The first book of its kind to examine images of women in Japanese consumerism, Women, Media and Consumption in Japan explores a variety of media targeted at women - in particular magazines, but also television, popular literature and consumer trends. Written by anthropologists, sociologists and literary scholars who draw on and analyse Japanese marketing materials, the essays in this book cover visual and print media for middle-aged women, housewives, and single women in their 20s, as well as the vast market for those in their teens. From Oshin to Yoshimoto Banana and other media heroines popular all over the world, Japanese women finally stop 'hiding in the light'.