Chief Inspector Japp
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Inspector James Japp (later Chief Inspector Japp) is a fictional character who appears in several of
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
's novels featuring Hercule Poirot.


Creation

Inspector Japp was inspired by the fictional police detective Inspector Lestrade from the
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
stories by
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
. Christie even modelled Japp after the "ferret-like" qualities of Lestrade. In the first novel in which Japp appears, ''
The Mysterious Affair at Styles ''The Mysterious Affair at Styles'' is a detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie. It was written in the middle of the First World War, in 1916, and first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United ...
'', he is described as a "ferret-faced man", which is similar to the description of Lestrade as a "ferret-like man" in Doyle's 1891 short story "
The Boscombe Valley Mystery "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", one of the fifty-six short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the fourth of the twelve stories in ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in the '' Strand Magazine' ...
".


Appearances

Japp has been depicted in seven novels written by Christie, all featuring Hercule Poirot: *''
The Mysterious Affair at Styles ''The Mysterious Affair at Styles'' is a detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie. It was written in the middle of the First World War, in 1916, and first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United ...
'' (1920) * ''The Big Four'' (1927) *''
Peril at End House ''Peril at End House'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by the Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1932 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March of the same year. The US edition ...
'' (1932) *''
Lord Edgware Dies ''Lord Edgware Dies'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1933 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of ''Thirt ...
'' (1933), also known as ''Thirteen at Dinner'' *''
Death in the Clouds ''Death in the Clouds'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company on 10 March 1935 under the title of ''Death in the Air'' and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in J ...
'' (1935), also known as ''Death in the Air'' *''
The A.B.C. Murders ''The A.B.C. Murders'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, featuring her characters Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp, as they contend with a series of killings by a mysterious murderer kn ...
'' (1936), also known as ''The Alphabet Murders'' *''
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" is a popular English language nursery rhyme and counting-out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 11284. Lyrics A common version is given in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'': :One, two, buckle ...
'' (1940), also known as ''An Overdose of Death'' and ''The Patriotic Murders''. This is his last appearance in any work by Christie. In most of these appearances, Japp is a minor character with minimal interactions with Poirot or involvement in the plot. However, Japp emerges as a major character and partner to Poirot in ''Lord Edgware Dies''. He returns in this capacity in ''Death in the Clouds'' and ''One, Two, Buckle My Shoe'', before being written out of the series. In number of appearances, Japp is comparable to Arthur Hastings who was featured in eight of the Poirot novels. Inspector Japp is also briefly mentioned in the Tommy and Tuppence book ''
The Secret Adversary ''The Secret Adversary'' is the second published detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in January 1922 in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in th ...
'' (1922); his card is brought to Julius Hersheimmer at the end of chapter five. In chapter seventeen of ''
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ''The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in June 1926 in the United Kingdom by William Collins, Sons and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company. It is the third no ...
'' (1926), Japp is mentioned by a police superintendent to Poirot as having asked after him. Japp is mentioned by Poirot in '' Death on the Nile'' (1937), and by Colonel Weston in '' Evil Under the Sun'' (1941), the next book in the Poirot series after his final appearance. Japp is also mentioned in the novel '' Taken at the Flood'' (1948) by Superintendent Spence during a conversation with Hercule Poirot. Japp's career in the Poirot novels extends into the 1930s but, like Hastings, he disappeared from Christie's writing thereafter. A police officer somewhat similar in character (Superintendent Spence) was introduced as a significant recurring character in the later Poirot novels. Japp appears in Christie's stage play ''Black Coffee'', written in 1929. He remarks to Poirot that it has been a "long time" since they last met, in connection with "that Welsh case", which is not otherwise identified. Japp also appears in Charles Osborne's novelisation of ''Black Coffee''. Like those of Miss Lemon and Arthur Hastings, the role of Inspector Japp in Poirot's career has been exaggerated by adaptations of Christie's original novels, specifically by the TV series '' Agatha Christie's Poirot'', where these characters are often introduced into stories that did not originally feature them.


Characteristics

Inspector Japp has a tendency to jump to conclusions, and to accept simple solutions to cases. However, he becomes a more competent and respected police detective over time, eventually becoming a capable Chief Inspector. He respects Poirot's abilities but is sometimes rude to him, though over the years, he becomes more of a friend to Poirot and works more closely with him. Japp sometimes accuses Poirot of "making things difficult" when Poirot contradicts a solution which Japp believes is correct; however, when Japp is proved wrong, he acknowledges his mistake and makes remarks such as "you're the goods!" to Poirot. In ''One, Two, Buckle My Shoe'', the last novel in which he appears, Japp visits Poirot at his flat to apologise after doubting him and to tell Poirot he was right. When off duty, Japp is an "ardent botanist", according to Hastings in the 1923 short story " The Market Basing Mystery". Japp is described as "little, sharp, dark and ferret-faced" in the 1920 novel ''The Mysterious Affair at Styles'', and as a "little ferret-faced fellow" in the 1923 short story "
The Kidnapped Prime Minister ''Poirot Investigates'' is a short story collection written by English author Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in March 1924.''The English Catalogue of Books''. Vol XI (A-L: January 1921 – December 1925). Kraus ...
".


Portrayals

The role of Japp is played by Philip Jackson in the British TV series '' Agatha Christie's Poirot'', where Hercule Poirot's character is played by
David Suchet Sir David Courtney Suchet''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' ( ; born 2 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work on British stage and television. He portrayed Edward Teller in the television serial '' Oppenh ...
. Before Suchet took on the role of Poirot, he had previously played Japp himself in the
1985 film The following is an overview of events in 1985 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Highest-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1985 released films ...
'' Thirteen at Dinner'', where
Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...
played Poirot. Philip Jackson portrays Japp as working-class and 'thoroughly British', not very intelligent but an extremely diligent, canny and active police officer with a good but rather dry sense of humour, characteristics which often serve as a perfect foil to Poirot's personality, who is intelligent, elegant, upper-class but rather slow in movements and of a very serious nature. In the same television series, Japp is already a Chief Inspector in the first episode, his full name is James Harold Japp according to the episode "The Chocolate Box", and he has been promoted to Assistant Commissioner by the time he appears in the episode "The Big Four". Philip Jackson is also one of the actors who played Japp in the BBC Radio adaptations of Poirot stories, produced contemporaneously with the Suchet TV series and starring John Moffatt as Poirot. In the radio dramatisations, Inspector Japp was played by Norman Jones in ''Lord Edgware Dies'' (1992), by Philip Jackson in ''The ABC Murders'' (2000), ''Death In The Clouds'' (2003), ''One, Two, Buckle My Shoe'' (2004), and ''The Mysterious Affair at Styles'' (2005), and by
Bryan Pringle Bryan Pringle (19 January 1935 – 15 May 2002) was an English character actor who appeared for several decades in television, film and theatre productions. Life and career Born in Glascote, Tamworth, Staffordshire, he was brought up in the L ...
in ''Peril at End House'' (2000). See also other episode listings on BBC Genome. Japp is played by Melville Cooper in the 1931 film adaptation of Christie's stage play ''Black Coffee''. As the inspector's name is spelled similarly and pronounced in the same way as the ethnic slur
Jap ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese". Today, it is generally regarded as an ethnic slur. In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term very offensive, even when used as an abbreviation. Prior to t ...
, he was renamed in the Japanese
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
series '' Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple'' ( NHK, 2004). In the
Professor Layton ''Professor Layton'' is a puzzle video game, puzzle adventure game, adventure video game series and transmedia franchise developed by Level-5 (company), Level-5. The property consists primarily of seven main video games, a mobile spin-off, an an ...
series of puzzle video games for the
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
and
Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
, the fictional
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
chief inspector Chelmey appears visually and contextually as a comically incompetent caricature of Inspector Japp as played by Philip Jackson. A retired Japp is played by Kevin McNally in ''
The ABC Murders ''The A.B.C. Murders'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, featuring her characters Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp, as they contend with a series of killings by a mysterious murderer know ...
'' (2018); the series starts with Japp dying of a heart attack, and a recurring sub-plot is Inspector Crome, Japp's protege, expressing distrust of Poirot as he feels that working with Poirot ruined Japp's career.


References


External links


Inspector Japp
at the official Agatha Christie website {{DEFAULTSORT:Japp, Inspector Japp, CI Japp, CI Japp, CI Japp, CI Characters in British novels of the 20th century Fictional English people Male characters in literature Cultural depictions of Metropolitan Police officers