A Schoolgirl Doodles During Class in 1942

My grandmother was 16 years old in 1942, and attending jogakko, the equivalent of secondary school for girls at the time. She can tell you tales of propping chalkboard erasers on top of the classroom door so they would fall on the teacher, and the elaborate methods she would devise so the teacher would not catch her doodling in class -- stories that would not sound out of place today. Schoolgirls are eternal.

A couple of said doodles: 

These weren't original drawings, but painstakingly drawn imitations of popular illustrations, done in pencil and sumi ink.

 (Click to enlarge.)

An illustration of Madame Butterfly (notice the butterfly-print kimono). My grandmother would go on to become a calligraphy teacher -- an art that requires you to observe and copy from the best, then go on and make it your own. To see such a playful form of self-expression (and evidence of other talent) coming from her was a pleasant surprise.