was a Japanese mystery novelist, known for creating the fictional detective

Kosuke Kindaichi is a fictional Japanese detective created by Seishi Yokomizo, a renowned mystery novelist. His first case, '' The Honjin Murders'', is a novel of locked room murder in an old family, which many people regard as one of the best Japanese detective ...

Early life

Yokomizo was born in the city of

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

. He read detective stories as a boy and in 1921, while employed by the Daiichi Bank, published his first story in the popular magazine ''Shin Seinen'' ("New Youth"). He graduated from Osaka Pharmaceutical College (currently part of

Osaka University , abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Project. ...

) with a degree in

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

, and initially intended to take over his family's drug store. However, drawn by his interest in literature, and the encouragement of

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 ...

, he went to

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 ...

instead. There he was hired by the

Hakubunkan is a Japanese publisher, publishing company founded in 1887 amidst the wealth and military prosperity of the Meiji era. Hakubunkan entered the publishing arena by printing a nationalist magazine as well as expanding into printing, advertising, pa ...

publishing company in 1926. After serving as editor in chief of several magazines, he resigned in 1932 to devote himself full time to writing.

Literary career

Yokomizo was attracted to the

literary genre A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from more abstract, encompassing classes, which are then further sub-divided i ...

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

, especially that of the

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

. In July 1934, while resting in the mountains of

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

to recuperate from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, he completed his first novel ''Onibi'', which was published in 1935, although parts were immediately censored by the authorities. Undeterred, Yokomizo followed on his early success with a second novel ''Ningyo Sashichi torimonocho'' (1938–1939). During

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 ...

, he faced difficulties in getting his works published and was in severe financial difficulties. The lack of

Streptomycin Streptomycin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex, endocarditis, brucellosis, ''Burkholderia'' infection, plague, tularemia, and rat bite fever. Fo ...

and other

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...

also meant that his tuberculosis could not be properly treated, and he joked with friends that it was a race to see whether he would die of disease or of starvation. Soon after the end of

, his works received wide recognition and he developed an enormous fan following. He published many works as serials in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...

'', concentrating only on popular mystery novels based on the orthodox western detective story format, starting with ''Honjin Satsujin Jiken'' (''

The Honjin Murders is a mystery novel by Seishi Yokomizo. It was serialized in the magazine '' Houseki'' from April to December 1946, and won the first Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1948. It was filmed as ''Death at an Old Mansion'' in 1976. In 2019, it was tr ...

'') and ''Chōchō Satsujin Jinken'' (both in 1946). His works became the model for many other postwar Japanese mystery writers. He was also often called the "Japanese

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 ...

" after a writer whom he admired. Yokomizo is most well known for creating the

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

. Many of his works have been made into movies. In particular, received two film adaptations by

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary ''Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...

: ''

The Inugami Family is a 1976 Japanese film directed by Kon Ichikawa. The film is the first in Kon Ichikawa's and Kōji Ishizaka's Kindaichi Series. Ichikawa remade the film in 2006 as '' The Inugamis''. The soundtrack is composed by Yuji Ohno. Murders take place ...

'' in 1976, and his 2006 remake The Inugamis. The scholar Mari Kotani called his 1939 story ' "the first successful adaptation of

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

's ''Dracula''" and "the archetype of Japanese vampire literature." Yokomizo died of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

in 1981. His grave is at the Shunjuen Cemetery in

Kawasaki, Kanagawa is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, one of the main cities of Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area. It is the second most populated city in Kanagawa Prefecture after Yokohama, and the List of cities in Japan, eight ...

. In 2018 a literature professor found a previously missing piece of Yokomizo's wartime serial romance story "Yukiwariso," completing the manuscript for publication in book form.

Legacy

The Yokomizo Seishi Prize is a

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...

established in 1980 by the

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...

publishing company and the

Tokyo Broadcasting System formerly is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network and radio network . It has a 28-affiliate television network called JNN (Japan News Network), as well as a 34-affili ...

in honor of Yokomizo. It is awarded annually to a previously unpublished novel-length mystery. The winner receives a statuette of

and a cash award of , making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world. In addition, the winning story is published by Kadokawa Shoten and dramatized as a television movie by TBS.

Selected works

Works in Japanese

*; *; *; *; *; *; *; . *; *; *; *; *; *; *; *; ,;

English Translations

*''

'' (本陣殺人事件 ''Honjin satsujin jiken'') translated by Louise Heal Kawai. Pushkin Vertigo, 2019; *'' The Inugami Curse'' (犬神家の一族 ''Inugamike no ichizoku'') translated by

Yumiko Yamazaki Yumiko is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yumiko can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *弓子, "bow, child". *由美子, "reason/cause, beauty, child". *結実子, "fruition, child". *夕実子, "evening ...

Stone Bridge Press Stone Bridge Press, Inc. is a publishing company distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and founded in 1989. Authors published include Donald Richie and Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge publishes books related to Japan, having pu ...

, 2007; . Later published by Pushkin Vertigo, 2020; *''The Village of Eight Graves'' (八つ墓村 ''Yatsuhakamura'') translated by

Bryan Karetnyk Bryan may refer to: Places United States * Bryan, Arkansas * Bryan, Kentucky * Bryan, Ohio * Bryan, Texas * Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town in Sweetwater County in the U.S. state of Wyoming * Bryan Township (disambiguation) Facilities and structur ...

. Pushkin Vertigo, 2021; *''Gokumon Island'' (獄門島 ''Gokumontō'') translated by Louise Heal Kawai. Pushkin Vertigo, 2022; *''The Devil's Flute Murders'' (悪魔が来りて笛を吹く ''Akuma ga kitarite fue o fuku'') translated by Jim Rion. Pushkin Vertigo, 2023;

References

External links

*
The Museum of Seishi Yokomizo

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yokomizo, Seishi 1902 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Japanese novelists Japanese mystery writers Japanese editors Mystery Writers of Japan Award winners Japanese pharmacists People from Kobe Deaths from cancer in Japan Osaka University alumni