From manga and anime to movies, magazines, video games, advertising and music, Japanese schoolgirls are everywhere.

For years, schoolgirls have shown up in internationally popular anime such as Sailor Moon, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Blood: The Last Vampire. Films such as Battle Royale inspired Quentin Tarantino to include a fighting schoolgirl in Kill Bill; and recently, Rinko Kikuchi received an Oscar nomination for her role as a schoolgirl in the film Babel.

There are schoolgirl characters in video games such as Street Fighter. And the “Japanese Schoolgirl Watch” column in Wired magazine has long kept an eye on the trends emerging among these stylish teens. In effect, the Japanese schoolgirl has all but replaced the “geisha-girl” as Japan’s new female icon.

This is a “must have” for any serious Japanophile, anime otaku, or fan of Japanese school girls.

If you’ve ever wondered about the origins of the sailor suit uniform, or are fascinated with the power these teenagers hold over the Japanese economy, this book is for you.

Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential: How Teenage Girls Made a Nation Cool