Ribon is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha on the third of each month. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are Nakayoshi and Ciao. It is one of the best-selling shōjo manga magazines, having sold over 590 million copies since 1978. Its circulation was in the millions between 1987 and 2001, peaking at 2.3 million in 1994. In 2009, the magazine's circulation was 274,167. In 2010, the circulation dropped to 243,334.
Cover of the May 2006 issue (featuring Love-Berrish! by Nana Haruta)
Shōjo manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent females and young adult women. It is, along with shōnen manga, seinen manga, and josei manga, one of the primary editorial categories of manga. Shōjo manga is traditionally published in dedicated manga magazines, which often specialize in a particular readership age range or narrative genre.
Shelves of collected volumes of shōjo manga under the Margaret Comics imprint at a bookstore in Tokyo in 2004
Actress Hideko Takamine, portraying an archetypal shōjo wearing a sailor fuku in the 1939 film Hana Tsumi Nikki [ja]
Cover of the first issue of Shōjo-kai, 1902
A four-panel manga from the November 1910 issue of Shōjo (artist unknown). Note the henohenomoheji in the final panel.