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Yellow Rose

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Yoshiya Nobuko’s short-story series Flower Stories (Hana monogatari) launched the genre of shōjo fiction--stories expressly written for girls and young women. For the first time in English, one of the most ardent and influential of the collection, “Yellow Rose,” is published with a translator’s introduction, era-specific design and list of further readings. It will appeal to all readers of fine fiction, especially those with an interest in women’s writings, genre fiction, youth culture, queer writings, and twentieth-century modernist styles.

54 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 14, 2015

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About the author

Nobuko Yoshiya

32 books76 followers

Nobuko Yoshiya (吉屋信子 Yoshiya Nobuko) was a Japanese novelist active in Taishō and Showa period of Japan. She was one of modern Japan's most commercially successful and prolific writers, specializing in serialized romance novels and adolescent girls’ fiction, as well as a pioneer in Japanese lesbian literature, including the Class S genre. Several of her stories have been made into films.

Nobuko Yoshiya on Wikipedia.

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5 stars
50 (14%)
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149 (44%)
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102 (30%)
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27 (7%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
Profile Image for Alwynne.
940 reviews1,599 followers
November 19, 2023
Frustratingly short but beautifully told, Yoshiya Nobuko’s wistful, Sapphic novella was first serialised in a magazine in 1923, part of a growing body of Japanese girls’ fiction (shōjo shōsetsu). Yoshiya was a prolific writer and became famous for her contribution to the genre and to girls’ romance (shōjo romansu) in general. Her stories weren’t considered particularly shocking at the time, although later in her career there were mutterings about the potentially subversive nature of her writing and the possibility it might corrupt girl readers. When Yellow Rose was first published romances between young women were often overlooked or excused as a “rehearsal” for later marriage and socially-sanctioned relationships between men and women. But Yoshiya herself was a lesbian, she lived with another woman for over fifty years, and later adopted her partner so they could officially be part of the same family – since lesbian marriage was impossible.

Yoshiya’s stories built too on the popularity of Western novels for girls recently translated into Japanese from Little Women to The Secret Garden. Although Yoshiya was also interested in the theories of sexologists like Edward Carpenter, and this particular example of her writing is uncannily reminiscent of Noel Coward’s later Brief Encounter. It features young graduate Katsuragi Misao who leaves college in Tokyo for a post teaching in a remote, rural girls’ school. She’s diffident and introspective so the prospect of standing in front of a class is daunting but it’s the only way she can avoid being pushed into marriage by her relatives. There she meets and falls in love with a pupil who’s also due to graduate soon, Urakami Reiko. Their short time together is a source of joy, but their plans to leave Japan and make a home together in America are thwarted by the desires of Urakami’s mother. Translated by Sarah Frederick who also provides a really useful overview and notes.

Rating: 3.5
Profile Image for daph pink ♡ .
1,301 reviews3,283 followers
June 7, 2024
3.5 stars

Writing such a strange work of fiction in 1923 takes a very strong and courageous writer. The classic quality of the prose makes it so lovely, therefore I'm very annoyed that it has to be so brief. Aside from its queer aspect, the discussion of a lady fleeing her current reality to live in a distant place also resonated with me. Additionally, I would like to point out that Sappho served as a major inspiration for our author, as this prose makes clear.
Profile Image for Sean O'Hara.
Author 23 books101 followers
February 16, 2015
Back in the 1920s an odd little genre flourished in Japan, the Class-S Romance. This was a form of lesbian romance, but not quite. At the time, all-girls schools were common in Japan, and of course with tons of adolescent girls stuck together with no access to boys, there was some same-sex experimentation going on. Adults viewed these kinds of relationships as just a phase girls went through, and good practice for when they moved on to "real" relationships with their husbands. (There also seems to have been an assumption that such relationships were platonic, though how true that was is an open question.) Magazines aimed at teenage girls picked up on the trend and published short stories dealing with the subject (something that continues to this day with series like Strawberry Panic and MariMite, as opposed to pure yuri series like Whispered Words and Citrus, a distinction lost on most Americans).

But in the 1920s there was no yuri genre, so the Class-S Romance was the best thing available for lesbian authors. Amongst these was Yoshiya Nobuko, who penned a series of stories called the Hana Monogatari, of which the Yellow Rose is but one tale (though the translator is working on a study of Yoshiya and her work, so hopefully more will be forthcoming).

The plot itself is quite skeletal, with the romance being developed in just three hasty scenes. Another twenty or thirty pages would've done the story good. As is the plot barely props up the climax, though it is a good climax and a repudiation of many of the things the Class-S genre stood for. Sadly, it's a sentiment that's still applicable to much of the world:

So it is that the sadness of those who love their own sex and therefore cannot live their lives in the form of a conventional marriage is redoubled by the chagrin of parents (for whom marriage represents the sole pinnacle of womanly achievement) and the opprobrium and scorn of everyone else.


Profile Image for Katherine.
3 reviews1 follower
October 26, 2015
Gawd, so gay. This book is a product of its time, but also beyond its time in some ways, by an author who was a huge influence on Japanese girls' literature/shoujo/yuri. (Basically a lot of pop culture things I love.) If you are interested in yuri/shoujo/queer lit/classic Japanese lit, this is a very worthwhile short read about a bittersweet romance. Great introduction and translation, also.
Profile Image for Frankie.
667 reviews178 followers
May 4, 2025
Nobuko Yoshiya was an early 20th century Japanese writer whose works shaped the evolution of the shoujo and GL genres. She’s an important lesbian classic author, but so far, only her short story Yellow Rose has been translated into English. I hope we will get more in my lifetime!!

Some initial context: Yoshiya was an avid reader of and contributor to girls magazines. Her stories always centered on relationships between girls, whether romantic, platonic, or something in between (romantic friendships, in other words). Her writing was very flowery, dramatic, and not everything had a happy ending, but she was wildly popular and successful in her time. She was also a forefront feminist writer in an era where women were starting to achieve independence and were fighting to become modern, wherein they championed the idea that being a woman didn’t necessarily mean one had to get married and have children.

Also, Yoshiya openly lived with her female partner for fifty years. She ended up adopting the other woman because it was the only way for them to legally become family and have authority over each other’s affairs.

Yellow Rose tells the story of Katsuragi, a young woman who decides to become a teacher not because she has some special passion for it, but because getting a job is the only way to move out and not have to get married. As she boards her train, she encounters a beautiful young girl carrying a bouquet of yellow roses and rushing to catch up. Some time later, Katsuragi discovers that the girl, Reiko, happens to be a senior-year student in her class. The two women grow close together, and even live together at one point. They go on a romantic walk on the beach and Katsuragi tells Reiko about Sappho. However, when Reiko graduates, she’s pushed into an arranged marriage. The heartbroken Katsuragi moves to Boston, the United States, cuts off all contact with the people back home, and never marries, while continuing to think of Reiko.

It’s a sad (but realistic) ending, but the story is worth reading. Yoshiya’s writing is very beautiful, even in translation. There are luscious descriptions of the girls’ appearances, their bright eyes and quivering breaths, and lines about the deepness of their feelings. The story is chaste, although a kiss is heavily implied, but you cannot deny that they love each other. Katsuragi’s speech about Sappho seals the deal, and here she even name drops the existence of same-sex love. The translator mentions that her moving to Boston might be a reference to Boston marriages, but in-text Katsuragi remains alone, left to pine for Reiko forever. It is deeply moving despite its brevity, and kind of reminds me of Olivia by Dorothy Strachey.

Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in early lesbian fiction or the evolution of shoujo. I genuinely wish it was longer, and I am crossing my fingers that someone eventually translates Yoshiya’s novel Two Virgins in an Attic, a lesbian romance between two dormmates that ends happily.
Profile Image for Michela.
433 reviews47 followers
June 12, 2025
How lovely! What lovely prose! Sapphic Japanese story from 1923, loved it!
Profile Image for Lola.
84 reviews2 followers
June 29, 2023
Beautiful, but frankly I wanted more. I did love this line however;

'The thoughts behind her movements, along with the secrets hidden in one line of poetry, were a mystery to all–—save one. Understanding lay solely in the heart of one sad, beautiful person!'
Profile Image for Kiara Lynn.
56 reviews2 followers
March 28, 2025
Schwul und Kurz
interessantes buch vorallem wenn man bedenkt dass es schon über hundert jahre alt und aus japan stammt
Profile Image for h .
167 reviews22 followers
August 24, 2022
don’t get me wrong I appreciate how nobuko yoshiya was incredibly influential in japanese literature especially laying the groundwork for shōjo manga but this rubbed me the wrong way with its “S kankei” brand since it depicted a student-teacher relationship, which immediately dated this text.
Profile Image for Bookish Bethany.
349 reviews36 followers
March 22, 2023
Although beautifully written, understated and an unusual piece of writing - particularly for its time, I kept getting lost and confused. The teacher, or 22 year old girl who ran away from a woman she loved because she got married, flits between timelines and the one, random infatuation she has with a student is weirdly lost and forgotten about as the narrative progresses. A pretty text nonetheless, and a melancholic one.
Profile Image for sára pudu.
61 reviews
April 18, 2025
im so confused??? why is the actual story 15 pages long and introduction 100??? what is this book?? the story itself was beautiful if we don’t count the teacher x student thing.. which is hard not to count 😭
Profile Image for Ennis.
55 reviews3 followers
May 7, 2025
Very interesting to see the influence Yoshiya's style had over later shoujo manga. The story itself is a bit too sparse for my taste. Would love to get my hands on a Japanese copy.
Profile Image for Daniel Fletcher.
263 reviews1 follower
September 28, 2023
3 stars-

I knew I smelled gay hehe

This was a nice little novella to read as an artifact of Japanese “girl culture” from the early 20th century. Very lyrical and poetic! The story of two young women developing a relationship, and what happens when they can’t end up together.

Mostly vibes here. Really lovely writing!
Profile Image for han⚢.
354 reviews18 followers
August 2, 2021
this was very short, and while I usually enjoy shorter novels, or, in this case novellas, this really limited the amount of feeling and characterisation i was able to have. however, the prose wss so lovely, it's genuinely the only reason why i rated this book two stars instead of just one.

More importantly, i'm not sure if it was because I didn't read the blurb, but I was NOT expecting a teacher/student romance... despite the author explicitly stating that the student was seventeen, it still is an uneasy relationship dynamic. and the fact that Urakami (the student) is consistently described in childlike terms (innocence, smallness, naivety) was just gross, regardless of intention.

tldr; the prose was gorgeous, the paedophilic undertones were not lmao
Profile Image for Vanessa.
164 reviews18 followers
January 2, 2020
Not As Described

My first and major complaint is that the synopsis (both on Amazon and Goodreads) does not mention that this is ultimately a love story between a teacher and her student. I would not have purchased this book if I had known that upfront. My second complaint is that the introduction/notes on translation gives away the entire plot of the story. In fact, this introduction is the bulk of the ebook. The story itself is only a few of the 55 pages. In terms of the story, it was strangely paced, poorly developed, and has little character development. I regret spending money on this and would not recommend it.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
4,313 reviews69 followers
August 18, 2016
Yoshiya Nobuko was one of the founding mothers of Japanese girls' fiction as we know it today, most specifically the yuri romance. This short story from her well-known Flower Tales collection very clearly lays the groundwork for the lesbian romance in contemporary Japanese fiction with its sweetly tragic tone and Sapphic, melancholy finale. If you're interested in lesbian romance, the history of shoujo, or just like Japanese literature of the 1920s, I highly recommend reading this - my only complaint is that none of the original illustrations were included.
Profile Image for yutong ꕤ.
42 reviews1 follower
May 4, 2025
the age of consent is 18 but katsuragi likes them YOUNGER 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

okay but in all seriousness this was a really beautifully written book i am just not the biggest fan of teacher x student type shi. although i guess it could have been normal around that time. the writing and translation is quite almost magical and sappho is quoted at length, and paragraphs are poured from what seems like the heart describing the beauty of ones love and the characters

3.9stars. short and sweet but -points for teacher student
Profile Image for Carola.
495 reviews41 followers
May 16, 2017
Very interesting very short story (approximately 25% of the e-book). While the story itself is interesting for its context, it's especially the introduction that makes this worth it. Also good list of suggested readings.

Read if you are interested in Japanese (classic) literature, shoujo culture and/or LGBT+ literature!
Profile Image for Anne Kennedy.
562 reviews5 followers
August 3, 2020
Trying to find a Japanese book. This was free on Amazon. Interesting that this story is part of a huge movement in early 20th century Japan with girls' romance stories that center around a female sexual relationship.
5 reviews
June 17, 2018
This book makes it clear why Nobuko is known as "The Mother of Yuri".

Yellow Rose is a deeply intimate short story about female sexuality, set in almost a "Coming of Age" situation. While Yellow Rose is a lesbian relationship, an argument could be made that the teacher-student relationship is more scandalous than the f/f relationship during 1920's Japan. "Experimentation" before marriage was considered good practice before marriage in some Japanese circles.

I would hardly call this a happy ending, nor a normal ending if you are not used to Japanese literature. However, the ending is also not tragic and I would not be put off by it. In the end, if you're are considering reading it, or even if this is your first time hearing of Yellow Rose, I would recommend giving it at reading it, you could finish it in one go.

Unfortunately, some of the grammar and wording in the translation is slightly weird, but as I am also familiar with Nobuko's Japanese, I can hardly blame Sarah Fredrick for a few mistakes. And then just a few awkward things, such as her friends call her "professor" at the beginning but then the story switches to "teacher", but that actually just the Japanese that calls her プロフェッサー (Purofessā) then 先生(Sensei).

I truly hope more of Nobuko's work gets translated, though I know that's down to Nobuko's family.
Profile Image for Julia.
159 reviews16 followers
December 24, 2019
Es una historia extremadamente breve (menos de la mitad de las páginas consideradas en el e-book), pero a pesar de ello, logra transmitir una historia sobre sexualidad femenina que bien pudiera seguir siendo relevante el día de hoy, con ciertas reflexiones fácilmente aplicables a la situación actual de comunidades disidentes en muchas partes del mundo. Aunque no hay una confirmación explícita, el fuerte subtexto que la acompaña podría hacer que algunos lectores no se sintieran cómodos debido a la diferencia de edad entre las protagonistas, algo que sitúa la historia un poco aparte de aquellas que abundan en el conocido género Class S.

Independiente de todo lo anterior, el e-book es recomendable tanto como una introducción a los trabajos y estilos de escritura de una figura como Yoshiya Nobuko, como por los comentarios de la traductora a cargo, Sarah Frederick, los cuales merecen sin dudas una recopilación por sí solos. También se agradece la lista de lectura complementaria presentada para profundizar.
Profile Image for Francisco Alfaro Labbé.
260 reviews20 followers
July 3, 2025
Nota aparte de lo osado que pudo haber sido para la época un libro de estas características, en donde se aprecia una relación amorosa (muy edulcorada y delicada, por cierto) entre una joven profesora y su alumna, el gran aporte de esta corta historia reside en su valor cultural dentro del desarrollo de lo que posteriormente se conocería como el género del shoujo, no solo por las delicadas escenas con estéticas típicas del género (que se pueden apreciar principalmente en los mangas), sino también por el humor y el drama que se presentan en estas páginas.
Sin lugar a dudas, la vida e influencia de esta autora pueden ser incluso más interesantes que su obra misma, pero esto no le quita mérito a su creación.
Profile Image for Violetta.
25 reviews
August 31, 2020
As a fan of yuri and shoujo, it was great to be able to read the translated work of an author that had such a profound role in shaping those genres.
I think that I appreciated this more for it’s significance and influence as a 1920’s Japanese f/f story than for the actual story itself, which wasn’t really much. It was a light, rather depressing read that didn’t really allow for many complex emotions beyond “it is really sad that they can’t be together.”

Tw for age gap (the characters are 17 & 22) and teacher/student dynamic.
39 reviews
April 26, 2021
I wish there were more translations of Nobuko Yoshiya's works !

As for the Yellow rose, I loved the fact that there was plenty of notes and comments. It helps understanding the context and I learned a lot. For someone that really like shojo manga culture, it is really nice to discover what made the genre what it is.

The story itself was good but not groundbreaking, so the notes are really what is adding worth to this edition. It's still really nice to see that there was this kind of content even at that time.

I thought that the translation didn't seem really natural, but I didn't read any of Hana Monogatari stories in Japanese yet, so it might be because the Japanese itself is unusual or dated.
Profile Image for Kryssa Jacynth.
52 reviews4 followers
May 9, 2024
I very much appreciated the introduction to the story which further deepened my interest in the Japanese S-Class genre. This story, while unfortunately short, tells of the bittersweet meeting and parting of Katsuragi Misao and Urakami Reiko. The introduction helped put me into the perfect headspace to read this short story as if I were one of the girls who sat in their rooms reading this story in their magazines, perhaps thinking of a classmate or teacher the story reminded them of. Both Katsuragi and Urakami were undoubtedly haunted by the school year that they spent together.
Profile Image for AAAAAAAAAA.
77 reviews
January 10, 2025
originally 3.5 but im taking off half a point for the student-teacher romance😭

i was aware of the dynamic for this but i was under the impression the age difference would be around 2 years or so since "recent graduate & 4th year," did not expect the ages to be 22 and 17. damnit.☹️☹️☹️

all in all the writing was really lovely to read and i quite liked the introduction. in terms of content i can see that the parts where what happened were skipped/'xx' was ultimately a stylistic choice by noshiya and utilized well but still i☹️ awh☹️

tldr; interesting and short read
April 29, 2024
Tan pocas páginas y aún así es una muy buena historia. Tengo la esperanza de encontrar más de sus obras traducidas o voy a tener que poner a mi hermana de traducirme. Una de las que ayudó a la creación del shojo y a futuras escritoras/creadoras de contenido wlw. Aunque nunca se menciona nada, uno puede interpretar la obra o meramente entender (lo cual para mí es súper obvio) el amor que hay entre las dos. (Aunque el trope era estudiante maestra pero bueno-).
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