[1] By viewing moga through a Japanese versus Western lens, the nationalist press could use the modern girl archetype to blame such failings as frivolity, sexual promiscuity, and selfishness on foreign influence.

[3] The woman's magazine was a novelty at this time, and the modern girl was the model consumer, someone more often found in advertisements for cosmetics and fashion than in real life.

Much of their dress and appearance resembled Western film stars such as Olive Thomas, Clara Bow, and Mary Pickford.

However, following military coups in the mid- to late 1930s, extreme Japanese nationalism, the Great Depression and the Second Sino-Japanese War, the popularity of Western fashion, ideals and entertainment declined sharply.

The decline of the modern girl, previously driven by the use of disposable income on consumerism and shopping, was only exacerbated further by the severe rationing of World War II.

Following World War II, the developments of post-war Japan prompted a return to the 19th century ideal of "good wife, wise mother".