To be honest, I've never really understood the enduring fascination with the Abe Sada Incident. It's quite remarkable that so many non-Japanese who know little or nothing about events that took place here in the 1930s have nevertheless managed to develop a curiosity about this woman and her notorious misadventure, which, on May 18, 1936, culminated in the death and mutilation of her paramour.
Abe, 31, was a seasoned veteran in the sex trade. Her lover, Kichizo Ishida, 42, was proprietor of the restaurant where she worked. The two became totally enraptured in a brief love affair, and eventually began experimenting. She found that, while in the throes of intercourse, tightening the silk cord from her obi around his throat would stimulate the vagal reflex, and/or reduce circulation to the brain, causing his procreative member to swell impressively.
Ishida had been drinking heavily and also had taken a cold medication. In his enervated, semiconscious state, he blacked out at the worst possible moment and she intentionally or unintentionally -- it's hard to be certain -- maintained pressure until he expired. After removing a certain ghastly souvenir with a knife, she left her undying declaration of love scrawled in blood on his thigh.