The name Abe Gardens is often found on various lists of famous female killers. This Japanese woman is known for first taking her life, and then dismembered her sexual partner for the sake of greater erotic pleasure. The Gardens affair turned into a real national sensation in Japan; it was covered in detail by the local and international press. Subsequently, the story of Abe found an echo in various works of literature and cinema. Interest in her personality has not subsided to this day.
Family Information
Parents of the Garden - Shigeeshi and Katsu Abe - are people who belonged to the middle social class and lived in the Tokyo suburb of Kanda. The family had eight children. Shigeesi and Katsu earned money by making tatami. Five children died at an early age. The garden was one of those who managed to survive. In general, the parents of the Gardens had a reputation for good people and had no problems with the law or the authorities of the country.
Childhood and growing up
Sada Abe (photo below) was born in 1905 and was one of the youngest in the family.
It is known that her mother treated the girl with special love, fulfilling any whims. It was thanks to her that the young Garden was able to learn singing and playing the shamisen, despite the fact that such classes were considered the prerogative of geishas and prostitutes. From an early age, the girl was fascinated by the glamorous images of geishas. In her music lessons, she often applied appropriate makeup.
When Abe's family started having problems with the behavior of some children, Sada was often left alone on the street. Subsequently, she was sexually abused by her friend.
Geisha School
Despite the fact that the parents tried to support her daughter, she was a difficult teenager. Later, when the family could no longer cope with her behavior, she was sent to Yokohama to study at the geisha school. Then the girl realized that the glamorous image that fascinated her in her childhood was hard and long work. As a result, it turned out to be a quasi-geisha, whose duties included only providing sexual comforts.
At work, the Garden lasted five years, and then became infected with syphilis. To avoid further examinations and checks, the girl decided to change her profession. So Sada Abe began to earn a living by prostitution.
Life in the 30s
Abe began her career in the popular Osaka - Tobita area, where she became famous in relevant circles because of her problematic nature. Besides the fact that she often stole from the clientele, she also made several attempts to escape from the brothel in which she was. Finally, when she managed to leave the life of a prostitute behind, Garden found a job as an ordinary waitress. Revenues in this area were insignificant, and soon the girl returned to the brothel.
In 1933, the mother of the Garden died, and a year later her father died. At this time, the girl was in Tokyo, where a little later she joined local prostitutes. In October, Sada was arrested by a police raid, but due to connections with influential people she was soon released.
After that, Abe got a wealthy lover, who later testified for the court. When the couple broke up, Sada moved to Nagoya and continued to work in the restaurant. There she met Goro Omiya, a professor and a banker, who was aiming for a seat in the Japanese parliament.
Despite a romance, Abe decided to return to Tokyo. A little later, fate again brought her to Omiya, who offered the girl financial support and persuaded her to start doing restaurant business.
Meeting with Kitizo Ishida
After listening to the advice of Goro Omiya, Sada signed up as an intern at one of the local restaurants. Her choice fell on an institution called Yoshida-ya, which was owned by forty-two-year-old Kitizo Ishida. The man was a famous lady seducer, so with the advent of Abe, his attention turned to her. The girl went on about her feelings and started an affair with Kitizo. Their meetings began in the restaurant and continued already in the tea houses. The couple spent time together drinking, making love and listening to geisha music.
Sada later admitted that it was with Kitizo that she experienced true love. After they broke up, the girl suffered a lot and often drank. She constantly thought about how Isis spends time with her wife, while experiencing burning jealousy in relation to her former lover.
In May 1936, the girl attended a performance where she saw a scene in which a geisha threatened her partner with a knife. Then Abe decided to repeat what she saw. To do this, she sold out part of her costumes and spent all her savings on a new kitchen knife and a set of sushi. The subsequent meeting led Kitizo Ishida to some confusion, but he did not hide the fact that he received pleasure from the incident.
Killing
Together, the couple went to Ogu, where the murder occurred. Making love, Sada repeatedly strangled Kitizo, which gave them both great pleasure. Sometimes their roles changed, and the girl also became a victim of asphyxiation.
Finally, Sada tried to strangle Isis during the climax of sexual intercourse. As a result, this practice appealed to both partners. At one such moment, when the girl finished and loosened her belt, Kitizo felt a sharp pain. In order to recover, he took thirty capsules of a sedative. According to Abe, Kitizo himself asked during sleep to put a belt (obi) around his neck and tighten it. He said: "If you suddenly start choking me, you do not need to stop." Turning to a woman with such a request, he wanted to avoid the severe pain that accompanied the interruption of the act of strangulation.
Then Sada thought that Isido was just joking, but she did everything as it was said. At night, she strangled Kitizo with her belt, and then used a knife to cut off his genitals. Part of the flesh of the murdered Abe was wrapped in a newspaper and carried with her until the moment of arrest.
High-profile case
The history of Abe Gardens stirred up the population of Japan and caused great public outcry. It is known that before her arrest, the girl planned to commit suicide. All this time, she wrote farewell letters and tried to engage in necrophilia with the genitals of the murdered Isis.
During interrogations, Abe explained her motive for the murder by not wanting to share Kitizo with other women. The prosecution demanded to plant Garden for ten years. As a result, the court sentenced the girl to six years in prison, while she herself asked to end the death penalty. Abe remained in custody until 1941, after which she was amnestied and was released a year before the expiration of the official term.
She spent her last days in a nursing home in the Kinki region.
Woman named Sada Abe - movie image
In addition to various memoirs and print interviews, the story of Abe has become a hot topic for cinema. In 1969, a documentary was released by Teruo Ishii dedicated to the unusual crimes of women. In this film, Sada Abe appeared in a special section called The Sada Abe Incident.
In addition, several more films saw the light, three of which became truly successful. In 1975, the release of the feature film "A Woman by the Name of the Garden of Abe" took place, directed by Noboru Tanaka. A year later, another picture was released entitled "Empire of Senses", this time Nagisa Oshima was the director. The last film about Garden Abe, which managed to earn popularity, was the 1998 Garden, authored by Nabuhiko Obayashi.