Josei
Josei is manga written for adult women, covering work, relationships and adult life with more realism than shōjo.
Where the word comes from
Japanese 女性, "woman".
In depth
Josei magazines target women from their late teens into adulthood. Stories range from romance and workplace drama to sport, history and quiet everyday life, and they tend to treat relationships and sexuality with an adult frankness.
Examples
Chihayafuru by Yuki Suetsugu, about competitive karuta, ran in Be Love; Honey and Clover by Chica Umino, about art students, became a josei classic; Princess Jellyfish by Akiko Higashimura ran in Kiss.
Why it is easy to miss
Fewer josei series have been translated than shōnen or shōjo, and English publishers do not always mark the demographic, so josei is often shelved simply as manga.
Josei and seinen
Josei and seinen are the adult counterparts of shōjo and shōnen. They share a willingness to let stories move slowly, to end ambiguously and to deal with work, family and sexuality as adult realities. Readers who move from teenage manga to adult manga often follow the same genres up a demographic: from shōjo romance to josei relationship drama, or from shōnen action to seinen.
Where it is shelved
Because English editions rarely print the demographic, josei titles appear on our romance and slice-of-life shelves as well as in the general manga section. The series description is the most reliable guide to tone.
Where it appears
Chihayafuru by Yuki Suetsugu. josei series about competitive karuta
Princess Jellyfish by Akiko Higashimura. josei comedy
What it means today
Readers who like literary fiction about adult life often find josei more rewarding than romance-led shōjo.
