Geisha, Harlot, Strangler, Star: A Woman, Sex, and Morality in Modern JapanIn May 1936, Abe Sada committed the most notorious crime in twentieth-century Japan--the murder and emasculation of her lover. What made her do it? And why was she found guilty of murder yet sentenced to only six years in prison? Why have this woman and her crime remained so famous for so long, and what does her fame have to say about attitudes toward sex and sexuality in modern Japan? Despite Abe Sada's notoriety and the depictions of her in film and fiction (notably in the classic In the Realm of the Senses), until now, there have been no books written in English that examine her life and the forces that pushed her to commit the crime. Along with a detailed account of Sada's personal history, the events leading up to the murder, and its aftermath, this book contains transcripts of the police interrogations after her arrest--one of the few existing first-person records of a woman who worked in the Japanese sex industry during the 1920s and 1930s--as well as a memoir by the judge and police records. Geisha, Harlot, Strangler, Star steps beyond the simplistic view of Abe Sada as a sexual deviate or hysterical woman to reveal a survivor of rape, a career as a geisha and a prostitute, and a prison sentence for murder. Sada endured discrimination and hounding by paparazzi until her disappearance in 1970. Her story illustrates a historical collision of social and sexual values--those of the samurai class and imported from Victorian Europe against those of urban and rural Japanese peasants. |
Contents
Acting Up | 49 |
Becoming Professional | 55 |
Changing Saddles | 60 |
Legal Prostitution and Escape | 67 |
From Prostitute on the Lam to Mistress | 72 |
A Search for Stability | 78 |
Discovering Love | 84 |
Loves Intoxication | 90 |
Interrogation and Investigation | 122 |
Judgment | 133 |
Imprisonment and Release | 143 |
Celebrity Hardship and Escape | 151 |
A Trail of Recreations | 156 |
Notes from the Police Interrogation of Abe Sada | 163 |
Endnotes | 209 |
| 227 | |
Other editions - View all
Geisha, Harlot, Strangler, Star: A Woman, Sex, and Morality in Modern Japan William Johnston No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
Abe Sada Abe Sada jinmon Abe Sada’s Abe’s arrest Asahi shinbun Asakusa asked became become behavior bought brothel called chôsho committed crime customers desire didn’t erotic feel felt gave geisha house gender Ginza Shokan Hosoya hundred yen Ibid Inaba incident Japan Japanese jinmon kikô josei Kasahara kenkyû hôkoku Tokyo Kichizô killed Ishida kimono knew knife Kumiai Sôtai Kyoto later licensed prostitute lived looking lover maid marriage Masaki mistress morning mother murder Nagoya newspaper night Nihon nymphomania Ogura Seizaburô older sister once Osaka parents penis police investigation prison Professor Ômiya relationship restaurant Sada's samurai sex industry sexual shamisen Shinagawa Station shinbun Shinjuku sleep social soon Sôtaikai kenkyû hôkoku started stay story Sushi syphilis tatami teahouse Teruko things thought Tokyo Station told took Ueno Chizuko virginity wanted wife woman women Yokohama Yomiuri shinbun Yoshidaya young