Description: The stunning biographical portraits in Modern Girls, Shining Stars, the Skies of Tokyo, some adapted from essays that first appeared in The New Yorker, explore the lives of five women -- two actresses, two writers, and a painter -- who did their best to stand up and cause more trouble than was considered proper in Japanese society. Their lives stretch across a century and a half of explosive cultural and political transformations in Japan. Birnbaum draws on interviews, memoirs, newspaper reports, and fictional accounts to reveal the lives of women who, through both their bold dedication to their art and their private lives, challenged the status quo and influenced the attitudes of their day.

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