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Japanese detective fiction

Summary

Japanese detective fiction (推理小説, suiri shōsetsu, literally deductive reasoning fiction), is a popular genre of Japanese literature.

History edit

Name edit

When Western detective fiction spread to Japan, it created a new genre called detective fiction (tantei shōsetsu (探偵小説)) in Japanese literature.[1] After World War II the genre was renamed deductive reasoning fiction (suiri shōsetsu (推理小説)).[2] The genre is sometimes called mystery, although this includes non-detective fiction as well.

Development edit

Edogawa Rampo is the first Japanese modern mystery writer and the founder of the Detective Story Club in Japan. Rampo was an admirer of western mystery writers. He gained his fame in early 1920s, when he began to bring to the genre many bizarre, erotic and even fantastic elements. This is partly because of the social tension before World War II.[3] Rampo's mystery novels generally followed conventional formulas, and have been classed as part of the honkaku ha (本格派), called "orthodox school",[4][5] or "standard" detective fiction,[6] or "authentic" detective fiction.[7][8]

In 1957, Seicho Matsumoto received the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for his short story The Face (顔, kao). The Face and Matsumoto's subsequent works began the "social school" (社会派, shakai ha) within the genre, which emphasized social realism, described crimes in an ordinary setting and sets motives within a wider context of social injustice and political corruption.[9][10]

Since the 1980s, a "new orthodox school" (新本格派, shin honkaku ha) has surfaced. It demands restoration of the classic rules of detective fiction and the use of more self-reflective elements, largely inspired by the works of Ellery Queen and John Dickson Carr. Famous authors of this movement include Soji Shimada, Yukito Ayatsuji, Rintaro Norizuki, Alice Arisugawa, Kaoru Kitamura and Taku Ashibe.

Quotation edit

I think that the writer of the detective novels can describe human being by emphatically drawing the crime motive. Because the crime motive originates from the psychology when people is left in the extreme situation. After World War II, I do not think that the writers of the detective novels have succeeded in drawing human being enough. Rather I think that from the beginning they abandon the will that draw human being. In this way, the detective novels became the game for narrow-minded enthusiasts. From old days, I had dissatisfaction toward the detective story of the kind that common people could not be interested in. Accurately, I had this dissatisfaction for the writers who continue to write such a detective novel. I will not assert that a detective novel has to be literary. However, nonetheless, I hope the detective novels to be written that we can appreciate more than the minimum standard as a novel.

— Seichō Matsumoto. Zuihitsu Kuroi Techō (Essays on the Mystery Novel). 1961. pp.18 - 25.

Ellery, the slim handsome young man says: "To me, detective fiction is a kind of intellectual game. A logical game that gives readers sensations about detectives or authors. These are not to be ranked high or low. So I don't want the once popular 'social school' realism. Female employee murdered in a deluxe suite room; criminal police's tireless investigation eventually brings in the murdering boss-cum-boyfriend--All cliché. Political scandals of corruption and ineptness; tragedies of distortion of modern society; these are also out of date. The most appropriate materials for detective fiction, whether accused untimely or not, are famous detectives, grand mansions, suspicious residents, bloody murders, puzzling situation, earth-shattering scheme . . . . Made up things are even better. The point is to enjoy the pleasure in the world of reasoning. But intellectual prerequisites must be completely met."

— Yukito Ayatsuji. The Decagon House Murders. 1987. pp.1.

Japanese mystery awards edit

Top book lists of mystery fiction published in Japan edit

Japanese mystery writers edit

Pioneers of Japanese mystery writing
  • Ruiko Kuroiwa (ja) (1862–1920, M)
  • Kido Okamoto (1872–1939, M)
  • Teruko Okura (ja) (1886–1960, F)
  • Kyusaku Yumeno (1889–1936, M)
  • Fuboku Kosakai (ja) (1890–1929, M)
  • Saburo Koga (ja) (1893–1945, M)
  • Edogawa Rampo (né Hirai Taro) (1894–1965, M)
  • Shiro Hamao (ja) (1896–1935, M)
  • Udaru Oshita (ja) (1896–1966, M)
  • Takataro Kigi (ja) (1897–1969, M)
  • Juza Unno (1897–1949, M)
  • Kaitarō Hasegawa (1900–1935, M)
  • Keisuke Watanabe (ja) (1901–2002, M)
  • Mushitaro Oguri (1901–1946, M)
  • Juran Hisao (1902–1957, M)
  • Seishi Yokomizo (1902–1981, M)
  • On Watanabe (1902–1930, M)
  • Kikuo Tsunoda (ja) (1906–1994, M)
  • Yu Aoi (ja) (1909–1975, M)
  • Keikichi Osaka (ja) (1912–1945, M)
Writers who debuted in the late 1940s
Writers who debuted in the 1950s
Writers who debuted in the 1960s
Writers who debuted in the 1970s
Writers who debuted in the 1980s
Writers who debuted in the 1990s
Writers who debuted in the 2000s
Writers who debuted in the 2010s
  • En Mikami (ja) (born 1971, M)[37]
  • Aki Hamanaka (born 1976, M)[38]

Aozora Bunko edit

Listed below are Japanese mystery writers whose works are available in Aozora Bunko, a Japanese digital library.

Ruiko Kuroiwa's short story Muzan (1889)[1], which is also available in Aozora Bunko, is one of the earliest Japanese detective stories.

H
  • Shiro Hamao (ja) (1896–1935, M) [2]
  • Kaitarō Hasegawa (1900–1935, M) [3][4][5]
  • Mondo Hashi (1884–1957, M) [6]
  • Goro Hashimoto (ja) (1903–1948, M) [7]
  • Hatsunosuke Hirabayashi (ja) (1892–1931, M) [8]
  • Juran Hisao (1902–1957, M) [9]
K
  • Isao Kawada (1882–1931, M) [10]
  • Saburo Koga (ja) (1893–1945, M) [11]
  • Fuboku Kosakai (ja) (1890–1929, M) [12]
  • Ruiko Kuroiwa (ja) (1862–1920, M) [13]
M
  • Tai Matsumoto (ja) (1890–1929, M) [14]
  • Kaita Murayama (1896–1919, M) [15]
N
  • Tadashi Nishio (ja) (1907–1949, M) [16]
O
  • Taketoshi Oba (1904–1945, M) [17]
  • Mushitaro Oguri (1901–1946, M) [18]
  • Kido Okamoto (1872–1939, M) [19]
  • Teruko Okura (ja) (1886–1960, F) [20]
  • Keikichi Osaka (ja) (1912–1945, M) [21]
R
  • Ikujiro Ran (ja) (1913–1944, M) [22]
S
  • Ango Sakaguchi (1906–1955, M) [23]
  • Kashichi Sakai (1903–1946, M) [24]
  • Toshiro Sasaki (1900–1933, M) [25]
  • Akio Senoo (ja) (1892–1962, M) [26]
T
  • Sotoo Tachibana (ja) (1894–1959, M) [27]
U
W
Y
  • Nogitaro Yamamoto (1889–1951, M) [30]
  • Risaburo Yamashita (1892–1952, M) [31]
  • Kyusaku Yumeno (1889–1936, M) [32]

Japanese detective manga series edit

Video game adaptions edit

There are visual novels and adventure games that take inspiration from this fiction genre.

See also edit

Explanatory notes edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Japan's first detective story was published in 1889". Red Circle Authors.
  2. ^ Yamamura, Masao [in Japanese] (1973). Suiri bundan sengoshi 推理文壇戦後史. Futabasha. p. 87.
  3. ^ Gonda, Manji (April 1993). "Crime fiction with a social consciousness". Japan Quarterly. 40 (2): 160. ISSN 0021-4590. ProQuest 234913069.
  4. ^ Silver (1999) (ed. Herbert), apud Saito (2007), p. 17n.
  5. ^ Kenkyusha's New College Japanese-English Dictionary (Shin wa-ei chū-jiten, 4th ed., 1995): "本格派 (honkaku ha)", "orthodox school".
  6. ^ Seaman (2004), p. 8.
  7. ^ Saito (2007), pp. 16, 17n
  8. ^ Kenkyusha's dictionary also has a side-by-side entry on honkaku-teki which it parses into three senses: "genuine, real", "orthodox", or "standard".
  9. ^ Seaman (2004), p. 9.
  10. ^ Gonda (1993), pp. 159–162
  11. ^ Tsumao Awasaka at J'Lit Books from Japan
  12. ^ Toshihiko Yahagi at J'Lit Books from Japan
  13. ^ Atsunori Tomatsu at J'Lit Books from Japan
  14. ^ Arisu Arisugawa at J'Lit Books from Japan
  15. ^ Shogo Utano at J'Lit Books from Japan
  16. ^ Kaoru Takamura at J'Lit Books from Japan
  17. ^ Bin Konno at J'Lit Books from Japan
  18. ^ Setsuko Shinoda at J'Lit Books from Japan
  19. ^ Naomi Azuma at J'Lit Books from Japan
  20. ^ Hideo Okuda at J'Lit Books from Japan
  21. ^ Arata Tendo at J'Lit Books from Japan
  22. ^ Yuichi Shimpo at J'Lit Books from Japan
  23. ^ Tokuro Nukui at J'Lit Books from Japan
  24. ^ Fumie Kondo at J'Lit Books from Japan
  25. ^ Yutaka Maya at J'Lit Books from Japan
  26. ^ Mahokaru Numata at J'Lit Books from Japan
  27. ^ Shunichi Doba at J'Lit Books from Japan
  28. ^ Kazuaki Takano at J'Lit Books from Japan
  29. ^ Ryosuke Kakine at J'Lit Books from Japan
  30. ^ Koji Yanagi at J'Lit Books from Japan
  31. ^ Tokuya Higashigawa at J'Lit Books from Japan
  32. ^ Tetsuya Honda at J'Lit Books from Japan
  33. ^ Kanae Minato at J'Lit Books from Japan
  34. ^ Shusuke Michio at J'Lit Books from Japan
  35. ^ Honobu Yonezawa at J'Lit Books from Japan
  36. ^ Mizuki Tsujimura at J'Lit Books from Japan
  37. ^ En Mikami at J'Lit Books from Japan
  38. ^ Aki Hamanaka at J'Lit Books from Japan
  • Saito, Satomi (2007). Culture and authenticity: the discursive space of Japanese detective fiction and the formation of the national imaginary (Ph.D.). University of Iowa. Archived from the original on August 12, 2010.
  • Seaman, Amanda C. (2004). Bodies of Evidence: Women, Society, and Detective Fiction in 1990s Japan. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-824-82806-2.
  • Shimpo Hirohisa [ja]. (2000). "Parallel lives of Japan's master detectives". Japan Quarterly, 47(4), 52-57. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from ProQuest Asian Business and Reference. (Document ID: 63077831).
  • Silver, Mark (1999). "Crime and mystery writing in Japan". In Herbert, Rosemary (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing. Oxford University Press. pp. 241–243.

External links edit

  • Zoom Japon, June 1, 2010, pp 4–7 (in French)
  • List of Japanese mystery fiction in English translation at Euro Crime

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