Reinvigoration and Interrogation of the Political Myth of Kiyū's Suicide in Ariyoshi Sawako's Furu Amerika ni sode wa nurasaji

The play Furu Amerika ni sode wa nurasaji (1970) is a fictionalized and unconventional interpretation of the suicide of a historical figure named Kiyū, a yūjo of the Yokohama pleasure quarters in the bakumatsu period (1853–69). Ariyoshi Sawako's fictionalized and romanticized story about Kiyū, who dies for love, markedly contrasts with the historical figure, a brave woman who killed herself as an act of opposition to foreign influence. This article discusses how Ariyoshi's fiction reinvigorates and interrogates the image of Kiyū, thereby shifting the audience's attention from Kiyū's alleged patriotism to the sad reality of her life and exploitation as a yūjo.