MICAO(Mika Hirasa)

● ‘S’, which was popular from the Taisho to the early Showa period.

Acronym for Sister, a special relationship between female students who are not related by blood, or between female teachers and others.

The two ‘es’ were not confined to the framework of ‘friends’, as the junior students called the senior students ‘sisters (Onee-sama)’, corresponded with them and gave each other gifts, and had a friendship that was close to romance, involving longing and admiration.

The background to the popularity of this culture was the fact that at the time, there was a strict focus on pre-marital relationships between men and women. (Even in the illustrations of girls that were popular at the time, men and women were rarely depicted together.)
It was perceived by the public as a ‘rehearsal for love to become a good wife and mother’ or as a ‘transient emotion’ and was tolerated in platonic relationships.

●大正〜昭和初期に流行した「エス」とは

Sisterの頭文字を取った名称で、血のつながりのない女学生同士、あるいは女教師などとの特別な関係のこと。

エスの2人は、下級生は上級生を「お姉様」と呼び、文通をしたり、プレゼントを贈りあったりと、「友達」の枠には収まらない、思慕や憧れを含んだ恋愛に近しい交友がありました。

このような文化が流行した背景には、当時は結婚前の男女交友に厳しい目が向けられていたことがあります。(当時流行した少女イラストの中ですら、男女が一緒に描かれることが殆ど無かったほど。)
世間からは、「良妻賢母となるための恋愛の予行練習」であったり、「一過性の感情」であると認識され、プラトニックな関係においては容認されていました。