Geisha, harlot, strangler, star : a woman, sex, and morality in modern Japan / William Johnston.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnston, William, 1955-

Series:

Asia perspectives.

Asia perspectives

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Abe, Sada, 1905-.

Abe, Sada.

Murder--Japan--Tokyo--History--Case studies.

Murder.

Sex crimes--Japan--Tokyo--History--Case studies.

Sex crimes.

Women murderers--Japan--Tokyo--Biography.

Women murderers.

Prostitutes--Japan--Tokyo--Biography.

Prostitutes.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 245 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

In 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 1920's and 1930's-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:

PROLOGUE: A MURDER GRIPS THE NATION

AN UNREMARKABLE FAMILY HISTORY

EARLY CHILDHOOD

MAIDENS OR HARLOTS ONLY

GEISHA AND PROSTITUTE

ACQUAINTANCE RAPE

ACTING UP

BECOMING PROFESSIONAL

CHANGING SADDLES

LEGAL PROSTITUTION AND ESCAPE

FROM PROSTITUTE ON THE LAM TO MISTRESS

A SEARCH FOR STABILITY

DISCOVERING LOVE

LOVE'S INTOXICATION

MURDER

NO LONGER PRIVATE

INTERROGATION AND INVESTIGATION

JUDGMENT

IMPRISONMENT AND RELEASE

CELEBRITY, HARDSHIP, AND ESCAPE

EPILOGUE: A TRAIL OF RE-CREATIONS

NOTES FROM THE POLICE INTERROGATION OF ABE SADA

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-233) and index.

ISBN:

9780231509152

0231509154

OCLC:

818856483