather English resources on the development of the shoujo “genre” over the course of the 20^th century. This website contains lists of academic works about this subject, official English releases of old shoujo works, among other things. In addition to this, there are also some other sources on interrelated topics.

There are a few important things to note about the webmaster of this site: for one, he is not a professional academic or anything remotely of the sort; and for two, his Japanese ability is roughly equivalent to a three year old, on a good day. In other words, there is extremely little information on this website that you cannot find elsewhere, and please do not take the webmaster as an authority on this subject by any means.

CONTENT WARNING AND DISCLAIMER: Please note that many of the works discussed on this site were created during Japan's imperial period. It's important not to underplay the horrors of imperialism, or pretend shoujo media is pure and completely disconnected from the cultural context surrounding it. Certain sources discuss this deeper, or might show imperialistic imagery for educational purposes. This website is firmly against glorifying the imperialistic Japanese government.
As can probably be gathered from the last warning, please note that the inclusion of anything on this site does not equal a recomendation or endorsement. Fictional works may be of varying quality, and academic works are written from a myriad of perspectives that the webmaster may agree or disagree with for varying reasons (although some base level of quality is to be sustained). The primary goal of this website is to present what generally credible sources exist in English on this subject, and any opinion pieces/personal research will be in their own section. The webmaster is running on the assumption that you may discern for yourself what you like and dislike, agree and disagree with, etc.

About the Webmaster

This website is run by James Henry Rose, a storyteller from the rural United States. His interest in shoujo media began in early 2013 from, of all places, a Right Stuf anime catalogue which bore an image from The Rose of Versailles on the cover. The art enamored him enough to watch the show, which in turn he loved even more. How exactly this morphed from liking a miniscule handful of 1970s shoujo anime and manga to a deep obsession with books he can’t read and people he barely knows about is anyone’s guess.

If you wish to find him elsewhere, he can be found writing and illustrating an unconventional shoujo novel series at [beloved.moe]. If you wish to contact him with any questions, suggestions, etc, he can be reached by email at [jhrose@beloved.moe.]