Reading Material

Growing up, two Japanese publications had enormous influence on me. And when I browsed through the local Kinokuniya store here in Seattle today, I couldn't help but seek them out.

First, "Ribon".

This girl's manga changed my life. Here is the entry from Wiki:

Ribon (りぼん, Ribon?) is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha, first issued in August 1955. Its rivals are Nakayoshi and Ciao. Its target audience is young girls roughly 9-13 years old.

Issues contain various stories printed on multicolored newsprint, and are often more than 400 pages long. They are distributed with a sackful of goodies (furoku) that range from small toys to colorful note paper and other things, with the characters of various Ribon manga on them.

I remember going to Kinokuniya Bookstore in Los Angeles with my mom every month, dizzy with excitement for the new issue. They were quite expensive, as I recall, though the one I got above was $5.90, which was far less than I expected. The best part of course was the "furoku". Back in the day, there were lots of stationery, and booklets on cooking, etiquette, horoscopes, and fashion advice. I distinctly remember a page with an illustration of how to wear lacy anklets with cropped jeans. I don't think there were any plastic items, and there certainly weren't any 18-color marker sets:

I am glad to see that they are still including adorable stationery though. Ribon and many other Japanese comic books that I read inspired me to draw and learn Japanese. I even drew a short comic of a wild love affair between me and my crush at the time (I was 12 and there were a lot of hugs and hand-holding involved. Possibly some non-french kissing); I wish I could find it now. There were so many lazy summers spent reclining on the sofa with a bowl of grapes and back issues of Ribon. I still have an urge to pick up a comic book when I see a bowl of grapes.

The second publication that rocked my world as a pre-teen was a fashion magazine called "Non-No".

My mom, or maybe it was my mom's friend? -- anyway, someone brought me issues of this glossy mag regularly and I devoured it with passion. It didn't matter that at the time there was a huge rift between Japanese and American fashion (not that there isn't now -- hello, harajuku girls). I just loved the photography, and the way they provided mix and match options of clothes. I see that even after a couple of decades, the formula is still working for them:

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic right now -- those were such innocent and heady times when I could delve deeply into a fantasy or fashion world of wide-eyed, nymph-like girls without a care in the world. I can't wait to settle in with my new issues of Ribon and Non-no. Perhaps I'll brew a cup of decaf tea and get me some grapes.