An interesting look at the Japanese schoolgirl as a cultural icon and a few ideas about why she might have come to be that way, this slim paperback is engaging but potentially in need of an edit, especially in the later pages (insets appear far after their subject matter is raised, and one whole section appears to be essentially a repeat of a previous). Ashcraft tackles many of the fora in which the Japanese schoolgirl as a character is explored and utilised, and spends a little bit of time on actual schoolgirls themselves. Enjoyable and thought-provoking, more of a starting-off point than a serious study. ( )

In creating a book that looks like it's designed to attract high school girls rather than grownups who are interested in learning about them, the designers of Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential do not do the author and his collaborator any favors. Many will be turned off by what, at first, seems an overly busy lay-out, and this is a shame, because they will miss an exemplary work of pop-scholarship, one in which the authors are able to call on wide and sound knowledge of art, film, and sociology, as well as good old shoe-leather journalism to help us understand "how," as the subtitle puts it, "teenage girls made a nation cool." The product is engaging from first page to last.