A woman called Abesara once got angry with her married lover for not getting a divorce. So she strangled him to death with her kimono belt while he was sleeping. Then she sliced off his genitalia, wrapped them in paper and carried them everywhere as a romantic keepsake. This blood-soaked parcel later helped Tokyo police track the woman down, and she was jailed for six years.

The moral to the 1963 "Abesara Incident," according to Practical Methods of Revenge, a best-selling guide to getting even, is this: If you're going to hack off your lover's tackle, for heaven's sake get rid of it. "It's fun to think of shocking ways to dispose of the penis," the book suggests in its breezy, cook-book patter. Well, how many can you think of? Answers at the end.

Practical Methods of Revenge is one of a spate of DIY guides on gruesome subjects which are now selling like hotcakes at Tokyo bookstores. First came The Complete Manual of Suicide, a guide to topping yourself which sold hundreds of thousands of copies last year. This was followed by The A-to-Z of Wiretapping, I Am a Criminal and Iron Man of Extortion, the last two being detailed guides to extortion written by convicted gangsters. The key to the books' success is the format, a sensational, usually illegal topic treated in minute detail with textbook matter-of-factness, illustrated by zippy graphics and lots of real-life examples.

The least offensive guide on offer is The Complete Manual of Disappearance, which promises to help you vanish without a trace, either temporarily or permanently. The book's advice ranges from simple practicalities like forging ID cards to hard-core solutions like faking amnesia and undergoing plastic surgery. The Illustrated Manual of Poisoning does not encourage you to spike granddad's saké with arsenic, but is a stylishly illustrated and comprehensive introduction to a host of lethal substances. One sad sign of the times is that sarin is listed in a chapter on "everyday poisons."

Practical Methods of Revenge is undoubtedly the worst of the lot. "Taking revenge sure beats taking your own life!" declares its sales pitch in a deliberate sideswipe at its rival manual. Now in its sixth print run, the anonymous authors go by the collective name of "Aggressive Revenger's Act." They are all, the dust jacket explains, "victims of bullying, sexual harassment and other crimes for which there is little recourse to law." There is also a warning: "This book is a deadly weapon. Use it only as a last resort."

Revenge is conveniently themed according to upon whom you wish to rain fury: teacher, reporter, bank manager, wife, etc. Each chapter is subdivided into retributions of increasing spitefulness, from gobbing into your boss' Cup Noodle to liquidating troublesome neighbors with voodoo rites. (Black magic, the authors soberly note, "is not only legal but impossible to fight against.")

Dotted throughout are case studies of real-life revenge, like the story of the schoolgirls whose headmistress forced them to wear bloomers. Instinctively gauging the virtually infinite fascination for schoolgirls' undergarments among Tokyo's press corps, the class took their protest to the media, who turned it into such a cause célèbre that the headmistress backed down.

A student who murdered a Tokyo gang boss in retribution was less successful: he was arrested and is now on trial. But you can get away with killing a yakuza, the guide says, if you stab him in an empty sidestreet and scream self-defense when the cops arrive. Then, presumably, you go to the nearest bookstore to buy The Complete Manual of Disappearance, because you'll need it when the city's entire underworld starts looking for you.

Then the book gets really nasty. "If you really need to murder your parents, it's best to do it as soon as possible," the guide advises under-14-year-olds, who usually receive lighter sentences for murder. Another section suggests punishing your husband's lover by hiring a rapist ("Penalty: up to 15 years imprisonment"). It recalls a case in which a wife was caught for doing just that, then recommends: "It's better to use a vibrator to bugger your victim, or use a large dog in heat. Then she'll be too embarrassed to tell the police."

Disturbing stuff, especially in a nation where people have a reputation for doing everything strictly by the book. (After The Complete Manual of Suicide was published, police found suicide victims with well-thumbed copies in their pockets.) On the contrary, says Nobuyuki Hirata of Crocodile Book, Revenge's publisher. "I think the book's success is a healthy sign. It shows we're more willing to discuss taboo subjects." Hirata has received no complaints. In fact, beleaguered salarymen have written to say how the book has given them "extra courage." And, one presumes, given the bucho's Cup Noodle something extra, too.

Anyway, back to the penis disposal dilemma. How many ways did you think of? The combined wisdom of the Aggressive Revenger's Act is:

1. Dice it unrecognizably, then discard.
2. Boil to a pulp, then discard
3. Squash it, then discard.
4. Force the victim to swallow it.
5. Feed it to your dog.

Fun, isn't it?