, is a popular genre of

Japanese literature 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-Japanes ...

History

Name

When Western detective fiction spread to Japan, it created a new genre called detective fiction () in

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the genre was renamed deductive reasoning fiction (). The genre is sometimes called ''

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

'', although this includes non-detective fiction as well.

Development

Edogawa Rampo , 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 le ...

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

. Rampo's mystery novels generally followed conventional formulas, and have been classed as part of the , called "orthodox school", or "standard" detective fiction, or "authentic" detective fiction. In 1957, Seicho Matsumoto received the

Mystery Writers of Japan Award The are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of Japan. They honor the best in crime fiction and critical/biographical work published in the previous year. MWJ Award for Best Novel winners (1948–1951, 1976–present) MWJ Award for Best ...

for his short story . ''The Face'' and Matsumoto's subsequent works began the within the genre, which emphasized

social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

, described crimes in an ordinary setting and sets motives within a wider context of social injustice and political corruption. Since the 1980s, a 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 Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1929 by American crime fiction writers Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee and the name of their main fictional character, a mystery writer in New York City who helps his police inspector father solve ...

and

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and is ...

. Famous authors of this movement include

Soji Shimada is a Japanese mystery writer. Born in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Biography Soji Shimada graduated from Seishikan High School in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and later Musashino Art University as a Commercial arts d ...

Yukito Ayatsuji , who writes under his pen name , is a Japanese writer of mystery and horror. He is one of the founders of Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan and one of the representative writers of the new traditionalist movement in Japanese mystery writing ...

Rintaro Norizuki is a Japanese mystery/crime writer. He is the President of Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan and one of the representative writers of the new traditionalist movement in Japanese mystery writing. His works are deeply influenced by Ellery Que ...

Alice Arisugawa , mainly known by his pseudonym , is a Japanese mystery writer. He is one of the representative writers of the new traditionalist movement in Japanese mystery writing and was the first president of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan from 20 ...

Kaoru Kitamura (born December 28, 1949) is the pen name of , a popular contemporary Japanese writer, mainly of short stories. Biography Kitamura was born in the town of Sugito in Saitama Prefecture. He studied literature at Waseda University in Tokyo, and ...

and

Taku Ashibe is a Japanese mystery writer. He is a member of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan and one of the representative writers of the new traditionalist movement in Japanese mystery writing. Works in English translation ;Novel * '' Murder in ...

Quotation

Japanese mystery awards

*Awards for best works published in the previous year **

(since 1948) - awarded by

Mystery Writers of Japan is an organization for mystery writers in Japan. The organization was founded on 21 June 1947 by Edogawa Rampo. It is currently chaired by Bin Konno and claims about 600 members. It presents the Mystery Writers of Japan Award to writers every yea ...

(founded in 1947) **

Honkaku Mystery Award The are presented every year by the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan. They honor the best in honkaku (i.e. authentic, orthodox) mystery fiction and critical works published in the previous year. Honkaku Mystery Award for Best Fiction winners ...

(since 2001) - awarded by

Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan is a Japan-based organization for mystery writers who write ''honkaku'' (i.e. authentic, orthodox) mystery. The organization was founded on 3 November 2000 by Yukito Ayatsuji, Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Hiroko Minagawa, Kaoru Kitamura, Tetsuya Ayukawa ...

(founded in 2000) *Awards for lifetime achievement **

Japan Mystery Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

( ja) (since 1998) *Awards for unpublished mystery novels **

Edogawa Rampo Prize The , named after Edogawa Rampo, is a Japanese literary award which has been presented every year by the Mystery Writers of Japan since 1955.Fukue, Nastuko,Literary awards run spectrum, ''Japan Times'', 14 February 2012, p. 3. Though its name is si ...

(since 1955) - awarded by

Yokomizo Seishi Mystery Award Yokomizo (written: 横溝) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese racing driver *, Japanese middle-distance runner *, Japanese writer *, Japanese photographer * Yuri Yokomizo is a Japanese illustrator and graph ...

( ja) (since 1981) **

Ayukawa Tetsuya Award The is an annual Japanese literary award for unpublished mystery novels. It was established in 1990 by Tokyo Sogensha, a Japanese publisher mainly publishing genre fiction books. The winning novel is published by the publisher and the winner receiv ...

( ja) (since 1990) **

Mephisto Prize The is a Japanese literary award for unpublished genre fiction novels, mainly for mystery novels. It was established in 1996 by the editors of ''Mephisto'' magazine and is awarded on an irregular basis. The winning work is published by Kodansha and ...

(since 1996) **

Japan Mystery Literature Award for New Writers Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

( ja) (since 1998) ** Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! Award ( ja) (since 2002) ** Fukuyama Mystery Literature Award for New Writers ( ja) (since 2009) ** Agatha Christie Award (since 2011) ** Shincho Mystery Award (since 2014)

Top book lists of mystery fiction published in Japan

Tozai Mystery Best 100 is a list published in the Japanese magazine ''Shūkan Bunshun'' (the Weekly Bunshun) in 1985 by Bungeishunjū. This list was also published in book form in 1986. 508 people who love mystery novels, including the 123 members of Mystery Writers ...

Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! is an annual mystery fiction guide book published by Takarajimasha. The guide book publishes a list of the top ten mystery fiction, mystery books published in Japan in the previous year. 1988 ''Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! 1988'' (JICC Shuppankyok ...

Honkaku Mystery Best 10 is an annual mystery fiction guide book published by Hara Shobo. The guide book publishes a list of the top ten honkaku (i.e. authentic, orthodox) mystery books published in Japan in the previous year. 2001 ''2001 Honkaku Mystery Best 10'' ...

Japanese mystery writers

Aozora Bunko

Listed below are Japanese mystery writers whose works are available in

Aozora Bunko Aozora Bunko (, literally the "Blue Sky Library", also known as the "Open Air Library") is a Japanese digital library. This online collection encompasses several thousands of works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-o ...

, a Japanese digital library. Ruiko Kuroiwa's short story ''Muzan'' (188

which is also available in Aozora Bunko, is one of the earliest Japanese detective stories.

Japanese detective manga series

* '' Case Closed (manga), Case Closed'' aka ''Detective Conan'' (written and illustrated by

Gosho Aoyama is a Japanese manga artist best known for his manga series ''Detective Conan'' (1994–present), also known as ''Case Closed'' in some English-speaking countries. As of 2017, his various manga series had a combined 250 million copies in print wo ...

) * ''

Kindaichi Case Files is a Japanese detective fiction, mystery manga series based on the crime solving adventures of a high school student, Hajime Kindaichi, the supposed grandson of the famous (fictional) private detective Kosuke Kindaichi. Written ...

'' (written by Yōzaburō Kanari or Seimaru Amagi and illustrated by

Fumiya Satō is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known for the manga series ''The Kindaichi Case Files'' and ''Detective School Q''. In 1995, she received the Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous ye ...

) * ''

Q.E.D. Q.E.D. or QED is an initialism of the Latin phrase , meaning "which was to be demonstrated". Literally it states "what was to be shown". Traditionally, the abbreviation is placed at the end of mathematical proofs and philosophical arguments in pri ...

'' (written and illustrated by Motohiro Katō) * ''

Detective School Q is a Japanese manga series, written by Seimaru Amagi and illustrated by Fumiya Satō (the creators of ''Kindaichi Case Files''), originally serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' between June 2001 and August 2005, with its chap ...

'' (written by Seimaru Amagi and illustrated by

)

Video game adaptions

There are

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

s and

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...

s that take inspiration from this fiction genre. * ''

The Portopia Serial Murder Case , often translated to ''The Portopia Serial Murder Case'' in English, is an adventure game designed by Yuji Horii and published by Enix. It was first released on the NEC PC-6001 in June 1983, and has since been ported to other personal computers ...

'', a 1983 video game by

Enix was a Japanese video game publisher that produced video games, anime and manga. Enix is known for publishing the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing video games. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975, as . Th ...

. *

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

has published many video game adaptations of the Japanese detective fiction formula. Starting with the ''

Famicom Detective Club is an adventure game duology developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System. The first entry, was released in 1988, followed by a prequel released the next year titled In both games, the player takes on the role of a ...

'' franchise. They also published a '' Detective Pikachu'' video game, which itself adapted into a 2019 film.

Explanatory notes

References

* * * . (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). *

External links

''Zoom Japon'', June 1, 2010
pp 4–7 {{in lang, fr

at Euro Crime Japanese literature Detective fiction