This paper analyzes the front cover pictures of magazines for boys and girls and examines the changes of motif in visual images of the young. This paper aims to clarify the gender differences in the images of children among modern Japan's new middle class by focusing on their bodies and behaviors.
　The results of this analysis are as follows. Between 1985 and 1910, the pictures emphasize the infertility, innocence and weakness of the "girl" by placing her with a mother next to her. Then, from the early 1910s to 1920, the mother is no longer illustrated and the "girl" appears graceful rather than infantile. However, during the early 1920s, a drastic change arises in the cover pictures: the "girl," with European-style clothes and bobbed hair, is seemingly expected to have an active body. In the latter 1930s, in the midst of war, the "" is illustrated as a female child who works hard and fights for her nation. On the other hand, the "boy" already appeared as active and patriotic since 1895, and the image did not change thereafter. These findings make it clear that, for the new middle class of modern Japan, the emergence of a new concept of "child" meant the creation of a "boy" and "girl," two existences with completely different meanings. That is to say, existence of the "boy" was regarded as useful for the nation from the beginning, while that of the "girl" was considered to be flexible, only to be usefully employed in case of war.

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