Changing Clothes
This image is from Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History, Nation by Antonia Finnane. I have yet to read the book proper, but it contains many images and surprising anecdotes from the time period.
One such surprise was this advertisement.
I had previously only seen the type of uniform depicted on headline illustrations of Japanese soldiers during the late 1800's, and Hetalia fanart of the corresponding nation personification, as his "seme suit". I don't exactly agree with shoving personified countries into the genderized relationship roles that exist in Japanese comics depicting homosexual relationships between men meant for a female audience, so eh. I think the uniforms were originally based off of German ones, accounting for the similarity.
In other words, I finished reading the marvelous book The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sha. It only took a few hours, which is surprising, given that I have trouble finishing my Physics reading. It might have been that the chapters were only a few pages each, leading to easy digestion...
It's a love story set during the Sino-Japanese war centered around the game of go. It was surprising in its choice of main characters, mainly that of a schoolgirl in a Manchurian town, and a disguised Japanese soldier (!!!). Here's a summary, better than I could put it.
I find that much of the English J*pan/Ch*na Hetalia fanfiction bugs me for lack of cultural/historical accuracy; either it lets J*pan off too easy, or turns him into an irredeemable monster/bastard boyfriend whose abuse of Ch*na is comical and/or eroticized. Historical attitudes are overly generalized and J*pan's treatment of history seems to be an unquestioning rehash of what Iris Chang said in her infamous book and/or Wikipedia.
This book, however, was like a fresh asparagus stalk (like the one I had the other day), poetic but without filler. In a way, the two protagonists symbolize the two countries, and the author included historical details that I often find left out or misrepresented in "dark" or "serious" Hetalia fanfiction. The fact that these are two individuals caught up in a war also helps avoid generalizations and present that "beginning of love" feeling. The historical details get pretty brutal, but avoid demonizing the invaders. The ending reminded me of Apollo's Song by Osamu Tezuka, but I'm not delving into details.
And the Chinese protagonist was a girl yes yes.
Google books has a preview.