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fictionfromafar · 3 years ago

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Japanese Crime Fiction Through The Years

While there are currently a larger number of Scandinavian crime fiction novels being translated into English, it could certainly be argued that many Japanese mystery novels offer some of the finest detective stories ever penned and translated to the English language. Authors like Seishi Yokomizo, Soji Shimada, and Masako Togawa were known as the Christies and Doyles of Japan. These Japanese authors created their own golden age of mystery fiction in Japan — often referred to as honkaku. Many of these have only been made available in the English language in recent years. In tandem, many modern writers including Yukito Ayatsuji, Keigo Higashino, Riku Onda and Kotaro Isaka have created their own stories which in some cases hark back to the earlier authors while also adding contemporary settings and feel. Here is a look at some of the historical and modern classics from Japan and also a preview at some forthcoming titles including three to be published in December 2021 and more due in 2022.

The Classics

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Louise Heal Kawai, Pushkin Press, 2019

This is what many consider the best honkaku Japanese detective story - this ‘locked room murder mystery’ is a unique take on the formula made iconic by major Western writers like Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Gaston Leroux. It takes place in a fixed location: the Ichiyanagi household in the village of Okamura.

The Ichiyanagi family are a proud, wealthy, high-class family, and one of their sons, Kenzo, is due to marry the young Katsuko. On the night of their wedding, they are murdered by a mysterious assailant who flees into the night, leaving nothing but a handprint and a bloodied samurai sword in the snow.

The Honjin Murders is a wickedly fun time. Its short length, quirky cast of characters, engaging mystery, and theatrical setting and plot make for a fantastic murder mystery tale. It is a prime example of honkaku, a literary genre of Japanese detective fiction that emerged in the 1920s that focuses on “fair play” — no unexpected twists or villains show up right at the end of the plot, but all necessary clues are laid out to the reader, giving them an equal chance to solve the riddle as the detective.

The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Louise Heal Kawai, Pushkin Press, 2020

Seishi Yokomizo’s second novel is much longer than its predecessor, The Inugami Curse also puts Detective Kindaichi centre stage as he is tasked with solving the murder of the head of the powerful Inugami Clan. The clan itself is marred with dark and dirty secrets, many of which come out when a series of murders begin, following the death of the clan patriarch. This is a macabre but fun and intensely exciting Japanese mystery novel that lays down enough twists and turns to keep the plot feeling fresh, despite its longer length.

Murder in the Crooked House by Soji Shimada, translated by Louise Heal Kawai, Pushkin Press, 2019

Murder in the Crooked House is one of those honkaku Japanese mystery novels that leans on the setting, focussing on the compelling intricacies of its setting over everything else. That setting is the titular Crooked House. The house sits on a snowy cliff in a remote part of Japan, and it is an intricately-designed place that works as a kind of puzzle box. It’s the character of the house that carries the story. Drawn with compelling detail, the Crooked House is like a Rubix cube or a puzzle box that the reader can almost fiddle with in order to solve the central murder.

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada, translated by Ross Mackenzie, Pushkin Press, 2015

An artist lives with seven women, all members of his family. In his notes and diaries, he has plotted out a scheme to murder each of them, one by one. Before he can, however, he is killed. This is a classic honkaku locked room mystery, with him having died in his locked office with no way in or out.

Following his death, however, the women begin to die, as he had planned, and our two protagonists — amateur detectives — set out on a journey to track down the murderer, and they take you along with them. The possibility that our artist never died at all remains at the back of our minds the entire time, as does the question of how he died and who is doing the killings in his place.

This is one of the sharpest Japanese mystery novels around; one of the finest ever written. The journey we take is engaging and the central conceit is something to be chewed on for hours and hours. It’s clever, intriguing and an absorbing whodunnit.

The Master Key by Masako Togawa, translated by Simon Grove, Pushkin Press, 2017

Masako Togawa was one of the most beloved Japanese mystery authors around. This book is set in a large apartment complex in Tokyo, every resident of which is a woman with a secret.

Rather than beginning with a murder, the story follows the theft of the master key, which opens every door to every apartment in the building. With these tangled secrets coming out, the book promises that, at the centre of this tangled web, we will find a murder.

The Lady Killer by Masako Togawa, translated by Simon Grove, Pushkin Press, 2018

The Lady Killer is a personal favourite. This is a book with similar vibes to those of Ryu Murakami which leans into the seedy underbelly of Tokyo life.

The book follows a serial killer named Ichiro Honda as he turns from hunter to hunted. While he lives his days as an ordinary, unassuming urban husband, at night Honda is a man who enjoys seducing the vulnerable women of Tokyo’s clubs and bars. However, as a trail of bodies winds its way towards him, Honda becomes someone else’s prey.

Modern Classics

Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto, translated by Beth Cary, Soho Crime, 1999

A dead body is found under the rails of a train in the early hours of a cold 1960s Tokyo morning. Possessing no documents and with a face so brutally damaged that the police find it impossible to identify the victim, the assigned detective to the case, Inspector Imanishi, is left with only two clues to follow: the distinctive accent of a young man who was last seen with the victim and the word “kameda.” After months of following wrong leads and not a single solid suspect, the case is closed, unresolved. Imanishi, dissatisfied, cannot take the case out of his mind, but then a series of strange but coinciding events lead him back to square one.

Credited with popularizing the mystery genre in Japan, “Inspector Imanishi Investigates” is one of Seicho Matsumoto’s most famous novels and a classic Japanese detective story. Inspector Imanishi isn’t your typical eccentric, gifted detective with impressive deductive skills, but a laid-back, quiet bonsai lover who enjoys spending his free time writing haiku and folding paper cranes. With the perfect combination of a down-to-earth detective and a seemingly unsolvable crime, “Inspector Imanishi Investigates” is the best company for a stormy, indoor summer afternoon.

Malice by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith, Abacus, 2014

Keigo Higashino is one of Japan’s foremost modern mystery writers, penning some of the most successful Japanese mystery novels of recent years. Like Yokomizo’s Detective Kindaichi, police detective Kyoichiro Kaga is a legendary detective protagonist, and Malice was his debut novel. Malice begins with the brutal murder of a famous Japanese novelist, Kunihiko Hindada — killed in his own home the day before a big move to Canada was planned.. This is a modern take on the classic locked room murder mystery. When the author’s body is found by both his wife and fellow writer Osamu Nonoguchi, it is in a locked room in a locked house.

Before becoming a police detective, Kaga was a teacher, and Nonoguchi was his colleague, who eventually also left the job to pursue a career as a writer. His success never reached the heights of the murder victim, though. What makes this book stand out in a sea of Japanese mystery novels is the fact that Nonoguchi, very early, confesses to the murder — just as Kaga suspects — but that’s just the beginning. Kaga returns in the novel Newcomer. Here is my review:

Out by Natsuo Kirino, translated by Stephen Snyder, Vintage, 2006

Taking an unflinching look into the darkest recesses of society and the human soul, One provides an unsettling reminder that the desperate desire for freedom can make the most ordinary person do the unimaginable.

While this is a story of crime and murder in Japan, it’s not a detective story. Out follows the stories of four women who work at a bento box factory in Tokyo. When one of these women finally snaps and murders her husband, while their children sleep in the next room, she enlists the help of her colleagues to cut up and hide the body. Thus begins a race against time and the authorities to avoid detection and get away with murder.

Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama, translated by Jonathan Lloyd-Davies, Riverun, 2016

For five days, the parents of a seven-year-old Tokyo schoolgirl sat and listened to the demands of their daughter’s kidnapper. They would never learn his identity. They would never see their daughter again.

For the fourteen years that followed, the Japanese public listened to the police’s apologies. They would never forget the botched investigation that became known as ‘Six Four’. They would never forgive the authorities their failure. What follows is a complex, slow-burning, insightful and methodical picture of policing in Japan that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith, Abacus, 2012

When Yasuko Hanaoka’s abusive ex-husband appears at her door to extort money, the situation quickly takes a dark turn, and he ends up strangled by Yasuko and her daughter. After witnessing the incident from the apartment next door, math teacher Ishigami decides to help his neighbours in covering up the murder. Assigned to the case is detective Kusanagi, who grows increasingly suspicious of the mother and daughter despite not identifying any holes in their alibi, so he goes to seek help from his physicist friend Dr. Yukawa who often assists in police cases. What follows is a competition between two geniuses trying to outsmart the other. With the murder and the culprit already laid out from the beginning, “The Devotion of Suspect X” focuses on the how and the why, leaving readers immersed in a competition of the highest stakes and two questions to be answered: Can there be such a thing as an unsolvable puzzle and how far would someone go to create one?

One of the most popular modern Japanese thrillers to date, Higashino’s “The Devotion of Suspect X” was my entry point to Japanese crime fiction and has won multiple awards, which include the coveted 134th Naoki Prize and the sixth Honkaku Mystery Award, one of the most prestigious awards for mystery novels in Japan. The novel’s enticing plot is remarkably translated to English by Alexander O. Smith, having been nominated for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel

Confessions By Kanae Minato, translated by Stephen Snyder, Mulholland Books, 2014

Kanae Minato has been described as “’the queen of iyamisu’ (eww mystery), a subgenre of mystery fiction which deals with grisly episodes and the dark side of human nature.” In Confessions, middle school teacher Yuko Moriguchi’s four-year-old child dies tragically at the school she teaches. After giving a rattling confession to her homeroom class, she resigns from her position, a last act of revenge for the death that was no accident. As Moriguchi’s story and the stories of characters labeled “Student A” and “Student B” unravel, it turns out that she’s not the only one with confessions to make.

But revenge has a way of spinning out of control, and Yuko's last lecture is only the start of the story. In this bestselling Japanese thriller of love, despair and murder, everyone has a confession to make, and no one will escape unharmed.

Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith, Abacus 2013

In Osaka, 1972, a man was found murdered at an abandoned building. Detective Sasagaki, assigned to the case, soon finds himself out of leads when two of the main suspects are found dead and no more clues are discovered. Two kids, however, catch his attention throughout the investigation: the gloomy son of the victim Ryo, and the alluring daughter of the main suspect Yukiho. In a tangled web of characters and events, follow detective Sasagaki in this epic 20-year riddle as he relentlessly attempts to piece together strange misfortunes, sudden twists and unexpected connections.

“Journey Under the Midnight Sun” is one of the best examples of the author’s sleight of hand. With an episodic plot, a long list of minor characters, and references to major historical events of 1970s Japan, it might be challenging at first for the inexperienced reader. However, the complexity of the epic allows a deep dive into the psyche of the era and the hearts of the characters.

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji, translated by Ho-Ling Wong, Pushkin Press, 2020

Yukito Ayatsuji is one of the founders of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club: a group of Japanese mystery authors who echo the golden age of detective stories to outstanding effect. His first novel was The Decagon House Murders.

Paying homage to Agatha Christie’s masterpiece, And Then There Were None, The Decagon House Murders follows the story of a group of young mystery novel fanatics who spend a few days on an island which was, just one-year prior, the scene of a brutal murder.

One narrative follows the students as they fall into a murderous trap while staying in the island’s one remaining building, the Decagon House where the students are picked off one by one. The second narrative follows two remaining members of the club as they remain on land and begin their own investigation after receiving a letter from the deceased owner of the island. The central question we face is this: is the killer one of the students, or is it the not-so-dead owner of the Decagon House?

The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda, translated by Alison Watts, Bitter Lemon Press, 2020

1970s Japan. A freak mass murder takes place in a remote town on a stormy day. 17 people were found dead at a birthday party, including elderly and children. The police are puzzled — how will they catch the murderer if the only present witness and survivor of the massacre is a blind, sickly girl? A few different individuals are suspected at first, but soon all suspicion lies on a single person. You see, it’s a very simple story. If there are ten people in a house and nine die, who is the culprit?

However, proving their guilt is a lot harder than it seems since people’s memories are faulty and their perspectives are biased. As much as you try to make the pieces fall perfectly in place, Onda takes you on a swirl of events and findings that contradict each other, but will leave you glued to the book until the end. In this dark, tantalizing journey that challenges the norms of the mystery genre, Onda gives voice to all of those involved in the crime and dives deep into their psyche, exploring their innermost fears and darkest secrets leading to an interpretive ending.

Here is my review:

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, translated by Lucy North, Faber & Faber 2021

The Woman in the Purple Skirt is being watched. Someone is following her, always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes; what she eats; whom she speaks to. But this invisible observer isn't a stalker - it's much more complicated than that. Through the narrator who follows and watches the mysterious Woman in the Purple Skirt, Imamura weaves a disquieting, darkly voyeuristic narrative of obsession, manipulation and the insidious effects of gossip.

The Wrong Goodbye by Toshihiko Yahagi, Translated by Alfred Birnbaum, MacLehose 2021

A classic slice of Japanese hard-boiled noir paying homage to Raymond Chandler, the Wrong Goodbye pits homicide detective Eiji Futamura against a shady Chinese business empire and U.S. military intelligence in the docklands of recession era Japan.

After the frozen corpse of immigrant barman Tran Binh Long washes up in midsummer near Yokosuka U.S. Navy Base, Futamura meets a strange customer from Tran’s bar. Vietnam vet pilot Billy Lou Bonney talks Futamura into hauling three suitcases of “goods” to Yokota US Air Base late at night and flies off leaving a dead woman behind. Thereby implicated in a murder suspect’s escape and relieved from active duty, Futamura takes on hack work for the beautiful concert violinist Aileen Hsu, a “boat people” orphan whose Japanese adoption mother has mysteriously gone missing. And now a phone call from a bestselling yakuza author, a one-time black marketeer in Saigon, hints at inside information on “former Vietcong mole” Tran and his “old sidekick” Billy Lou, both of whom crossed a triad tycoon who is buying up huge tracts of Mekong Delta marshland for a massive development scheme. As the loose strands flashback to Vietnam, the string of official lies and mysterious allegiances build into a dark picture of the U.S.-Japan postwar alliance.

Here is my review:

Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa, Harvill Secker, 2021

Five killers find themselves on a bullet train from Tokyo competing for a suitcase full of money. Satoshi looks like an innocent schoolboy but he is really a viciously cunning psychopath. Kimura's young son is in a coma thanks to him, and Kimura has tracked him onto the bullet train heading from Tokyo to Morioka to exact his revenge. But Kimura soon discovers that they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard.

Nanao, the self-proclaimed 'unluckiest assassin in the world', and the deadly partnership of Tangerine and Lemon are also travelling to Morioka. A suitcase full of money leads others to show their hands. Why are they all on the same train, and who will get off alive at the last station?

Bullet Train is an original and propulsive thriller from a prize-winning Japanese bestseller – and it’s already set to be a major film, directed by David Leitch and boasting a star-studded cast including Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock and Aaron Taylor Johnson.

Forthcoming Publications:

The Village of Eight Graves By Seishi Yokomizo, Translated by Bryan Karetnyk, Pushkin Press 2 December 2021

Nestled deep in the mist-shrouded mountains, The Village of Eight Graves takes its name from a bloody legend: in the Sixteenth Century eight samurais, who had taken refuge there along with a secret treasure, were murdered by the inhabitants, bringing a terrible curse down upon their village.

Centuries later a mysterious young man named Tatsuya arrives in town, bringing a spate of deadly poisonings in his wake. The inimitably scruffy and brilliant Kosuke Kindaichi investigates.

Death of the Living Dead by Masaya Yamaguchi, translated by Ho-Ling Wong, Amazon Kindle, December 2021

Occasionally Japanese crime fiction will cross with the supernatural, such as in Ring by Koji Suzuki, and this highly awaited translation of Masaya Yamaguchi.

It is the late 1900s, and strange occurrences of “resurrection of the dead” are occurring all over the United States. Amidst this, Smiley Barleycorn, the immensely wealthy founder of Smile Cemetery in the New England town of Tombsville, is on his deathbed. His family has been summoned and Smiley’s grandchild Francis (a.k.a. Grin) visits his grandfather along with his beloved. There Grin witnesses the neglect of the dying master of the house and the unfolding of ugly family disputes over the inheritance of the huge estate. On the day of a Family Tea Party, Grin drinks tea that has been poisoned and breathes his last quietly in his room, but is soon resurrected as one of the living dead. Grin thinks that he may have gotten caught up in a planned murder over succession to property, and, while concealing from those around him that he has already died once, tries to uncover the truth behind the incident. Meanwhile the victims, the suspects, and even the detectives are dying and resurrecting one after another.

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino, Translated by Giles Murray, Little Brown, 14 December 2021

A popular young girl disappears without a trace, her skeletal remains discovered three years later in the ashes of a burned-out house. There’s a suspect and compelling circumstantial evidence of his guilt, but no concrete proof. When he isn’t indicted, he returns to mock the girl’s family. And this isn’t the first time he’s been suspected of the murder of a young girl, nearly twenty years ago he was tried and released due to lack of evidence. Chief Inspector Kusanagi of the Homicide Division of the Tokyo Police worked both cases.

The neighborhood in which the murdered girl lived is famous for an annual street festival, featuring a parade with entries from around Tokyo and Japan. During the parade, the suspected killer dies unexpectedly. His death is suspiciously convenient but the people with all the best motives have rock solid alibis. Chief Inspector Kusanagi turns once again to his college friend, Physics professor and occasional police consultant Manabu Yukawa, known as Detective Galileo, to help solve a modern take on the ‘locked room murder mystery’.

Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura, Translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iide, John Murray Press, 17 February 2022

One of Japan’s great modern masters, Kaoru Takamura, makes her English-language debut with this two-volume publication of her magnum opus. Tokyo, 1995. Five men meet at the racetrack every Sunday to bet on horses. They have little in common except a deep disaffection with their lives, but together they represent the social struggles and griefs of post-War Japan: a poorly socialized genius stuck working as a welder; a demoted detective with a chip on his shoulder; a Zainichi Korean banker sick of being ostracized for his race; a struggling single dad of a teenage girl with Down syndrome. The fifth man bringing them all together is an elderly drugstore owner grieving his grandson, who has died suspiciously after the revelation of a family connection with the segregated buraku community, historically subjected to severe discrimination.

Intent on revenge against a society that values corporate behemoths more than human life, the five conspirators decide to carry out a heist: kidnap the CEO of Japan’s largest beer conglomerate and extract blood money from the company’s corrupt financiers. Inspired by the unsolved true-crime kidnapping case perpetrated by “the Monster with 21 Faces,” Lady Joker has become a cultural touchstone since its 1997 publication, acknowledged as the magnum opus by one of Japan’s literary masters, twice adapted for film and TV and often taught in high school and college classrooms.

Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa, Harvill Secker, 4 April 2022

Suzuki is just an ordinary man until his wife is murdered. When he discovers the criminal gang responsible he leaves behind his life as a maths teacher and joins them, looking for a chance to take his revenge. What he doesn't realise is that he's about to get drawn into a web of unusual professional assassins, each with their own agenda.

The Whale convinces his victims to take their own lives using just his words.

The Cicada is a talkative and deadly knife expert.

The elusive Pusher dispatches his targets in deadly traffic accidents.

Suzuki must take each of them on, in order to try to find justice and keep his innocence in a world of killers

Fish Swimming In Dappled Sunlight by Riku Onda, Translated by Alison Watt, Bitter Lemon Press, 16 June 2022

Set in Tokyo over the course of one night, Aki and Hiro have decided to be together one last time in their shared flat before parting. Their relationship has broken down after a mountain trek during which their guide died inexplicably. Now each believes the other to be a murderer and is determined to extract a confession before the night is over. Who is the murderer and what really happened on the mountain? In the battle of wills between them, the chain of events leading up to this night is gradually revealed in a gripping psychological thriller that keeps the reader in suspense to the very end.

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