News Nishikie

Interesting gallery of "News Nishikie", 19th century color illustrated newspapers, which have quite a few gory stories in them, like this one:

Osaka Nichinichi Shinbun
Meiji 8-nen [unnumbered]
Sashimi Murder-Suicide

"A husband should not allow his affections to stray to other women. A certain couple in Tatsuno, Banshu (present-day Hyogo prefecture) employed a female servant named Take. The husband fell in love with her and went to sleep with her every night. The wife was moved by deep jealousy and she spent her nights alone in tears. On April 15, while the husband was away, the wife summoned Take and stabbed her to death. She then gouged out the dead woman's genitals, sliced them and placed them on a platter. When the husband returned, she served it to her husband as hors d'ourvres. When he asked where the dish had come from, the wife replied, 'It was a gift from someone.' After he had finished the snack, he looked at his wife and saw her covered with blood and dead. While he had been eating, she had killed herself." (MS)



News Nishikie