20. News of This Crime Threw Japan – Especially Japanese Men – Into a Panic
The horrific crime scene was discovered the next day. When news of the murder and mutilation broke, and that a “sexually and criminally dangerous woman was on the loose“, Japan went into what became known as “Sada Abe panic”. Police eventually caught up with and arrested her, at which point they discovered Kichizo Ishida’s genitals in her purse. Naturally, they questioned why she was running around with Ishida’s penis and testicles. Abe replied, “Because I couldn’t take his head or body with me. I wanted to take the part of him that brought back to me the most vivid memories“.
Abe was tried, convicted, and was sentenced to prison. She was released after five years, wrote an autobiography, and lived until 1971. The Ishida-Abe affair and its painfully weird conclusion was a sensation in Japan. It became embedded in the country’s popular culture and acquired mythic overtones ever since. The story and variations thereof have been the subject of poetry and prose, both fiction and nonfiction. It has been depicted in movies and TV and was interpreted over the decades by various philosophers and artists.
