Hikaru Natsumi | |
---|---|
Born | 1973 |
Died | November 4, 2002 (aged 29) |
Nationality | Japanese |
Occupation(s) | Writer, sex worker |
Hikaru Natsumi (菜摘ひかる, Natsumi Hikaru, 1973 – November 4, 2002) was a Japanese writer and sex worker. She is best known for her blog The Sexual Adventures of Hikaru Natsumi (菜摘ひかるの性的冒険), which was published as a book in 1998.
Natsumi was born in 1973 in the Kantō region of Japan.[1] While in high school, she contributed writing and manga to manga magazines specializing in adult comics that were edited by Yoshiaki Shioyama .[2] After graduating high school, Natsumi began working as a clerk at a clothing store.[1] She later transitioned to the water trade,[1] alternately working as an erotic masseuse, at image clubs, and in soaplands.[3] She additionally worked as a nude model for erotic books and adult films, though after being arrested for indecent exposure after stripping nude on a street in Shinjuku for a photo shoot in 1996, she retired from modeling.[3]
In the mid-1990s, Natsumi began publishing a blog about her experiences as a sex worker titled The Sexual Adventures of Hikaru Natsumi (菜摘ひかるの性的冒険). The blog was later published as a book by the Japanese publishing house Yosensha in 1998;[4] its success prompted Natsumi to become a full-time author of novels and manga. "Vulgarity Drifting Diary", an English-language column by Natsumi, was published in the American manga magazine Pulp.[5]
In her writing, Natsumi referenced having once been married to an unnamed husband whom she divorced.[1] She reported having a troubled relationship with her parents, particularly her father.[6]
On November 4, 2002, Natsumi died at the age of 29.[1] The cause of death was not released, beyond that she had been in poor health since mid-2002 and experienced a "sudden change in health".[7] A private funeral was held.[8] In February 2003, a commemorative issue of the literary magazine Bungei was published in Natsumi's memory. Among the contributors to the issue were Rika Kayama , Yukari Fujimoto, Amari Hayashi , and Naito Yamada , the lattermost of whom regularly collaborated with Natsumi as the illustrator on her manga works.[9]