Dying to tell: sexuality and suicide in Imperial Japan.

Abstract

On February 17, 1935, the humor column of the Asahi Shinbun, a nationally distributed daily newspaper, was devoted to spoofing an attempted lesbian double suicide that had taken place about three weeks earlier. The “feminine” partner was Saijo Eriko, a 23-year-old “woman’s role-player” (musumeyaku) in a popular all-female revue, and the “masculine” partner, 27-year old Masuda Yasumare, an affluent and zealous fan of the actress (figure12.1).1 (Yasumare was a masculine name that she chose for herself; her parents had named her Fumiko.)