160305-0011 - Moga on Ginza

A modern Japanese woman in Western-style fashion strides confidently in front of the popular Café Tiger (カフェ・タイガー) on Ginza, Tokyo, ca. 1928.

Around the 1920s, women following Westernized fashions and emancipated lifestyles were known as Modern Girls (モダンガール, modan garu), generally shortened to Moga (モガ).

Café Tiger was very much part of their lifestyle. Opened in 1907 (Meiji 40), it was famous for its beautiful waitresses (who were a kimono with apron). Western Style cafés like Café Tiger were generally seen as immoral and erotic spaces and frowned upon by conservatives.

Japan’s militarization and extreme nationalism of the 1930s and 1940s brought an end to this emerging female individualism and freedom.