A Body To Die For

"Bart, I have a riddle for you. What is the sound of one hand clapping?"
"The Simpsons"

 

Never seen a full sumo match before now I think about it.

 

Disclosure: I translated Yamaguchi Masaya's Death of the Living Dead. What, you haven't read it yet? Go read it!

 

Kazumi hadn't been in Sam's life for a long time as his stepmother before she passed away, but she had a great influence on Sam's life, and it sparked a life-long interest in Kazumi's home country of Japan. After losing his father too, Sam decided to emigrate to Japan. Fortunately, his stepuncle reassures Sam he's welcome in Japan in a letter, and soon, Sam found himself boarding the ship on its way to Kannon City, a harbor city known for its gigantic statue of the Bodhisattva Kannon (which also serves as a lighthouse). Sam has studied the language and culture of Japan in the States, but of course, there's a lot one can only learn "on-site". However, soon after he lands in Japan, he finds himself involved in several curious murder cases that are inticrately connected to Japanese culture, from a harakiri ritual where the head is stolen to a murder in a locked tea ceremony room. After solving these cases successfully, Sam, who now goes by the nomer Tokyo Sam, decides to open his own detective agency, and after getting the right licences, he's all ready for business in Kannon City, but what Japanese wonders await him in Yamaguchi Masaya's short story collection Zoku: Nihon Satsujin Jiken ("The Japan Murder Case: A Sequel", 1997)?

Or, if you have read the first Tokyo Sam book, you'd know that the "real" author of this book is one "Samuel X", an American who got all his knowledge on Japan from books and stuff, but who had never visited the country itself. Yamaguchi, supposedly, came across this book in a used book shop, and found it so curious, he decided to translate it after managing to contact Samuel. The Japan as envisioned in the book was set in the modern world, but was at the same time an amalgation of  'all the cool Japanese stuff Samuel knew' with a good dash of cultural misunderstandings, with for example people using mobiles, but also samurai walking around, and people still using rickshaws. After the success of this translation, Yamaguchi contacted "Samuel" again, and it turned out he had an unpublished manuscript lying about for a sequel, and after some nagging by Yamaguchi, he got permission to translate this second book.

Yes, this is just a framing story, but it's a really fun one, and it was what made the first book so special: the setting was incredibly unique as it was about a fictionalized, idealized and misunderstanding-filled Japan, imagined by someone who had never visited the country and made up of stereotypes and very broad interpretations of Japanese culture. But, Yamaguchi also used this laughing-mirror Japan to present mystery plots that were only possible in that very unusual Japan, making use of ideas and concepts that were genuinely Japanese, but still transformed in a way that felt unnatural, in a deliberate manner. If this had been written by a non-Japanese author, they would have been criticized due to their complete mispresentation of actual Japanese culture, but because we had a Japanese author do this, it resulted in a very unique experience, as it was Yamaguchi's knowledge of actual Japanese culture, but also the stereotypes that allowed him to write this.

 

The book opens with Kyojin no Kuni no Gulliver ("Gulliver in the Land of Giants"), which starts with Tokyo Sam opening his detective agency, and soon he is visited by his first client: a sumo wrestler he met the day before via a shared acquaintance. While this wrestler belongs to a sumo stable which focuses not on competitive sumo, but in ceremonial sumo, they do occassionally participate in matches, and recently, there had been tragic accident during one of this wrestler's matches, and his opponent passed away after tripping in an unfortunate manner. But a few nights ago, in the garden, he heard his dead opponent calling out his name and he swears he saw the man's head sitting on one of the garden lanterns. Tokyo Sam is to find out whether this is the handiwork of someone trying to scare him, or the actual floating ghost-head of his opponent. Sam visits the sumo stable where he learns about ceremonial sumo, and during his visit, the stable is also visited by wrestlers from the stable to whom the dead wrestler belonged, and these wrestlers are clearly still very pissed about the deadly incident. Tokyo Sam of course suspects wrestlers from the other stable are trying to scare his client, but one afternoon, after following up on a lead and returning to the stable, he finds one of the wrestlers has been murdered. He loses consciousness due to a timely earthquake, but then finds the body gone, and later finds the gigantic body hanging from a torii gate. Who has committed this murder, and why?

This is a fairly long story (about 2/3 of the whole book), more like a novella, and feels quite different from the stories in the first book because of it, even if it has a lot of recurring characters and does have the same slapsticky feel at times. The story uses the extended page count to slowly set-up the story, and the story focuses more on Tokyo Sam's adventures/investigation than previous stories, even with chase scenes and Tokyo Sam going undercover in search for clues. I personally liked the more "problem-focused" approach of the previous book more, but your mileage may vary here, and while of course the Japanese aspects in this story are fictionalized up to a degree, learning about other types of sumo besides competitive sumo was quite interesting. As a mystery story, I think the tale has some good ideas, some others I'm rather indifferent to. There's one clue for example regarding symbolization that is really good, and very well based on Japanese culture which I think even local people might fall for pretty easily, and that works really well in the context of the book: presenting misunderstandings about Japanese culture even Japanese might have. But other parts like how the (big) sumo wrestler's body disappears from the stable and ends up hanging from the torii gate I found not as interesting, especially not because a certain revelation related to that trick seemed to fall flat for me: the way it was presented here, the "revelation" didn't feel like one, and just a weird oversight by everyone until the story decided it should become relevant now.

 

Jitsuzai no Fune ("The Ship of Existence") has Tokyo Sam befriending a travelling zen monk, who has been planning to visit a local temple Tokyo Sam thought to have been abandoned. The monk brings back a manuscript written by an American who had also been visiting the temple titled The Ship of Existence, where he questions his understanding of zen and pleads for help. Tokyo Sam, mesmerized by the manuscript makes his way to the temple, where he sees the American being killed by a figure. What is going on? To be honest, even after reading the story I don't really know. This story is completely different from the previous stories, delving into zen and philosophy to basically work towards a punchline. I have seen Yamaguchi do something similar in a different short story, so to me, this felt a bit like a rehash, but the way it was told here, via zen koan problems to make Tokyo Sam realize something, just didn't appeal to me personally. This might be an interesting story if you're into zen philosophy, but I found this so extremely different from the other stories, I just couldn't enjoy it at all.

I liked the first book in this series a lot, but I have to admit I didn't like Zoku: Nihon Satsujin Jiken that much. While the first story is alright, it misses the impact the stories in the first book had, and it's fairly long despite the mystery plot not being that dense. The second story is just a completely different type of mystery, being based on philosophy, and that's just not really a topic that really interests me, and I found this story really not fun to read at all. So overall, I was a bit disappointed with this second volume of Tokyo Sam, as I did enjoy the first book a lot. This is also the last book featuring Tokyo Sam, so it's a bit of a sad way to end the series for me, but nothing to be done about it!

 

Original Japanese title(s): 山口雅也『續・日本殺人事件』:「巨人の国のガリヴァー」/「実在の船」

Daydreamin'

日本の未来は（Wow×４） 

世界がうらやむ（Yeah×４）

「Love Machine」（モーニング娘。）

The future of Japan (Wow x 4)

Will make the world jealous (Yeah x 4)

"Love Machine" (Morning Musume)

I had to think of Huis Ten Bosch while reading this book. It's always weird to see how 'outsiders' (people from other countries) view your own country.

Sam's stepmother Kazumi had only been part of his life for a short period, until a tragic traffic accident ended her life, but she had always remained a big influence on his life, sparking an interest in Kazumi's home country of Japan and its culture. Many years later, Sam finally hit a stop in his life, and he decides now might be the time to move to the country of his dreams. A letter to his stepuncle is answered with warm words of welcome, so Sam takes on his mother's family name, and makes the cross to Japan as Tokyo Sam. Arriving in Kannon City, a harbor city known for its gigantic statue of the Bodhisattva Kannon (which also serves as a lighthouse), Sam learns that while he might know a lot about Japan from his studies in the States, there are still many mysteries to be uncovered about the Japanese culture and its people. Yamaguchi Masaya's Nihon Satsujin Jiken ("The Japan Murder Case", 1998) chronicles three of Tokyo Sam's adventures.

The book starts with an introduction saying that author Yamaguchi discovered the original The Japan Murder Case novel in a second hand store and that the work made an impression on him. The book was set in Japan, but it was a very weird Japan, as it was written by "Samuel Heart", an American who got all his knowledge on Japan from books and stuff, but who had never visited the country itself. It was a Japan as envisioned by someone who simply threw all the 'cool Japanese stuff he knew' together, with a good dash of misunderstandings about the culture. For example, the book was set in modern times, but there were still samurai walking around, and everybody had weird names like Tokyo. Nihon Satsujin Jiken is supposed to be the Japanese translation of the book.

Okay, of course, this tale about Heart and The Japan Murder Case is just a framing device, but it's a fun one! It's basically making fun of how people outside Japan see Japanese culture, with people constantly spouting haiku, or talking about zen and samurai spirit. The book is set in a distinctly Orientalist portrayal of Japan, but it does that on purpose, which makes it quite hilarious at time. I have read other books which do the Orientalist angle seriously, so Nihon Satsujin Jiken was certainly recognizable.

The book starts with Bishou to Shi to ("With A Smile and Death"), which is about Tokyo Sam's trip to Japan and his first few days in Kannon City. During his boat trip from Tokyo to Kannon City, Sam became acquainted with a family of three. Later, Sam discovers that this family was staying in the same Traditional Japanese Inn, but tragedy had already struck by then: the father had commited harakiri (ritualistic suicide) to atone for the sin of offending his boss Lippert, but also to make his boss promise he wouldn't lay off the employees at the branch he managed. The harakiri ritual was held in the room at the inn, and people saw Lippert leaving the inn with the head (in a box). Lippert however disappears in the night, with the head. Sam however deduces something else happened and while the solution is not super surprising, this story is fairly well hinted, and what's more important, it actually makes great use of the setting.

The exaggeration of "Japanese Culture" in this novel isn't just for shows, it's actually an integral part of the plot. The theme of harakiri and the concept of honor is very idealistic, but it is used as a proper clue. In a way, Bishou to Shi to, like the whole book actually, is like one of those fantasy mystery novels I like so much, where you have supernatural settings that still work perfectly as fair-play mysteries, because the rules are clearly defined. Here too, everything is kinda set in a 'fantasy' setting (a highly romanticized Japan).

The wabi in Wabi no Misshitsu ("The Locked Room of Wabi") refers to the Japanese concept of 'seeing beauty in sorrow and sadness'. Tokyo Sam is invited to attend to a traditional tea ceremony. The person presiding the ceremony is in heavy struggle with his fellow disciple to inherit the clan name and tension can be felt throughout the ceremony. After the ceremony, Sam and his companion Ekubo remember they left something in the ceremony room, but find it locked from the inside. They eventually break the door open, and find the ceremony master dead, stabbed in his back. The room was locked from the inside, so how could this have happened? This story is a bit disappointing. The final solution is rather elementary, and even features elements that simply couldn't have happened. What sorta saves this story are the fake solutions Tokyo Sam and Ekubo think off: some of these 'fake' solutions would've been great real solutions actually. This story is also heavily steeped in (exaggerated) Japanese Culture, but overall not as satisfying as a mystery story compared to the first one.

Tokyo Sam visits Kuruwa Island, an island dedicated to providing adult entertainment in Fushigi no Kuni no Arinsu ("Arinsu in Wonderland"). He gets acquainted with Arisugawa, one of the more popular oiran (courtesans) in the district. The next morning, Tokyo Sam awakes to find his clothes gone and Arisugawa murdered in the room next to his. Her arms were cut off, and a folding screen had been laid down on her back, as if to make her look like a bird. Sam is suspected of murdering Arisugawa, but he manages to escape thanks to Ekubo, and tries to find out who killed Arisugawa during his sleep and why. This is the longest story in the book by far, and contains some interesting portrayals of the oiran culture, as well as some musing on the Japanese ideals of "beauty". Overall, my feelings about this story mirror those I have for Wabi no Misshitsu: the fake solutions were more entertaining than the actual solution. Though I have to say that the final solution in this story is actually quite decent, it's only not as a 'fancy' as the fake ones. It's also an awfully long story, more so than actually necessary. The book ends with a short chapter titled Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu ("Hail The Bodhisattva Kannon"), whch is not a mystery story, but more like an epilogue (even if it's titled "final chapter")

I know Yamaguchi Masaya mostly from his Ikeru Shikabane no Shi ("The Death of the Living Dead"), which was an excellent mystery story about zombies coming back to life. The zombie-angle was obviously a supernatural one, but by making use of this unique, but clearly definied setting with specific rules, this book turned out to be one of the better logic-based novels I've ever read. Nihon Satsujin Jiken never reaches the heights of Yamaguchi's debut novel, but it's definitely entertaining througout with its humorous portrayal of Japan As See By The Outsider, and the plots do make use of this somewhat fantasy-like settin (by the way, the other thing I know Yamaguchi from is the PSX game Cat the Ripper, which is batshit crazy).

So overall, I'd say that Nihon Satsujin Jiken is definitely an amusing mystery novel, that can be especially entertaining if you have an interest in Japanese culture. It takes elements from Japanese culture to the extreme, but it's not only for show, as the setitng is closely related to the mystery. There is a sequel to this book, and while this bookw as not bad, I do hope that the second book manages to get closer to the level of Ikeru Shikabane no Shi.

Original Japanese title(s): 山口雅也 『日本殺人事件』：　「第一話　微笑と死と」 / 「第二話　侘の密室」 / 「第三話　不思議の国のアリンス」 / 「終幕　南無観世音菩薩」