Sex, Marriage and the Modern Japanese Woman

Often disturbing, always intriguing and insightful, these intimate portraits in Goodbye Madame Butterfly reveal the struggles and complexities of modern Japanese women.

Sumie Kawakami takes us into a world where fortune tellers serve as counselors, where a female executive who turns tricks by night is seen as a heroine and where the hot blood of newlyweds quickly grows cold.

Goodbye Madame Butterfly offers a modern twist on the tradition in Japanese literature to revel in tales of sexual exploits. Kawakami's nonfiction update on this theme offers strands of hope for women struggling to liberate themselves from joyless, sexless relationships.