「フィルムの中のアリバイ」その２

「そりゃ確かに暇だけど、だからぼくって退屈は嫌いじゃないんだって」

『クビシメロマンチスト』

"Yeah, I have a lot of time to spare. But I don't dislike being bored"

"Strangling Romanticist"

Where I once again pretend I am making a meaningful post by showing a picture of my current backlog.

Actually, it's a bit less than what's on the picture: I have seperated my bookcase in an 'unread' shelf and 'finished' shelf, but the finished shelf is already full. I should sell something or send something back one of these days. So it ain't that bad.

But yes, the reason I haven't posted anything in two weeks is simply because I have not finished one single book in these two weeks. Which is really rare. I have been juggling between two books that should result in interesting reviews, but it might take another week at this rate. Also because the Mystery Club is busy with the annual publication that is to be sold at Kyoto University's November Festival.

(Oh, and I did write my very first mystery-esque story. In Japanese. Of only one page long. Because there is also a part in the publication where every member has to write something very short according to a common theme. It doesn't have to be a mystery, but I tried. As far as I could get within one page and not writing in my native tongue. In fact, it isn't that good a story. If you can call a one page thingy a story.) 

And to sum up the last few weeks in fairly random sentences nobody will understand: I have been following a course on manga that has surprisingly become helpful for my thesis on Japanese detective fiction. The karaage from the ramen restaurant Takayasu (of which the interior is way too fancy) are the size of half a chicken (why didn't the cook warn us?). The expensive strawberry icecream and the cheaper one are reverse versions of each other. Having a girl explain enthusiastically about TokiMemo is funny. Lost Dutch tourists still think I'm not a native Dutch speaker when I explain the way back to them in perfectly fine Dutch. Pineapple cakes from Taiwan arrive at the best moment possible. And I have been walking up and down the post office way too often the last few days.

But yeah, maybe I should go read a book.

「フィルムの中のアリバイ」その１

"That's not fair. That's not fair at all. There was time now. There was all the time I needed...! That's not fair!"

"The Twilight Zone: Time Enough At Last"

Where I pretend to make a meaningful post by showing books I've bought the first week since I've returned to Japan. I've only started in one of them though.

I've been quite modest actually (hey, I also need to eat!), so the 'damage' after one week is just:

Nikaidou Reito, Soumenjuu Jiken ("The Double-Faced Monster Case")
Shimada Souji, Ihou no Kishi ("A Knight In Strange Lands")
Nikaidou Reito, Yuri no Meikyuu ("Labyrinth of Lillies")
Mori Hiroshi, Joou no Hyakunen Misshitsu ("God Save the Queen")
Takagi Akimitsu, Ningyou wa Naze Korosareru ("Why Was The Puppet Killed?")
Kyougoku Natsuhiko, Ubume no Natsu ("Summer of the Ubume") (1+2)
Kyougoku Natsuhiko, Mouryou no Hako ("Mouryou's Box")
Arisugawa Alice, Gekkou Game - Y no Higeki '88 ("Moonlight Game - The Tragedy of Y '88")
Higashigawa Tokuya, Misshitsu ni Mukatte Ute ("Shoot Towards The Locked Room!")
Higashigawa Tokuya, Kanzen Hanzai ni Neko Nanpiki Hitsuyou Ka ("How Many Cats Are Needed For A Perfect Crime?")
Higashigawa Tokuya, Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de ("Mystery Solving is After Dinner")
Higashigawa Tokuya, Houkago wa Mystery to Tomo ni ("After School, Together With Mystery")

All second-hand by the way. And half of them only 105 yen. I love Japanese bookstores <3 Oh, and about the 'normal' review posts: I still intend to make them, but it just takes longer for me to read here, so I think even one post a week is going to be a challenge. But I'll figure out something. I can always do more movies/series reviews. And the worst case scenario: I'll post a picture of the backlog every week to show how much the pile is not shrinking.

Murder in the Mews

「最初は湯気のしずくに花火の色が映ったのかと、そのまま見すごしていたのですが、やがて、紅の飛沫は益々はげしく降りそそぎ、彼自身の額や頬にも、異様な暖かなしたたりを感じて、それを手にうつしてみれば、まがう方なき紅のしずく、人の血潮に相違ないのでした。そして、彼の目の前の湯の表に、フワフワと漂うものを、よく見れば、それは無慚に引き裂かれた人間の手首が、いつのまにかそこへ降っていたのです。北見小五郎は、その酔うな血腥い光景の中で、不思議に騒がぬ裸女達をいぶかりながら、彼も又そのまま動くでもなく、池の畔にじっと頭をもたせて、ぼんにゃりと、彼の胸の辺りに漂っている、生々しい手首の花を開いた真赤な切口に見入りました。か様にして、人見廣介の五体は、花火とともに、粉微塵にくだけ、かれの創造にしたパノラマ国の、各々の形式の隅々までも、血液と肉塊の雨となって、降り注いだのでありました」
『パノラマ島の奇譚』

"At first he just looked at it, thinking the drips of dew were reflecting the color of the fireworks. But the scarlet splashes rained down more and more; he himself felt the strangely warm drops on his head and cheek and when he put some on his hands, there was no doubt those scarlet drops were in fact human blood. And when he looked carefully at the thing floating lightly on the surface of the hot spring in front of him, it turned out to be the wrist of a man, cruelly ripped off; unnoticedly it had fallen down. Amidst that drunkenly blood spectacle, Kitami Kogorou wondered about the naked women who strangely enough didn't panick at all; and he too didn't move one bit, leaning his head on the footpath of the pond, dreamingly gazing at the scarlet fresh wound on the wrist floating near his chest. And thus Hiromi Kousuke's body had exploded into countless of pieces, and it was his flesh and blood that was raining down onto every corner of the Panorama Kingdom he himself had created."
The Strange Tale of Panorama Island

The summer means firework in Japan. And the biggest firework event in Fukuoka, is probably the firework in Oohori Park. Which was yesterday. Luckily, no people who blew themselves up together with the fireworks. Though I was certainly mentally prepared for it.

Somehow, I feel cheated because nobody yelled kagiya or tamaya. The kid behind me did scream tamago (egg) several times though, when the fireworks burst in circle-patterns. Close, but not really what I wanted to hear.

Oh, and also an annoyance when hanami-ing: people who only use half of the space of the giant sheets they lay out to reserve sitting place. Use space more efficiently!

「探偵が諦めたら、事件は迷宮入りなんだ！」

「いや、人は疑うべきだよ。多くの人は誤解しているけれど人を疑うとはつまりその人間を知ろうとする行為なんだ。『信じる』。その行為は紛れもなく高尚な事だ。。。しかしね、多くの人間が『信じる』の名の下にやってる行為は実は他人を知ることの放棄。」、秋山深一、『Ｌｉａｒ　Ｇａｍｅ』
"No, you should doubt people. Many people don't get it, but to doubt someone is actually to try to know that person. "Believing". That is certainly something admirable... But you know, what most people do under the cover of the word "believing", is giving up on getting to know other people.", Akiyama Shin'ichi, "Liar Game"

Most of the exams have already passed, with only a kanji test remaining for Monday. As our teacher don't know Dutch, we didn't have a translation text as an exam this time, which is a bit regrettable, as I enjoy translating a lot more than comprehensive reading, but the exams went quite well for everyone.

What remains now is a lingering week of feedback on the exams and preparations for a presentation in Japanese and a short drama we're supposed to perform with all of us. And it seems people from Waseda will come to see our play. Joy. I hope for a murder mystery. After that it's a week vacation before most of us leave for the Netherlands again.

Yesterday, I visited the Tokyo Tower with Els. I wanted to go after seeing Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser, of which the climax is set at the Tokyo Tower at night. Yes, I am succeptable for these kind of things. I was in Tokyo 2 years ago, but I never visited the Tower for some reason then and some time ago, the Tower closed just as we approached it, but this time everything went smooth. Except for the waiting lines of course, because we both sorta forgot it was a Saturday night. It was kinda crowded.

The night view of the Tower itself is a lot prettier than in daylight. The orange/blue lights (depending on what time it is, I guess) is a lot prettier than the red/white of the Tower. Inside the Tower we found strange mascottes, elevators with elevator music (which is something the elevators in our Mansion really need) and a nice view on Tokyo. Traveling through Tokyo mostly by train and subway, I never actually realized how big Tokyo is, but seeing it from such a viewpoint really impressed me.

There are two observatories, the standard at 150 meter, the special observatory at 250 meter and we also went up to the special one. It smelled funny there. And because there is only one elevator that goes up there, you have to wait in (a long) line to get up there and to get down. You could see so much more of Tokyo up at the special observatory, but everything had become so small by then, so maybe the view at 150 meter is better than the 250 meter one. Like in the Conan movie we stayed till closing time, but we didn't leave turbo powered skateboards in the lobby, nor did we get shot at by a helicopter. Luckily.

Today's song: 大野克夫バンド (Oono Katsuo Band) - 名探偵コナン メイン・テーマ(漆黒フルヴァージョン) (Meitantei Conan Main Theme (Shikkoku Full Version) ("Detective Conan Main Theme (Jet Black Full Version))") (Main theme of Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser)

P.S.: Dr. Koto's Clinic is an awesome series. Almost makes me want to be a doctor on a faraway Okinawan island.

「科学で証明できない事はサッパリ理解不能なくせに」

「えー、缶ジュースの自動販売機、どうしても欲しいものが2つ有ったとします。ホットコーヒーと烏 龍茶。どっちを飲もうかって迷ってしまう時って有りますよね。そういう時はですねこうやって2つの ボタンを同時に押す。するとですね、無意識のうちに本当に欲しい方のボタンを先に押してしまうって 言うんですが、あー、まあ御試しください。えー、二者択一と言えば･･･。」
『古畑任三郎：　赤か、青か』

"Uuhm, pretend you are near a vending machine and there are two things you want. Hot coffee or Oolong tea. There are times when you are in doubt about what to drink, right? At such a time, press the two buttons like this simultaneously. They say that by doing this you'll push the button of what you want the most unconciously first, but uhm, please try it out. Talking about choosing between two alternatives..."
"Furuhata Ninzaburou: Red or blue?"

Gyakuten Kenji was awesome. Should have spread the playtime a little bit perhaps. But in other news, little to report. I remember cakes that were no lie, more karaoke, delicious chirashi zushi (but for the real fish-y deal, nigirizushi is still the best), and safely leaving the barber without other hair colors, perms, extensions and that kind of stuff. I was content.

But as I kinda lost the motivation to learn for my exam next week at the moment, I'll randomly talk about Japanese detective literature. Well, to be precise, the more interesting stuff I've read till now. Most of this is just a self-note, as I'll be using this literature somehow when I'll study in Fukuoka later this year and have to write about Japanese detectives. Once again, caveat lector.

1) Miyanaga Akihiko (editor). 2008. Bokutachi no suki na Kindaichi Kousuke ("The Kindaichi Kousuke we love"). Tokyo: Takarajimasha.

Neither magazine nor book, it is the wonderful mook. I didn't invent that word. Anyway, this mook is a guide on the famous fictional detective Kindaichi Kousuke. Dressed in a shabby kimono, a little hat on his head, a scratching hand beneath that hat, Kindaichi is the symbol for Japanese detectives. Japanese detectives are abroad known for the horror influences (fountains of blood, a myriad of mutilations of the body), strange motives/themes in the stories and the Kindaichi stories are the origin of all this (together with Edogawa Rampo's works). Got similar mooks on works of Edogawa Rampo and Higashino Keigo too.

I recommend the 1976 hit movie Inugamike no Ichizoku ("The Inugami Family"), probably the most famous of all Kindaichi Kousuke stories which set the standard for all following Japanese detectives. Great movie (I love the ending song, "Ballad of Love") and it made an excellent subject for the final paper for the Japanese movies course at Leiden.

2) Arisugawa, Alice; Yasui, Toshio. 2008. Misshitsu Nyuumon! - A Guide to Sealed-Room Cases!. Tokyo: Media Factory.

A very geeky and interesting book by famous detective writer Arisugawa Arisu and an architect. The book is written like a dialogue between the two, in which they discuss the variaties of locked room mysteries, which reminds me very much of Carr's fantastic chapter on locked room mysteries ("The Locked Room Lecture") in the evenly fantastic The Hollow Man. Afterwards, the two actually discuss how to construct locked rooms from an architects view. You'd almost think they're really planning a murder.

I actually once tried to construct my own locked room in my room here in Japan. Being in such a small room just begs for it. But it's difficult. Being on the ninth floor kinda eliminates a clean escape through the window (unless I climb into the room of my neighbour). I'll probably need more strings. And rubber bands.

3) Setagaya Trick Kenkyuukai. 1995. Kindaichi Shounen no Suiri Miss ("The Deductions Misses of Young Kindaichi"). Tokyo: Data House.

This is even geekier, as this is a book that a) looks for mistakes made in the stories of the detective comic book series Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo ("The Case Files of Young Kindaichi") and b) actually tries to find solutions / explanations for those mistakes. I like my detectives, but not to that extent. There are also similarly named books for the Detective Conan series. Detectives, even comics, are very serious business here.

It also kinda reminds me of Nikaidou Reito's "'Honjin Satsujin Jiken' no Satsujin" ("The Murder of 'The Murder in the Mansion'), where someone discovers a flaw in the first story of Kindaichi Kousuke and uses it to commit another murder. Yes, modern writers of classic detectives are often amongst the biggest fans of classic detectives.

I still have a lot (a lot!) of books here with real criticism on detectives, lots of the Japanese detective classics (c.f. with "our" The Murder on Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express etc.) and semi interesting books. Still too much to read here. Kinda worrying about what to send back home, as I'll probably need a lot of these books in Fukuoka again, so to send back books from Japan to the Netherlands to take back in Japan is kinda inefficient. I could leave them here, but then I'll not be able to read them during the summer....

"Talking about choosing between two alternatives..."

「真実はいつも一つ！」

Went to see Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser with Els today, which was a superspecialawesome movie. We wanted to go yesterday, as that was the first day the movie was shown, but surprisingly, tickets were sold out about everywhere pretty much immediately (movie tickets here, by the way, are quite expensive. 1800 yen!).

So kinda disappointed, we settled for today. As tickets sold fast as well today, we made a quick jump to and from Ikebukero around 14.00 to get tickets for the last showing at 18:30, thus missing the rest who went to a park nearby our mansion. We wanted to join the rest after our return, but we just never found the park. We still don't have a clue where the friggin' park is. Pretty sure we went the right direction, but it was not to be. Of course, with my sense of (mis)direction, the search was hopeless to begin with.

Back at the theater, several things stood out. First was the blond gaijin Els amongst the waves of Japanese people. But besides that, it was pretty cool that the people who were going to see this animation movie were... just normal people going to the movies. I was expecting more... kids and stuff, but the Detective Conan movies seem to be regarded as just normal movies by the Japanese public (or maybe animation movies in general). Also, the people were actually quite silent during the movie, which was nice, as I could actually hear dialogue instead of people talking. And they actually stayed in their seats until the credits ended. Certainly different from the Dutch experience.

The movie was as said superspecialawesome, but only people reading/watching Detective Conan would understand the superspecialawesome-ness. It has to do with Irish Whiskey, the Big Dipper, suspenders, mahjong and the Beatles. And loose threads of plot regarding turbo-powered skateboards left in the lobby of the Tokyo Tower. Ah, it was pretty evil that The Raven Chaser merchandise was sold inside the theater and I consciencely stepped into the trap.

Detective Conan for me is a important series, as it introduced me to the world of Japanese detective novels and in a way has gotten me all the way here to Tokyo. So it was kinda full circle-ly stuff when I finally got to see Detective Conan in the theaters here.