Kitan Club

December 1950

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Cover of Kitan Club, December 1950

Issue Details

Issue
25
PDF pages
110

Summary

This issue of Kitan Club is organized as a broad entertainment miscellany centered on erotic curiosity, romantic intrigue, sexual confession, comic anecdote, crime, and unusual human behavior. The opening material is substantial rather than merely decorative: after the illustrated cover, PDF pages 2–5 present an extended nude photographic portfolio, followed on pages 6–13 by humor, reader-oriented miscellany, short anecdotes, cartoons, and advice-like material. A one-page comic on PDF page 14 then leads directly into the issue’s featured Ancient and Modern Curious Tales Compared sequence. These early pages are an important part of the issue’s editorial identity, establishing the combination of visual titillation, jokes, confessional storytelling, and sensational curiosity that continues throughout the magazine.

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The first major textual group begins on PDF page 15 with short narratives drawn from contemporary life and sexual rumor. The pieces include The Company President Who Became the Seed of a Novel, Pillow Talk in a Haunted House, The Tooth of Desire, and the longer The Poor Rich Man, which occupies much of the twenties. These are followed by a memoir-like account of captivity and displacement in North Korea and Siberia beginning on PDF page 29. Together, these opening articles range from humorous and erotic anecdote to postwar hardship, producing a striking tonal mixture within the first third of the issue.

From the thirties onward, the magazine turns more heavily toward courtship strategy and erotic fiction. The entertainment-district feature Boogie-Woogie in the Amusement Quarter is followed by the baseball-themed erotic melodrama Song of Bodily Sorrow and a sequence of pieces framed as practical or semi-confessional romantic tactics: Young Swallow Tactics, Strategy for Capturing an Idle Madam, Awakening of the Female Body, A Guide to the Art of Love, The Woman in the Movie Theater, Pure-Hearted Tactics, and methods for overcoming marital or romantic stagnation. These articles repeatedly present desire as a contest of observation, deception, opportunity, and technique, often mixing first-person testimony with magazine-style instruction.

The later middle section broadens again into sensational narrative and comic exotica. A modern tale of an adulterous husband who was thought dead is followed by stories of strange appearances, urban erotic episodes, an apartment-house kaleidoscope, and the curious story of an ape said to have fathered a human child. The recurring Favorite Variety section contributes comic erotic tales including The Bear’s Paw and Madame Skunk. Historical fantasy then takes over in House of the Lustful Bhikkhuni, after which the Night-Blooming Flowers erotic-story collection provides another anthology-like change of pace.

The closing third includes the illustrated crime story The Completely Naked Charred Corpse, an unusual discussion of a bride’s sexual modesty, and the serialized Southern Squabble Picture Scroll installment Breast Commotion. The issue ends with the continuation of this long comic-erotic narrative, reader and editorial material, submission information, and publication notices. Across the issue, Kitan Club presents itself as a hybrid popular magazine in which nude photography, cartoons, romantic gamesmanship, postwar experience, crime, erotic fiction, confessional material, and strange tales coexist without firm genre boundaries. Its strongest recurring concerns are the tactics of seduction, female and male sexual desire, jealousy, bodily curiosity, scandal, voyeurism, and the transformation of everyday urban life into sensational anecdote.

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Table of Contents 29 items
  1. The Lover of Mrs. Chakkari by Akashi Sanpei
    15
    Summary

    A humorous seven-panel comic in which an eager male admirer performs increasingly servile tasks for Mrs. Chakkari in hopes of winning her favor, only to be manipulated and dismissed. The feature uses romantic pursuit and slapstick reversal to satirize unequal courtship and opportunistic seduction.

  2. The Company President Who Became the Seed of a Novel by Yamamoto Sakae
    16
    Summary

    A confessional-style narrative about a married working woman whose company president makes unwanted advances and attempts to draw her into an affair through gifts, money, special treatment, and workplace pressure. She ultimately resists the president’s coercion and leaves the situation, presenting the episode as material for a novel.

  3. Pillow Talk in a Haunted House by Hyogo Ippei
    18
    Summary

    A newlywed couple exchange intimate pillow talk while recounting unsettling experiences connected with a haunted house. Their conversation blends domestic sexuality, marital teasing, and a progressively eerie supernatural tale involving strange sounds, apparitions, and unexplained events.

  4. The Tooth of Desire by Sasaki Kurumanao
    20
    Summary

    An erotic melodrama unfolds through conversations involving Madame, Arita, and the sisters Yayoi and Akiyo. Past relationships, deception, jealousy, and unresolved desire surface as the characters confront romantic betrayal and the damaging rivalry between sisters.

  5. The Poor Rich Man by Tsujimura Enezaburo
    22
    Summary

    A comic picaresque narrative about a man caught between poverty and sudden access to money. His earnings are spent on conspicuous clothing, food, drinking, gambling, women, and questionable schemes, creating a satirical portrait of postwar urban life and unstable social mobility.

  6. North Korea and Siberia Prisoner Wanderings: Exhibitionism at the Latrine by Anabuki Takeshi
    30
    Summary

    A grotesque, comic account combining wartime prisoner wandering in North Korea and Siberia with an episode of compulsive public exposure in a latrine. The piece uses captivity, bodily degradation, scatological humor, and exhibitionism as material for sensational memoir-like storytelling.

  7. Boogie-Woogie in the Amusement Quarter by Kado Kotaro
    32
    Summary

    A comic, episodic narrative set in the amusement quarters, where opportunistic characters turn found objects, fortune-telling, bogus photographs and paintings, and other street entertainments into scams. The illustrated sketches present nightlife hustling through caricature, banter, and satirical scenes, including graffiti and public amusements.

  8. Song of Bodily Sorrow by Aiyama Hisashi
    36
    Summary

    A sensational, first-person-style illustrated confession about a pro baseball celebrity and a movie star whose relationship becomes entangled with marriage, jealousy, sexual desire, illness, and emotional collapse. The narrative treats celebrity romance as a source of bodily and psychological suffering, blending scandal reportage conventions with melodramatic fiction.

  9. Young Swallow Tactics: I Was Juggling Four at Once by Teramoto Akira
    40
    Summary

    A first-person account of an unemployed man who develops a calculated method for courting and financially relying on several women simultaneously. The narrative presents overlapping romantic relationships, gifts, money, and social maneuvering as an opportunistic survival strategy.

  10. Strategy for Capturing an Idle Madam: How I Won a Beautiful Widow by Saotome Akira
    42
    Summary

    A first-person story about Ryota, a young man who uses a classified advertisement and his supposed judo or boxing abilities to enter the household of an affluent widow. Through charm, persistence, and calculated attentiveness, he attempts to secure the widow’s affection and material support.

  11. Awakening of the Female Body: An Old Maid Falls by Arisawa Aro
    44
    Summary

    An erotic narrative follows an unmarried older woman whose dormant sexuality is awakened through the calculated attentions of an experienced man. The story explores her vulnerability, desire, and eventual surrender to seduction.

  12. A Guide to the Art of Love: An Episode of Bedroom Play by Hanaki Minoru
    46
    Summary

    An erotic relationship narrative framed around marital boredom and misunderstanding depicts a husband and wife discussing sexual dissatisfaction and rediscovering intimacy through experimentation and attentive lovemaking. The text combines bedroom advice with explicit fictional scenes and erotic illustrations.

  13. The Woman in the Movie Theater by Tomita Shinji
    48
    Summary

    A first-person comic tale about a man who encounters an alluring woman at a Kyoto movie theater and becomes entangled in her calculated flirtation. As he follows her through the station and city, his romantic excitement gradually gives way to suspicion that he is being manipulated.

  14. Pure-Hearted Tactics: What's Inside the Handbag? by Kojima Shinichi
    50
    Summary

    A fictional romantic episode in which a seemingly innocent woman and a nervous salaryman negotiate attraction, money, and trust through a series of encounters. The handbag becomes a recurring object of suspicion and concealment as the relationship develops into a playful battle of competing intentions.

  15. Secret Method for Breaking Through the Period of Marital Boredom: The Surprise Tactic That Worked by Tsubaki Akihiko
    52
    Summary

    A marital-advice narrative about a husband who becomes alarmed by his wife’s changed behavior during their period of boredom and hires a private detective to investigate. The inquiry, misunderstandings, and emotional confrontation ultimately serve as a dramatic “secret tactic” for reviving intimacy and testing marital fidelity.

  16. The Distance of the Body by Naoki Ryunosuke
    55
    Summary

    A fictional domestic drama portraying the growing emotional and physical distance between husband and wife, Akiko and her husband. Suspicion, sexual frustration, wounded pride, and escalating quarrels expose the fragility of their marriage and drive Akiko toward separation.

  17. The Adolescent Girl by Hirai Kyosuke
    58
    Summary

    A psychologically charged fiction about an adolescent girl whose fascination with romantic film scenes awakens confused desires and fantasies. The narrative moves between ordinary domestic life, cinematic imagery, and dreamlike experiences as she struggles with emerging sexuality and emotional curiosity.

  18. The Adulterous Husband Was Alive by Kasagi Yoshio
    60
    Summary

    A suspenseful family melodrama in which suspicion of an adulterous relationship spreads through a household and provokes jealousy, deception, and confrontation. The story escalates from secretive domestic encounters to physical violence, bloodshed, and a criminal aftermath.

  19. The Man Who Crawled Out from Beneath the Stage
    64
    Summary

    A comic erotic tale about a man who hides beneath a bed while evading discovery in a volatile household, then attempts to escape when the danger seems to have passed. The story relies on deception, concealment, and the escalating panic of an illicit encounter.

  20. One Hundred Curious Tales of Urban Licentiousness by Shinji Kanro
    66
    Summary

    A serialized collection of brief, humorous erotic anecdotes presented as “curious tales” of urban licentiousness. Through comic dialogue and exaggerated situations, the stories depict infidelity, sexual misadventure, marital conflict, flirtation, and other forms of city scandal, accompanied by playful illustrations.

  21. Pink Apartment Kaleidoscope by Yakusa Kyosuke
    70
    Summary

    A comic-erotic series of vignettes set among the residents of a postwar apartment building. Interwoven episodes depict flirtation, adultery, sexual misunderstandings, domestic quarrels, and the eccentric behavior of men and women living in close proximity, accompanied by cartoon illustrations and conversational exchanges.

  22. The Story of an Ape That Fathered a Human Child by Natsuhara Tsuneo
    74
    Summary

    A first-person mountain adventure and curious tale about an encounter with a powerful ape in an isolated rural setting. The account develops into the sensational claim that the ape had sexual relations with a woman and fathered a human child, blending hunting narrative, folklore, and pseudo-documentary marvels.

  23. Favorite Variety, Part 1: The Bear's Paw by Isshotei Shujin
    76
    Summary

    The first installment of a comic erotic serial follows the sexually dissatisfied and adventurous Hisako, her husband Nobuo, and a series of rural male acquaintances, including the figure known as Bear Grandpa. Illustrated episodes emphasize marital frustration, sexual pursuit, and escalating encounters framed through bawdy village humor.

  24. Favorite Variety, Part 2: Madame Skunk by Isshotei Shujin
    83
    Summary

    The second installment introduces the character Madame Skunk in a voyeuristic, grotesquely comic erotic episode. The narrative and accompanying illustration focus on sexualized bodily display, clandestine observation, and the character’s provocative behavior.

  25. House of the Lustful Bhikkhuni by Midori Sumariyuki
    84
    Summary

    An Edo-period erotic adventure follows the resourceful 金平 as he pursues encounters with women connected to pleasure quarters, households, and theatrical or elite circles. The serialized narrative combines disguise, pursuit, jealousy, violence, and sexual intrigue in a sensational historical setting.

  26. Night-Blooming Flowers: Erotic Story Collection
    90
    Summary

    A collection of erotic stories depicting dancers, entertainers, mistresses, and other women whose intimate lives are shaped by money, contracts, patrons, infidelity, and exploitation. The episodes emphasize backstage and domestic encounters, sexual performance, emotional vulnerability, and the precarious economics of commercial entertainment.

  27. The Completely Naked Charred Corpse
    96
    Summary

    A mystery investigation centers on the completely naked, charred body of a young woman discovered after a lodging-house fire. Through witness questioning, scene reconstruction, and autopsy clues, investigators challenge the apparent suicide explanation and pursue evidence of murder and arson.

  28. The Bride's Sexual Modesty by Yoshinobu Takashi
    102
    Summary

    This comparative essay examines sexual modesty among brides, focusing on embarrassment, resistance, and expectations surrounding marriage and the wedding night. It surveys differing customs and attitudes toward female sexuality across communities, including examples from Japan and other cultures.

  29. Breast Commotion: Southern Squabble Picture Scroll, Part 4 by Tsukiya Seishi
    104
    Summary

    Part four of a serialized illustrated pulp tale follows Maria and her husband through a volatile world of jealousy, sexual rivalry, cabaret entertainment, and suspected infidelity. The escalating quarrel becomes entangled with violence, a possible murder, missing money, and police investigation, with comic-style drawings accompanying the narrative.

Highlights

  • The issue opens with a substantial nude photographic portfolio before moving into humor, cartoons, reader-oriented miscellany, and short erotic anecdotes, making the first dozen pages an integral editorial section rather than disposable front matter. (PDF pp. 2–13).
  • The Ancient and Modern Curious Tales Compared feature begins immediately after the opening comic material with The Company President Who Became the Seed of a Novel, Pillow Talk in a Haunted House, and The Tooth of Desire. (PDF pp. 15–20).
  • The Poor Rich Man occupies a substantial early run and combines economic comedy, erotic adventure, and postwar urban observation. (PDF pp. 21–28).
  • A North Korea and Siberia captivity memoir begins before PDF page 30, introducing wartime and postwar displacement into an otherwise heavily erotic and humorous issue. (PDF pp. 29–30).
  • A concentrated sequence of articles from Young Swallow Tactics through Pure-Hearted Tactics treats romance and seduction as techniques to be studied, practiced, and strategically managed. (PDF pp. 39–50).
  • Song of Bodily Sorrow uses the scandal surrounding a professional baseball player as the framework for an erotic melodrama, linking contemporary celebrity culture to the magazine's fiction. (PDF pp. 35–38).
  • The Favorite Variety section shifts into comic and grotesque erotic storytelling with The Bear's Paw and Madame Skunk. (PDF pp. 75–82).
  • House of the Lustful Bhikkhuni is a sustained historical erotic narrative, providing a period-fiction counterpoint to the issue's contemporary urban material. (PDF pp. 83–88).
  • The Completely Naked Charred Corpse is an extended illustrated murder story combining crime reportage conventions with sensational popular fiction. (PDF pp. 95–100).
  • The closing Breast Commotion installment of Southern Squabble Picture Scroll occupies most of the final substantive pages before reader, submission, and publication notices. (PDF pp. 103–109).

Contributors

Named contributors represented in this issue: