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On a warm night in the middle of June 1981, a Japanese exchange student studying in Paris shot and killed a Dutch exchange student, Renee Hartevelt, and raped her thereafter. He then, according to the French Metropolitan Police report, cut out approximately six kilos of her flesh from her thighs, nipples, anus and nose and claimed to have eaten portions of it. After enclosing the removed portions in plastic baggies, on which, according to one source he labeled from which part of the body it had originated, he hacked the partially eaten woman's body into ten pieces. During the entire process he took approximately 30 photographs, which were later seized by police. His attempts to dispose of the body caught the attention of local passersby and several days later the man confessed all to the police when he was taken into custody. The case, named after the assailant Issei Sagawa, became known as the "Sagawa Incident."1
This crime and its subsequent treatment in the Japanese press are important for several reasons. A close examination of Sagawa's appearance in the media and the denouement of the case in France and Japan can be broken down into four distinct sections. First, how was Sagawa treated by the press? Since his first appearance in the press in 1981, until today, why has Issei Sagawa continued to appear as a writer and as a media subject? What does he offer the public, or rather what do they see in him to warrant such continued interest? The second section will address Sagawa's subtle transformation over the years from criminal to victim. Under what circumstances and by whose hand did the man who admitted to killing, raping and cannibalizing the corpse of a young woman manage to obtain the sympathy of even a portion of the Japanese public? The third section will explore the gap that exists between the legal systems in Japan and France. The last section concerns the sexualization of Sagawa and his connection to "Fuzoku," or the sex industry, in general. What is it about Sagawa, moreover his past, that entices publishers and the public alike to place Sagawa in a sexual milieu?
Issei Sagawa has acquired a plethora of accolades and accomplishments. He is the author of...