The business of being a wakai musume (young woman) in this country used to have just one subtext: There were no options. If she didn't get married she was less than a whole person; on the other hand, marriage meant abject obedience to her husband's household and an endless round of bone-crunching chores.

Times have changed, in a surreal kind of way. These days, to be a Japanese woman means options galore, plus the endless delights of self-analysis and soul-searching. An updated version of Cindi Lauper's hit song would be about how Japanese girls have more fun than anyone else. Aiding them in this mission is the world of garu komikku (girl comic books) -- a pop-culture phenomenon that has permanently altered the landscape of Japanese literature.

It seems like anything that's said in the printed word can be said with more immediate poignancy in a single frame of a girl komikku. Interestingly, women's fashion magazines are now touting them as "kokoro no sapuri (supplement pills for the heart)" or carrying articles with titles like "Garu komikku wa kirei ni kiku! (Girl comics have beautifying effects)." Like my friend Akiko always says, "Sokorahenno otoko to deto suruyori, hayaku kaette komikku yonda hoga toku (It's more profitable to go home and dip into a manga than go on a date with some ordinary guy)."