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Kogoro Akechi
is a fictional private detective created by Japanese mystery writer Edogawa Ranpo. Overview Akechi first appeared in the story in January 1925 and continued to appear in stories for a quarter of a century. Edogawa Ranpo (a pseudonym for Tarō Hirai) is considered the father of the Japanese detective story and was a great admirer of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Akechi is the first recurring detective character in Japanese fiction and is clearly inspired by Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Like Holmes, Akechi is a brilliant but eccentric detective who consults with the police on especially difficult cases. He is a master of disguise and an expert at judo whose genius lets him solve seemingly impossible cases. Also like Holmes, Akechi makes use of a group of young boys to gather information. His version of the Baker Street Irregulars is known as the . Akechi smokes Egyptian cigarettes when he is thinking about a case. Kogoro Akechi is a tall, handsome man with heavy eyebrows who dresses well. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edogawa Ranpo
, better known by the pen name was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery and thriller fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogoro Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the . Ranpo was an admirer of Western mystery writers, and especially of Edgar Allan Poe. His pen name is a rendering of Poe's name. Other authors who were special influences on him were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whom he attempted to translate into Japanese during his days as a student at Waseda University, and the Japanese mystery writer Ruikō Kuroiwa. Biography Before World War II Tarō Hirai was born in Nabari, Mie Prefecture in 1894, where his grandfather had been a samurai in the service of Tsu Domain. His father was a merchant, who had also practiced law. The family moved to what is now Kameyama, Mie, and from there to Nagoya when he was age two. At the age of 17, he studied economics a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 million residents ; the city proper has a population of 13.99 million people. Located at the head of Tokyo Bay, the prefecture forms part of the Kantō region on the central coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island. Tokyo serves as Japan's economic center and is the seat of both the Japanese government and the Emperor of Japan. Originally a fishing village named Edo, the city became politically prominent in 1603, when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. By the mid-18th century, Edo was one of the most populous cities in the world with a population of over one million people. Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the imperial capital in Kyoto was moved to Edo, which was renamed "Tokyo" (). Tokyo was devastate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yukio Mishima
, born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, but the award went to his countryman and benefactor Yasunari Kawabata. His works include the novels and , and the autobiographical essay . Mishima's work is characterized by "its luxurious vocabulary and decadent metaphors, its fusion of Japanese literature, traditional Japanese and modern Western literature, Western literary styles, and its obsessive assertions of the unity of beauty, eroticism and death", according to author Andrew Rankin. Mishima's political activities made him a controversial figure, which he remains in modern Japan. From his mid-30s, Mishima's Right-wing politics, right-wing ideology was increasingly revealed. He was proud of the traditional culture and spirit of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinji Fukasaku
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking," Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty yakuza films, typified by the ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' series (1973–1976). According to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, "his turbulent energy and at times extreme violence express a cynical critique of social conditions and genuine sympathy for those left out of Japan's postwar prosperity." He used a '' cinema verite''-inspired shaky camera technique in many of his films from the early 1970s. Fukasaku wrote and directed over 60 films between 1961 and 2003. Some Western sources have associated him with the Japanese New Wave movement of the '60s and '70s, but this belies his commercial success. His works include the Japanese portion of the Hollywood war film ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'' (1970), ''jidaigeki'' such as ''Shogun's Samurai'' (1978), the space opera ''Mes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Lizard (film)
is a 1968 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. The film is based on a play by Yukio Mishima which in turn is based on a novel by Rampo Edogawa. The play had previously been adapted to film in 1962 by director Umetsugu Inoue. Plot Shobei Iwase is a jeweler whose daughter Sanae works as a hostess at a club. Mrs. Midorikawa visits Sanae and introduces her to Yamakawa, young businessman from Tokyo. When they visit his room to look at a wedding doll, he chloroforms Sanae and stuffs her into a trunk. Detective Akechi explains that Yamakawa was actually a depressed man named Junichi Amamiya who was convinced by Black Lizard to kidnap Sanae. Suspecting this, Akechi sends his men to follow Amamiya and he successfully recovers Sanae. Akechi explains that Mrs. Midorikawa is actually Black Lizard in disguise. Black Lizard dresses in men's clothing to escape the hotel unnoticed. Sanae is told to stay in her room at her father's house, but his housekeeper Hina works to kidnap her along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rampo (film)
is a 1994 Japanese movie. It is based on the stories of Edogawa Rampo. It was released in the United States by The Samuel Goldwyn Company as ''The Mystery of Rampo''. Originally shot by Rintaro Mayuzumi, the director had a falling out with producer Okuyama who then reshot much of the film and added many of the surreal elements. Plot summary In an animated introduction a man hides in a nagamochi while playing hide and seek with neighboring children, but he is locked in and can hardly breathe. When his wife comes home he manages to make a noise and she opens the lid to the trunk, and instead shuts it again. We now then enter a live action world where Poe-inspired mystery writer Edogawa Rampo (Naoto Takenaka) has written a book about a woman who has killed her husband by locking him in a nagamochi. The book is banned by the government who claim the work to be too disturbing. He is asked to burn his manuscript. However, after burning his paper drafts, his publisher shows him a news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Fiction
Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japanese creole language. Indian literature also had an influence through the spread of Buddhism in Japan. During the Heian period, Japan's original culture () developed and literature also established its own style, with the significant usage and development of to write Japanese literature. Following the Perry Expedition which led to the end of the policy and the forced reopening of foreign trade, Western literature has also made influences to the development of modern Japanese writers, while Japanese literature has in turn become more recognized internationally, leading to two Japanese Nobel laureates in literature, namely Yasunari Kawabata and Kenzaburō Ōe. History Nara-period literature (before 794) Before the introduction of kanji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pilot Film
is a Japanese animated short film directed by Masaaki Ōsumi, which was created around 1969. It is the first animated adaptation of the ''Lupin III'' manga series, created by Monkey Punch in 1967. The 12-minute film was created by Tokyo Movie and intended to generate interest and secure funding for a larger production. Around 1971 it was reworked as a television pilot with new voice actors and the series was picked up by Yomiuri Television, leading to ''Lupin the Third Part I''. Plot The pilot film, loosely based on the manga chapter ''Camera Tricks'', mainly serves as an introduction to the five major characters, as well as a retired detective named Kogoro Akechi. Each character is introduced to the viewer through several vignettes with narration. The overarching story sees Lupin III, Daisuke Jigen and Fujiko Mine in a mansion surrounded by police led by Inspector Zenigata and Akechi. Goemon Ishikawa offers to help the police by entering the house to kill Lupin. However, Lupin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lupin III
, also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It follows the endeavors of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of the book series by Maurice Leblanc. The Lupin III (manga), ''Lupin III'' manga, which first appeared in ''Weekly Manga Action'' on August 10, 1967, spawned a media franchise that includes numerous manga, two versions of an anime, animated Television pilot, pilot film, six animated television series, one spin-off animated television series, eleven theatrically released animated films, two live-action films, five Original video animation, OVA works, List of Lupin III television specials, twenty-seven animated television specials, two musicals, List of Lupin III soundtracks, many music CDs, and List of Lupin III video games, several video games. Many different companies have owned the English-language distributio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning. Outside of Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country. In Japan, people of all ages and walks of life read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action, adventure, business and commerce, comedy, detective, drama, historical, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and fantasy, erotica ('' hentai'' and ''ecchi''), sports and games, and suspense, among others. Many manga are translated into other languages. Since the 1950s, manga has become an increasingly major part of the Japanese publishing industry. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at (), with annual sales of 1.9billion manga books and manga magazi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eiji Okada
was a Japanese film actor from Chōshi, Chiba. Okada served in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and was a miner and traveling salesman before becoming an actor. Internationally, his best-remembered roles include Lui ("him" in French) in the 1959 film ''Hiroshima mon amour'', directed by Alain Resnais. In this film, Eiji Okada had to learn the screenplay phonetically because he didn't speak French. He is also known for playing the entomologist Niki Junpei in Hiroshi Teshigahara's 1964 film ''Woman in the Dunes'', an adaptation of Kōbō Abe's novel. He was also second billed under Marlon Brando in the 1963 political thriller ''The Ugly American''. Okada was married to Aiko Wasa, with whom he ran a theatre company in Japan. He died on 14 September 1995 of heart failure, at the age of 75. Selected filmography * ''Onna no Kao'' (1949) * ''Hana no Sugao'' (1949) * '' Until We Meet Again'' (1950) – Tajima Saburo * ''Shiroi yajû'' (1950) – Iwasaki * ''Gozen reiji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arsène Lupin
Arsène Lupin (French pronunciation: ʁsɛn lypɛ̃ is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine ''Je sais tout''. The first story, "The Arrest of Arsène Lupin", was published on 15 July 1905. Lupin was featured in 17 novels and 39 novellas by Leblanc, with the novellas or short stories collected into book form for a total of 24 books. The number becomes 25 if the 1923 novel ''The Secret Tomb'' is counted: Lupin does not appear in it, but the main character Dorothée solves one of Arsène Lupin's four fabulous secrets. The character has also appeared in a number of books by other writers as well as numerous film, television, stage play, and comic book adaptations. Five authorized sequels were written in the 1970s by the celebrated mystery writing team of Boileau-Narcejac. Antecedents Arsène Lupin is a literary descendant of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
