Death in Tokyo: The Fate of Lucie Blackman
Details
“People Who Eat Darkness: Love, Grief and a Journey into Japan's Shadows.”
A true crime book by Richard Lloyd Parry
Join us online va Zoom Sunday 18th September
“Lucie Blackman tall, blonde, and 21 years-old stepped out into the vastness of Tokyo in the summer of 2000, and disappeared forever….”
Lucie Blackman, from Kent, England, was working as a bar hostess in Roppongi, Tokyo, when she disappeared in July 2000.
Her disappearance brought to light a string of rapes and druggings carried out against girls working as hostesses in the night time economy of the city’s club scene, also known as “the water trade”.
Although Lucie was not the only victim of serial rapist Joji Obara she is the most prolific, drawing media coverage worldwide and even gaining the attention of Prime Minister Tony Blair who championed an investigation into her unusual disappearance.
This international case would call into question our Western perception of Japanese culture, exposing an underworld of fantasy relationships, sexual indiscretions, hard edge BDSM enthusiasts, and wealth and sadism in what was considered one of the safest destinations for young women travellers.
Yet Lucie was not naive. While the U.K. media traded on a story of an innocent in peril overseas, Lucie Blackman had in fact thoroughly researched her options and gravitated to Tokyo with the lure of making quick and easy money while working illegally as a hostess. Her role was more of a social escort and Lucie was not expected to provide sexual services.
The media narrative surrounding Lucie’s disappearance has all the hallmarks of what we now call Missing White Woman Syndrome. The case of Joji Obara became synonymous with Lucie Blackman because the international media had a tendency to focus on Lucie’s attractiveness, her physical appearance, blonde hair, and middle class education.
In the club where Lucie worked her male Japanese customers would pay a lot of money to spend time with her because these traits made her exotic and desirable.
These same traits made her a desirable victim for tabloid news stories.
While the death of Lucie Blackman is a tragedy, there is the wider story of a hidden Japan, an obscure and unfathomable justice system, and an enigmatic psychopath who had spent years getting away with hundreds of rapes and sex assaults.
Join us to discuss this bizarre story of disappearance and death in Tokyo, an unconventional British family, and the origins of the controversial Lucie Blackman Trust, founded out of money gifted by Lucie’s killer.
We will also discuss the topic of why some missing people receive more media attention than others, and what makes a “perfect” victim in the eyes of tabloid media.
Background to the story:
Casefile podcast
https://casefilepodcast.com/case-107-lucie-blackman-carita-ridgway/
Daily Mail article: Lucie Blackman “lured” to her death
Evidence Locker Podcast: The Hostess Murders
Wikipedia, the crimes of Joji Obara
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joji_Obara
Book reviews
Toby Ball (of Crime Writers On…) discusses People who Eat Darkness
People who Eat Darkness Guardian review by Geoff Dyer
https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/27/people-who-eat-darkness-lucie-blackman-review
New York Times review of the book
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/books/review/people-who-eat-darkness-by-richard-lloyd-parry.html
Highly recommended documentary: Death of a Hostess (You Tube in 5 parts)
Death in Tokyo: The Fate of Lucie Blackman