MOGA

In interwar 20th-century Japan, “moga” (short for “modern girls”) became the catchword to describe fashionable city women who embraced Westernised modes and manners. With page after page of depictions of moga from Platonsha – the legendary publishing house that brought together such design and illustration luminaries as Ayao Yamana and Rokuro Yama in the 1920s – this book pays tribute to the new breed of women who emerged as Japan absorbed and shaped a new culture in response to the influence of the West. Prints, drawings, stamps, advertisements, posters, playing cards, and more reflect this captivating pictorial blend of traditional motifs and modern figures.