Tsumugu Otome to Taishou no Tsuki


 * "A Reiwa era student transfers to a Taisho era all-girls school?!"

A Drift Girl and a Noble Moon (紡ぐ乙女と大正の月) is a Japanese four-panel historical series by Chiune.

Plot
May 10, 2019. The tenth day of modern Reiwa era Japan...

First-year high school student, Tsumugu Fujikawa, had vowed to put her introverted, bookworm image behind her to make a fresh new start at Sakuragawa High. Falling back on old habits, however, Tsumugu instead spends lunch alone in the school library that very day. Finding solace in books, she discovers an old album containing photographs of former graduates of Sakuragawa, girls who appear to have lived an entire century before her. A dark and dusty photograph suddenly slips out from one of the album pages, but by the time Tsumugu notices it, a massive earthquake erupts. Bookshelves quickly come crashing down towards Tsumugu, eventually taking her, and the world she always knew, with them.

Somehow, she awakens and is left unscathed by the incident, only to see everything around her completely transformed - trolley cars flood Ginza's humble cityscape devoid of skyscrapers and neon lights, while pedestrians are seen going about their business in a mix of traditional Japanese and post-Edwardian attire. Tsumugu soon learns that she is actually standing in the year 1921, the tenth year of Japan's Taisho era, and is seemingly at the forefront of the country's new "sailor outfit" fad.

Publication
The series first appeared in the September 2019 issue of Manga Time Kirara Carat, where it was featured as a double-feature guest series. Its third chapter was published in the October 2019 issue, and the series would go on to be serialized in the November 2019 issue. As of January 2021, 28 chapters of the main story (plus one side chapter) have been published, with the series being absent from the magazine three times.

Tsumutsuki's English title, "A Drift Girl and a Noble Moon," was decided by Chiune and her editor, and is a reference to two of the main characters (Tsumugu and Itsuki). The word "Tsumugu" in Japanese literally means "to spin," in the same way fabric is made by the spinning and weaving of threads. It is also used in the phrase, creating a future or connecting the future (未来へ紡ぐ). Thus, the connotation of time and history in Tsumugu's name can be carried over in English with the word "adrift," as in a girl "drifting through time." Noble Moon combines Itsuki's name ("tsuki" meaning moon in Japanese) and the fact that the story is set in the Taishou era (an era of nobility, literally meaning "great righteousness").

Characters
Major
 * Tsumugu Fujikawa
 * Itsuki Suenobu
 * Asahi Madenokouji
 * Hatsuno Hachisuka

Supporting
 * Nanao Yoshikawa

Minor
 * Yaeko Hachisuka
 * Sekka Ichijou
 * Chitose Koga
 * Yau Izumi

Volume List
Each tankobon contains about a year's worth of material. Compared to the serialized chapters, each volume contains slightly polished artwork and includes dates corresponding to the plot for each chapter.

Historical References
Much of the research in the series is based on the author's expertise in history, a subject she majored in college.

Terminology
 * Companion (お相手): A friend or playmate outside of school for a daughter of nobility, hand-picked by their parents and usually of the same peerage rank. These sorts of arrangements would have likely prevented a child from being influenced from the outside world and uphold the family name.
 * ED40 (JGR 10020 Class): A class of electric locomotives that were the first to be built domestically in Japan.
 * Girls' School (女学校): A 4-5 year secondary education institution for girls - mostly those from affluent families - who have just completed the six years of compulsory schooling. In Tsumutsuki, Tsumugu is placed as a "third-year" student at Sakuragawa Girls' School, which is equivalent to being a modern Japanese third-year middle school student (for Tsumugu's age, however, she is actually a year behind and is supposed to be a "fourth-year" student in the Taisho era).
 * Kan (貫): An archaic unit of weight. One kan (一貫) is equivalent to 3.75kg, or about 8.3lbs.
 * Peerage System (華族制): A system of nobility that existed in the Japanese Empire between 1869-1947. The system was reorganized in 1884 to use European titles, such as:
 * Prince (公爵) (Highest Rank)
 * Marquess (侯爵)
 * Count (伯爵)
 * Viscount (子爵)
 * Baron (男爵) (Lowest Rank)
 * Those who obtain a title are members of the government body known as the House of Peers (貴族院), where Princes (Dukes) and Marquises are appointed, while the remaining three ranks are elected. A prime minister is usually the head of the top two ranks.


 * S (エス): S, or ”Sister," is a type of slang that derived from certain Japanese literature that existed in the early 20th century, where the focus was on the strong bonds between female classmates who attended all-girl schools.
 * Shaku (尺): An archaic unit of length. One shaku (一尺) measures about 30 centimeters, or nearly 1 foot.

Locales
 * Old Matsumoto High School (Sakuragawa Girls' School)
 * Komba Park (Suenobu Residence)
 * Karuizawa (Chapters 13-15)
 * Aputo no Michi
 * Union Church
 * Nihonbashi (Chapter 17)
 * Ueno Zoo

Products
 * Yuri-Masamune Sake
 * Heinz Ketchup (as "Peinz")
 * Kennogan Laxative
 * Minute Tapioca

Miscellaneous
 * Underage drinking in Japan was legal until the 11th Taisho Year (1922).
 * Heian Jogakuin University was the first school to mandate sailor uniforms in 1920.