Ninagawa Mika, Miyake Kyoko and Ando MomokoShōjo Dreams and Unruly Idols

The first academic study dedicated to three innovative but underexplored Japanese women directors - Ando Momoko, Ninagawa Mika and Miyake Kyoko

• Explores how these filmmakers create transformative ‘female-led worlds’ that challenge traditional gender norms through the complex concept of shōjo (girlhood), examining how girlhood identity persists and shapes women's experiences across all ages
• Employs intersectional feminist theory to reveal how these directors' sensory-rich filmmaking dissolves boundaries between fantasy and reality, capturing the diverse emotional and material realities of girlhood, femininity and womanhood across different social positions and identities

This book explores and theorises female visions of Japanese girlhood in the work of three women directors: Ninagawa Mika, Miyake Kyoko and Ando Momoko. These directors are all highly diverse in their production background, outputs and style, and yet all three share a common preoccupation with visualizing moments of both girlhood and female ageing. The book takes at its core the debate on the aesthetics of gender - something all three women have engaged in - and explores the idea of feminist film historiography.