False Truth

Misdirection has of course always been a major element of mystery fiction. Mystery fiction is about a mystery (obviously), and the solving of that mystery, ideally through a logical process built on clues that have been presented to the reader. But simply presenting a mystery and a handful of clues to nudge the reader in the right direction can be a dangerous act: what if the mystery is too simple, and the reader figures out the business right away? It's here where misdirection comes into play. Red herrings are used to point the reader in the wrong direction, away from the correct trail, but which still allow the author to proclaim victory over the reader at the end, as among all those fake clues, there is still the one correct route to the collection.

The fake solution is of course the bread-and-butter of misdirection techniques in mystery fiction. If you have mystery and the explanation to that mystery, what better way to fool the reader than by creating another fake solution to the problem? For example, a crime scene that is dressed like a suicide.would technically be a fake solution already. Or perhaps the suggestion of supernatural powers at an impossible crime scene, like a locked room mystery, would be like a kind of a fake solution. The basic set-up would be to have a mystery, and then present the fake solution, and then the real solution to shock the readers.

The examples above are of course very, very basic, and most readers will not immediately see them as fake solutions. No, when I say fake solutions, most people will probably think of the kind featured in Ellery Queen novels: solutions based on clues and logical inferences that seem absolutely believable, but which turn out to be incorrect. In terms of complexity, spirit and structure, these fake solutions don't differ much from the real solutions, but are often based on imperfect or incomplete information, resulting in theories that don't mesh with reality. It's often just one or two missed clues that messe the whole theory up. Queen was of course a big fan of this device: The Greek Coffin Mystery is famously structured around several fake solutions, and a lot of his later novels too feature an initial fake solution, only to be followed by the true solution. I should mention examples like Anthony Berkeley's The Poisoned Chocolates Case or Nakai Hideo's Kyomu he no Kumotsu ("Offerings to Nothingness") too, though these two specific examples don't really play with the device "straight, but aim to explore the device of the fake/multiple solution to its extremes.

The fake solution can of course have several origins. Often, the true criminal plants fake clues to guide the detective and other characters away from the truth. But sometimes, it's just a coincidence, with several circumstances and the stars lining up to create an evenly plausible, alternative interpretation of the clues. This difference between a fake solution created on purpose, or by coicidence can have big ramifications for the tone of a mystery story, but functionally, they don't differ very much.

And now we've arrived at today's topic, because there's an inherent problem to the fake solution. While there might be various reasons for the existence of a fake solution within the story, the fake solution is, in essence, always something that is aimed at the reader: it is directly meant to deceive the reader, to lure them in a trap and lead them away from the true solution. But obviously, the fake solution also needs to be discussed in the work itself. Someone needs to bring the fake solution up, and it has to be cleared up first before the story can move on to the true solution (and often, the true solution is in fact built upon the fundamentals of the fake solution).

The question that arises is: who should propose the fake solution?

A genuine fake solution is fairly complex: any genre-savvy reader will recognize a half-hearted attempt at a fake solution and not fall for it. In terms of complexity, it should not differ too much from the real solution. But that means that not any character in a story should be capable of making the inferences needed to reach the fake solution. As it's essentially a trap set for the reader, the character setting the trap off should be someone as intelligent as the reader, which in mystery novels is often the main detective character.

But authors like Ellery Queen and Anthony Berkeley also showed the dangers of using the protagonist to fall in the fake solution trap: it hurts the detective's credibility if they keep falling for the fake solutions. The Greek Coffin Mystery gave Ellery a very good reason to keep his mouth shut until he was absolutely sure about a solution, because that case showed how fallible he actually was. He was still prone to fall for fake solutions later in his career though. Berkeley's Sheringham on the other hand was basically created to fall for one fake solution after another, and many of his stories with Sheringham convinced he solved the case, while the real culprit is revealed to go scott-free. The fake solution and protagonists falling for them also connect to another problem of mystery fiction: if the detective is shown to be fallible, and the notion of fake solutions exist, how can we ever know for sure the final solution presented in the story is in fact correct? This problem is one that is explored in works of the authors above, but also an author like Norizuki Rintarou, but as I pointed out, this is a result of undermining the detective's authority though fake solutions.

So a different solution is The Foil Detective. If an intelligent character is needed to fall into the trap of the fake solution to serve as a substitute for the reader, but the author does not want to undermine the infallibility of their detective protagonist, the obvious solution is to create a second detective character to propose the fake solution instead. These characters are often presented as rivals to the protagonists, who think they managed to outsmart their opponent, but are then revealed to have stepped into the fake solution trap. I guess this is a variation on the Worf Effect: the Worf Effect, named after the character in Star Trek: The Next Generation refers to having an established "strong" character lose from a new enemy to show how powerful they are. The Worf Detective on the other hand is first established as a worthy detective rival, only to lose to the real protagonist in order to show their superiority in mystery-solving. The whole reason to their existence is in fact to lose, to make the protagonist character look better.

I mentioned Ellery Queen several times now, but while in the novels it was often Ellery himself who fell for the fake solution, he was spared that fate in the 1975-1976 Ellery Queen TV series. An original character called Simon Brimmer was created as the Foil Detective, as a rival detective who fell for the fake solutions, only for Ellery to show what the real solution was. The solutions proposed by Simon were often quite complex on their own, and could've made for a nice detective story on their own, but it was his fate to be the eternal loser, so each time Ellery would conjure up a clue that Simon had missed in his haste and then proceed to reveal the true solution to the tale.

An interesting example is Hattori Heiji from Detective Conan: while he is a regular member of the cast now and shown to be as sharp as the protagonist, his first appearence (The Diplomat Murder Case) actually had him act exactly like the Classic Foil Detective, falling for the fake solution planted by the real culprit. He recovered from that, but his case is an extremely rare one.

The reason why I started thinking about fake solutions and Foil Detectives though is Kizoku Tantei ("The Aristocrat Detective"), a TV drama airing right now in Japan, based on the book series by Maya Yutaka. In it, we follow a fairly capable female detective and her attemps to solve all kinds of crimes (some of them of the impossible kind), but who in the end is also upstaged by the titular Aristocrat Detective. What is amazing about this series is how each single episode has at least two solutions: the fake solution proposed by the female detective, and then the true solution as revealed by the Aristocrat Detective. Both solutions are always quite impressive, and often the fake and true solutions are closely related (the fake solution is always used as a basis for the true solution). This structure of having dual solutions does not originate from the original stories by the way, so it's in fact the screenplay writer who comes up with an extra fake solution for each episode, which is an impressive feat. But I think it's very unique to have the Foil Detective (the female detective) as the main character of the series, as she is proven to be fallible detective in each and every episode.

The Foil Detective is thus a product of misdirection, and a sad one too: their fate is to be wrong each and every time! Their only goal is to fall for the fake solution and hopefully drag the reader/viewer along with them. The Foil Detective is nothing more but a small hindrance to be stepped upon on the way towards the true solution. It just makes you feel sorry for them. Destinated to fail forever. All just because we don't want a detective story to be too easy.

Anyway, I only wanted to give these poor creations some attention, but this post has gone on for too long, so I'll wrap it up. The Foil/Rival Detectives I mentioned above are obviously just a very, very, very small selection, so are there any others you thought were particularly memorable?

番外編： The Ginza Ghost Released

I think I did the same back with the release of The Decagon House Murders, but I should really learn not to announce everything in advance in the announcement of the announcement. It's nowadays common practice to announce when you're going to make a major announcement, or at least it's like that in the videogame industry, but I guess the trick is not *not* give away everything during the pre-announcement.

So to be completely honest, I have little to add to my previous post on The Ginza Ghost, but for the fact that is actually released now, in both digital and good old paper form, and available through the usual channels like Amazon (questions about procuring the book are best directed to LRI by the way). This short story collection, translated by me and published by Locked Room International, collects ten fantastic impossible crimes, as well as two "bonus" stories from the hand of the "forgotten" writer Keikichi OOSAKA. The man was a talented master of the short puzzle mystery story active in the thirties and forties of the previous century, but the sociopolitical background leading up to World War II never gave him a chance to make a name. It was long after his demise in the war that he was rediscovered, and when fellow authors and readers alike started to be amazed by his imaginative and atmospheric tales of mystery. The stories he tells are set in a Japan that is still in transition, that is combining the traditional with the modern. From a mysterious death at a modern department store and a disappearing car from a leisure highway to a horrifying serial murder deep down inside a mine seemingly committed by a ghost: OOSAKA manages to create highly original detective stories by mixing his creative mind with surprisingly real, down-to-earth settings that result in something magic. For people familiar with EDOGAWA Rampo, a contemporary of OOSAKA, you might be surprised at how different this collection is, and how the stories prove to be a genuine classic puzzlers.

Publishers Weekly has a review here, while fellow blogger (and proof-reader) JJ was kind enough to write a review over at The Invisible Event too.

Anyway, I think that if you enjoyed The Decagon House Murders and/or The Moai Island Puzzle, you'll definitely love this book too. The stories are much older, yes, but they form important points on a line that goes from honkaku (orthodox) puzzle plot mysteries directly to the modern shin honkaku (new orthodox) mysteries.

And that's it for today's service announcement. I hope you'll enjoy The Ginza Ghost!

A Fine and Private Place

There are probably few readers aware of this, but this blog was initially not a blog on mystery fiction. I originally opened the blog to write about my life studying in Japan, as I was going to first study for three months in Tokyo, and then for another year in Fukuoka. It was only after my return that I decided to write about (Japanese) mystery fiction here, and.... oh-my-god I hadn't even noticed I've working on this blog for eight years already.

Anyway, so much of the earlier days of this blog were about my life in the city of Fukuoka, a place that is still dear to me. And even after I left Fukuoka, even after I started to write about mystery fiction exclusively here, Fukuoka remained a presence on the blog. For the attentive reader will have noticed that I sometimes read books that are explicitly set in Fukuoka. It shouldn't surprise you when I say that many of the mystery stories I read are either set in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, or the Kansai district, which features famous cities like Osaka and Kyoto. These are of course the most densely populated areas in Japan, and serve as economical and socio-cultural centres of Japan. People know about these places, even if they have never been to them. Media has a tendency to focus on these centres of socio-cultural and economical influences, and for many (both authors and readers), the "default" setting will be Tokyo.

Both of the geographical areas mentioned above lie on the main island of Honshu, whereas Fukuoka lies on the southern island of Kyushu, which is quite far from Tokyo (to illustrate: new book releases are usually two, three days late in Fukuoka compared to Tokyo). Fukuoka is the largest metropolis on the island about the size of the Netherlands, but is not as popular as a fictional setting in mystery fiction in general, even though it is an interesting background setting, as the commercial and cultural capital of Kyushu and as a popular tourist destination both domestic and international. The current Fukuoka City (capital of Fukuoka Prefecture) came into existence after a merger between the towns of Hakata (a merchant town) and Fukuoka (a samurai town) in 1889. While Fukuoka City is the current name, the name Hakata is still alive and strongly associated with the area's culture. Fukuoka's main train station is called Hakata Station for example, and one usually refers to Hakata dialect rather than to Fukuoka dialect. The local variant of ramen noodles is also considered an imporant element of Hakata culture: the noodles of tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen (sometimes referred to as Hakata tonkotsu ramen) are distinctly thinner than the common Tokyo variant, and usually cooked al-dente, while served in a white broth (made of pork bones simmered for many, many, many hours).

So I thought it might be interesting to plot out the couple of Fukuoka-set mystery stories I've read on a map, to give the readers a glimpse in a Fukuoka that exists on the page! I decided to only pick out the stories set within Fukuoka City (not the prefecture) and to make it clear: I do not claim that this is a complete list. There are obviously many more mystery novels set in Fukuoka in existence, but I think this will serve as a nice introduction. The map below shows where each story/book is mainly set.

1) Kashii -  Ten to Sen ("Points and Lines", 1958).

Matsumoto Seichou's Ten to Sen opens with an investigation into two dead bodies lying on the beach of Kashiihama. While at first it looks like double suicide, a stubborn old police detective suspects there might be much more behind this case, as statements made by witnesses who saw the couple walk from one of the two nearby Kashii Stations to the beach don't add up. There is a need to solve the case quickly though, as one of the victims was also a suspect, and key witness in a grand corruption case unfolding in Tokyo at the same time. The case soon grows into an investigation covering the whole country of Japan, from the southern city of Fukuoka all the way to the northern capital of Hokkaido.

Let's start with the place I know best! For I actually lived in Kashiihama during my year in Fukuoka, the actual beach being only a five minute walk away from my room. It's clear Matsumoto knew the suburbean areas of Kashiihama and Kashii quite well, because he makes brilliant use of the fact that there are two Kashii Stations (one operated by JR, one by Nishitetsu) in close vicinity (basically on the same street). The route from the stations to the beach is described as "a lonely one", which might've been true in 1958, but nowadays it'll bring you along a busy shopping arcade and an even busier automobile road that's lively from the earliest until the latest hour of the day.

2) Hakozaki - Houkago Spring Train ("After School Spring Train", 2016)

Yoshino Izumi's debut work introduces us to Izumi, your ordinary high school student living an ordinary life. Talking with friends about potential boyfriends, trying to win that one monthly contest at school for a free food coupon, and sometimes coming across strange happenings.  For example: why didn't that lady stand up even though she was sitting on Izumi's skirt in the train? And why would a kid lie about what kind of plant he was growing? These little mysteries are of course nothing but small nuisances at best, but these questions bug Izumi immensely, but her friend Tobiki, a student at Q University, luckily always has a an answer for her.

Another book set in a very familar place. Izumi's school is located in the above-mentioned Kashii, but she lives in the Hakozaki neigbourhood, near the Hakozaki Campus of Q University. Q University is of course based on Kyushu University, and it just happens that I was studying there, at the Hakozaki Campus in my year in Fukuoka, so I know the area well. The description of Hakozaki Campus in this book is hilarious, as it's described a town of ruins. Which it basically is! Hakozaki Campus used to be the main campus of the Kyushu Imperial University (it changed to Kyushu University after World War II), and many of the buildings are really old. But because the main campus of the university has now moved elsewhere in the city, many building are actually left unused and without any maintenance, as they are scheduled for demolition.

3) Maidashi - Dogura Magura (1935)

Yumeno Kyuusaku's infamous anti-mystery Dogura Magura starts in the psychological ward of Kyushu Imperial University, where a young man is being held captive. Why is he there? What did he do? Who is that professor who keeps visiting him, telling him to remember something, some deed he commited in the past? Questions is all our protagonists has, but answers are rarely given to them, and the answers he is given, are definitely not what he had expected. As the tale develops, both the protagonist and the reader start to suspect that absolutely nothing is what it seems in this world as they get entangled in a maze of deception, fantasy and madness.

The medical facilities of the Kyushu Imperial University and its associated hospital are situated in Maidashi, just next to the Hakozaki Campus. The medical faculty of Kyushu Imperial University became infamous itself when it was discovered that horrible vivisections had been conducted on prisoners-of-war during World War II. Yumeno Kyuusaku's Dogura Magura is set many years before the war, but he was way ahead of his time by portraying the medical faculty as a place where strange medical experiments are being held. There's not much to do in Maidashi itself nowadays though: it's still the home of many of Kyushu University's medical facilities, as well as other educational institutions.

4) Nakasu - Hakata Tantei Jiken File series ("Hakata Detective Case File series", 2009-2015)

Yuge Takumi is a private detective located in Nakasu, the entertainment district of Fukuoka, flanked by the Naka and Hakata Rivers. Yuge's cases brings him in contact with all sides of Fukuoka society, including the underworld, but he knows how to survive everywhere. His father used to be a ramen noodle stand owner, and it's Yuge's knowledge of ramen noodles and its culture that often enable him to solve the case, as for some reason his investigations often have parallels with ramen noodles. The theme of ramen noodles is also connected to his father, as Yuge's dad disappeared one day many years ago, and finding him is the reason why Yuge started his detective business in the first place.

Nakasu is without a doubt the nightlife entertainment district of Fukuoka, with all the clubs and the red light district located there. At night, the river banks are also crowded with yatai stands: mobile food carts that only come out at night. Yatai are an important element of Fukuoka food culture, and many tourist will have an evening meal (or snack) there near the river. Considering Yuge's connection to ramen, it's not strange his offices are located in Nakasu, as most of these food stands serve ramen noodles

5) Tenjin - Tekki & Kyuuta series (2001-2006)

Tekki and Kyuuta used to be a pair of troublemakers at school, but now that they're adults.... they're still the same. Tekki runs a ramen yatai stand in Nagahama nowadays, near the main shopping area Tenjin, while Kyuuta is making a living by working as an investigating operative for a dating agency, but even now, the two have a tendency to get in a lot of trouble together. Well, Kyuuta actually gets in a lot of trouble on his own, just like in the good old days. Tekki is still very good at thinking things through and solving the most baffling mysteries though, and it's their teamwork that makes them a feared duo in the streets of Fukuoka.

Most visitors to Fukuoka will know Tenjin the best, as it is the main shopping area, featuring all the big department stores, shopping malls and restaurants. It's not far away from Hakata Station (one could walk the distance), so I think that most (short-term) visitors will in fact only see the area near the station and Tenjin. Nagahama is to the north-west of the main Tenjin area, and is the home to Nagahama ramen, a variant of tonkotsu ramen (and yes, there are yatai stands there).

And that's it! Huh, I had never noticed that I hadn't read any books set west of Tenjin. To be honest, I'm not too familiar with that area myself, as my own space of activity spanned from Kashiihama (1 on the map above) where I lived, until Tenjin (5 on the map) where the main shopping area was, and it happens that this is the exact area covered by the books I read. Well, I know some of the short stories in the books I mentioned do also take place west of Tenjin, but none of them are focused or based there.

And thus concludes my introduction to Fukuoka City and its appearances in mystery fiction. And as for my tourist recommendations: go eat tonkotsu ramen noodles there. There's a reason why it was mentioned so often in this article. And don't go in the summer, because it gets crazy hot there.

Misty Time

Time after time 君と出逢った奇跡

緩やかな風吹く街で

そっと手を繋ぎ歩いた坂道

今も忘れない約束

「Time After Time　～花舞う街で～」（倉木麻衣）

Time after time / The miracle of meeting you

In the city where the wind blows gently

That hill road where we walked as we softly held each other's hands

And the promise I even now still remember

"Time After Time ~ In The City of Dancing Flowers~" (Kuraki Mai)

While I have to admit I don't always wear a wristwatch anymore like I used to (i.e. I don't bother when I go out for groceries), I still often take the thing with me, even if I have a phone with me. I wonder when Conan will trade his tranquillizer gun wristwatch in for a tranquillizer gun smartphone...

As readers of the blog have already noticed, I've become quite a fan of Ayukawa Tetsuya. He was a post-war writer who specialized in impossible crimes of both the 'old-fashioned' locked room murder kind, but also of the uncrackable alibi kind, where an ingenious murderer uses train time tables and other tricks to concoct a perfect alibi for themselves. Ayukawa also wrote really great 'Guess the Criminal' puzzle plot short stories, where the reader is challenged to prove through logic who the murderer is and he was also a very influential editor at publisher Tokyo Sogen, with writers like Ashibe Taku and Arisugawa Alice basically making their debuts under his guide. Itsutsu no Tokei ("The Five Clocks", 1999) is the first volume of two in the series Ayukawa Tetsuya Short Story Masterpieces and as the name suggests, the bulky volume collects some of his best short works. The collection features two of Ayukawa's most infamous creations: Chief Inspector Onitsura and the brilliant amateur detective Hoshikage Ryuuzou, with a slight emphasis on Onitsura stories.

In the past, I reviewed the two Great Detective Hoshikage Ryuuzou Complete Collection volumes, and several stories featured in Itsutsu no Tokei are also available in there. So for my thoughts on the stories Shiroi Misshitsu ("The White Locked Room"), Doukeshi no Ori ("The Clown's Cage"), Barasou Satsujin Jiken ("The Villa Rose Murder Case") and Akuma wa Koko ni ("The Devil Is Here"), I'd like to point you to those older reviews. I'll only be reviewing the stories I hadn't read yet in this post (which by default are all Inspector Onitsura stories).

The book opens with the title story: Itsutsu no Tokei ("The Five Clocks" 1957). Inspector Onitsura is asked by the fiancée of the main suspect to take a new look at a murder investigation. Money appears to be the motive behind the murder, and the suspect definitely needed that for his upcoming wedding, but his bride-to-be is sure he's innocent. Onitsura's problem is that the only other suspect has a perfect alibi. The other suspect was accompanied by a witness almost all night, who can swear to almost every single minute (with other witnesses backing the blanks up). The way this suspect managed to create his perfect alibi is brilliant: at one hand, it is actually just a series of otherwise simple ideas, but it's the way it's all combined that makes this story so ingenious. Definitely a great alibi deconstruction story.

Soushun ni Shisu ("Death In Early Spring", 1958) was a case that Onitsura had a lot of trouble with, the prologue says. The investigation on a murder that happened at a construction site at night had quickly led to a suspect (a rival contender for the hand of a certain lady), but this suspect has an alibi for the time the crime must have happened, as witnesses at the victim's workplace, the train time schedule and a letter written on that train show when the victim arrived in town. The solution to Onitsura's problem is one that neatly makes sense out of all the chaos. It's perfectly hinted at, and while not very difficult to solve, I think this is a good example of doing a well-constructed mystery that doesn't aim at completely baffling the reader, but instead offers the reader a good chance at solving it themselves without making it overly simple. And that in itself is an art many writers seem to forget.

Ai ni Kuchinan ("Withering in Love") starts with a theft of a wooden crate from a shipping company in Osaka, but the ensuing chase ends in the water. As the people of the shipping company try to save the crate, they open it, and find the dead body of a woman packed inside. The victim was an employee in the shipping company back in Tokyo, but nobody has any idea how she got inside the crate. Was she packed inside by the sender of the crate (a luxury furniture maker), the Tokyo branch of the shipping company, the driver of the truck, or someone else? What is even more confusing is that while the sender had shipped off two crates that day, one smaller to Osaka and a larger one to Shizuoka, but for some reason, the body was discovered from the larger crate, but in Osaka. The solution depends on a fact that may or may not have been common knowledge back when this story was written (1958), but it certainly isn't now, so to me, it really came out of nowhere. It's of course a problem that occasionally occurs: mystery writers usually make use of conventions of every day life to create a mystery plot, but time will eventualy change these conventions, making such stories difficult to graps for other times. Mind you, this story is not incomprehensible today, as I myself went 'Aah, I see, I get that', but the main gimmick certainly needs explanation and is not considered 'basic knowledge of society'. The idea behind this trick though is one I really like, it's just that the execution is a bit outdated for a reader almost 60 years later.

The murder on an affluent writer is what drives the plot in Ninomiya Shinjuu (1958), with the police focusing on literary colleagues of the victim. One of the suspects has a rather peculiar alibi: he tried to commit suicide with a woman on the night of the murder, first by throwing themselves in front of a train and later by taking sleep medicine. The alibi is dependent on where they tried to commit suicide and when, but the solution is rather weak: the police first proves one part of the alibi to be false because the murderer did something inexplicably stupid (there was no way that part of the alibi was going to hold!) and then they show you all kinds of train time tables that come out of nowhere and talk about characteristics of the night trains to show how the trick was pulled off. I think that if this story had been extended to a full novel, with more room to properly introduce the necessary clues to the solution, this story would've been much more enjoyable.

Fukanzen Hanzai ("Imperfect Crime", 1960) is an inverted story, about a publisher plotting the death of his business partner, who has discovered that he cooked the books of their company. He comes up with a plan to make it seem like his partner had fallen of the train elsewhere, while in fact he'd kill him in town. The conclusion is predictable, once a certain character trait is shown in the story, and the behavior the murderer shows at the end is actually rather unbelievable, as it's clear from the start that that behavior could be the only thing that could prove he had anything to do with the crime, so why do that!? Funny is that Chief Inspector Onitsura isn't the detective in this story: a rather unexpected character solves the crime, showing that everyone can be a great detective if they learn to observe, not only watch.

This volume ends with Kyuukou Izumo ("The Izumo Express"), where Onitsura has to solve a murder on a blackmailer. The main suspect is a farmer whose fiancée is now in a mental institution because of blackmailing. The man claims he had only just arrived in Osaka by the Izumo Express just minutes before the murder happened, so there was no way he could've made it out of the station and picked a cab to go the crime scene, especially not as it was his first time in town. Passengers riding in the same coach of the Izumo Express that day however don't remember seeing him. Is the man lying, or is something else going on? The main trick is probably not very difficult to guess once a certain word is dropped, and on the whole, I'd say this is a decent, but not particularly outstanding story. There is a hint of an impossibility here (the suspect claiming to have been present in a coach while the other people in the coach deny it), but the solution is rather obvious and if you really think about it, it's clear that any close investigation by the police would've soon brought the truth to light.

Itsutsu no Tokei is on the whole a great short story collection by Ayukawa featuring a great selection of impossible crimes. Locked room murders are probably usually the most popular variant of the impossible crime, but Ayukawa shows with his Inspector Onitsura stories that alibi deconstruction stories can be just as fun. People with interest in trains in particular will have a blast with these stories. I'm based in the Netherlands, where we have rather dense network of railways, similar to Japan, so I do like train mysteries, but I wonder whether it's something less attractive for readers based in countries lik the United States, where trains are less part of daily life? Anyway, what makes the Inspector Onitsura also interesting is that he is by no means the quintessential brilliant police detective. Sometimes, he'll be fooled by a murderer's tricks for weeks on, and in some stories, it isn't even Onitsura who solves the crime!

So, yes, Itsutsu no Tokei s definitely recommended material for people interested in Ayukawa Tetsuya, and Japanese mystery short stories in general. The Ayukawa Tetsuya Short Story Masterpieces offers some of Ayukawa's best work (complete with commentary for each story by Edogawa Rampo by the way), and with both Inspector Onitsura and Hoshikage Ryuuzou present, there is also diversity in this volume. I'd say this volume is better balanced than the Great Detective Hoshikage Ryuuzou Complete Collection series (which obviously only focuses on one character), so at the moment, I even think this is the best book for people who have never read Ayukawa before.

Original Japanese title(s): 鮎川哲也　『五つの時計』：　「五つの時計」 / 「白い密室」 / 「早春に死す」 / 「愛に朽ちなん」 / 「道化師の檻」 / 「薔薇荘殺人事件」 / 「二ノ宮心中」 / 「悪魔はここに」 / 「不完全犯罪」 / 「急行出雲」

番外編： The Ginza Ghost

Longtime readers of the blog know the drill: no introducing quotes means either an editorial piece, or a service announcement. Today we have a service announcement long overdue (mostly because I kinda forgot about writing the piece. Most of the time this blog runs 'automatically', as I have enough reviews ready and waiting to be posted until almost next year, so I'm not always in 'writing mode').

Two years ago, I was proud to announce that Locked Room International was going to publish Yukito AYATSUJI's The Decagon House Murders, and that yours truly was responsible for the translation of that devious homage to Christie's And Then There Were None. Around the same time last year, I had the honor to announce that LRI's new Japanese project would be Alice ARISUGAWA's The Moai Island Puzzle, a novel I personally see as one of the greatest Japanese experiments in deduction, surpassing Ellery Queen at his own game. Both novels were also critically well received, which to be completely honest, was something I was even happier about as a fan, rather than as the translator!  And as we are once again in that same time of the year, you can probably guess what the announcement of today is about.

So I'm thrilled to announce that Locked Room International will be releasing Keikichi OOSAKA's the short story collection The Ginza Ghost very soon, the translation once again done by me! OOSAKA was a writer specialized in the short story form who was active in the period before World War II, and thus a contemporary of Edogawa Rampo. While he excelled at writing brilliantly atmospheric puzzle plot mysteries firmly set in unique backgrounds in the new, changing modern society of Japan of the thirties, he never did gain much fame back in those days. The war changed everything, as state censorship and being drafted into the army marked a cruel end to his career and his life. He became a forgotten author of the pre-war period, until he was rediscovered many years later, with influential writers like Tetsuya AYUKAWA praising as OOSAKA as one of the great losses of Japanese mystery fiction. His work has since then gathered much praise, and The Ginza Ghost contains a special selection comprised of twelve of his best tales: ten impossible crimes stories, plus two extra (non-impossible) stories that are commonly considered to rank among the best he had ever written. Mystery author Taku ASHIBE was so kind to write an informative introduction to the book.

And this is actually the first time where I don't have a handy link to an old review ready! Partly because this is an all-original edited collection. So while I can't link you to "proof" that shows how I was already impressed by his work before I ever got to work on it this time (save for this very old one about two of his stories, the first of them being included in the collection), I hope you believe me when I say that OOSAKA's work is really great. Not only did he come up with very solid mystery plots (written in a time when Japanese mystery fiction was more about horror and eroticsm than actually detecting), the atmosphere in these stories is unique, with a sense of pathos as we are introduced to all kinds of baffling cases set around workplaces and local industries that give you a glimpse into a Japan that was quickly modernizing and Westernizing in the thirties. Personal favorites this time are The Hungry Letter-Box and The Mourning Locomotive by the way.

Publishers Weekly already has a review available here.

Anyway, I hope you'll find The Ginza Ghost an entertaining read. I at least had a blast working on them. OOSAKA may have been a forgotten author for a long time in his own country, but I hope new readers will find out why everybody was so enthusiastic about him when his work was rediscovered. And if you haven't read The Decagon House Murders or The Moai Island Puzzle yet, why not try them out too?

Make Up Tonight

記憶のファイルを風がめくってくわ

take it easy, it's not easy

「Make Up Tonight」（河合夕子）

The wind's leafing through the files of my memory

Take it easy, it's not easy

"Make Up Tonight" (Kawai Yuuko)

Nazotoki Live ("Mystery Solving Live") is a mystery program produced by NHK with a unique twist: viewers at home (as well as three studio guests) are encouraged to participate actively with the mystery-solving process. The show consists of two parts: a mystery drama part, which is occasionally interrupted by a live studio segment. It's during these breaks that the guests (as well as the viewers) are asked questions related to the mystery drama, that help organize the facts and clues presented in the drama part. Everyone is given a few minutes to think and answer, with points awarded to correct answers (viewers at home can input their answers through their TV remotes, the studio guests can do it live in the studio). Then the show returns to the mystery drama again, and rinse and repeat until the mystery is solved. A perfect score results in eternal fame (a similar show, Anraku Isu Tantei, actually offered a monetary award by the way)

The show appears on television about once a year, and last year, I reviewed 2016's Shikakukan no Misshitsu Satsujin Jiken ("The Murder Case of the Locked Room of the Square House"), which was written by Ayatsuji Yukito. It was the first time I saw the show, but I really loved how they made an otherwise complex mystery very accessible to the viewers at home, as it was a fair mystery plot, but it was also obvious the creators did their best to keep it comprehensible for the viewers at home, as a live mystery drama is another format than a book for example, which asks for different approaches.

The shows are always written by mystery writers, and 2015's entry of this show, Bihakujima Satsujin Jiken ("The Bihaku Island Murder Case"), was written by Abiko Takemaru. In a way, he's perfect for these kinds of shows actually, as he has a lot of experience with recreating the fun of mystery fiction with the help of interactive media. The highly influential novel game Kamaitachi no Yoru was a creation of his for example. The two episodes of this show were broadcast on July 18th and 19th, 2015. Bihaku is a Japanese word meaning 'beautifully white', referring to the classic Japanese idea of beauty that says a woman's skin should be white. The word is often used for skin care products. Bihaku Island is thus a nickname the island got because a local fruit is being used in the products of a succesful make-up company. The director of that company is visiting the island because she'll model for a new company promotion poster. The members of Detective Club CATS, Miko (the brains), Momo (aspirant-photographer) and Momo's brother Ao (policeman) are also part of the group, because Momo got a job as photography assistant. It doesn't take long for Miko, Momo and Ao to see that the director of the make-up company is a rather unpleasant woman, and as decided by the Laws of Mystery Fiction, this director is of course the victim in this murder mystery. Miko and Momo, as well as the studio guests and the viewers back home, will need to figure out what the victim's dying message meant and most importantly: who did it?

For those interested in videogames: it might be interesting to learn that game creator Ishii Jirou was one of the studio guests. He has directed games like 428, but also produced games like 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, so he has quite an affinity for mystery fiction. In fact, he did exceedingly good in this show. Takumi Shuu, creator of the Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney game series, would also be a guest the following year by the way.

I have to be honest, and say that as a mystery show, I think 2016's Shikakukan no Misshitsu Satsujin Jiken was a lot more enjoyable. Not that Bihakujima Satsujin Jiken is a bad mystery story. It's only... too predictable. The mystery genre, like most genre fiction, is very dependent on tropes, whether they're used straight or subverted. Bihakujima Satsujin Jiken however uses all tropes in a rather straight, uninspired way. A dying message? Of course it's never what it seems at first sight. And of course the one with the camera was assaulted because he filmed something he shouldn't have. As a pure whodunnit, this story relies on the old-fashioned 'elimination' method to arrive at the right criminal (identify characteristics the murderer must have or must not have, and then comparing them to those of the suspects, and eliminate everyone who does not fit the description from the list), but the manner in which the list of suspects is cut short is again rather classic, and never surprising. In fact, I think studio guest Ishii commented on each question that 'If we'd go the classic way, then the answer would be...' and he got it right every time. If you're familiar with these kinds of whodunnit mysteries, this story is a bit too classically structured, and there's little new to be found here. I also found it frustrating there were a lot of obvious red herrings. I don't mind red herrings, but at least give them some meaning, rather than dumping a truck load of them in the story, but never bothering to flesh them out in a meaningful manner (like hinting at subplots that never come to fruition because they were just red herrings; that's just lazy. Give them some closure!).

What I think is great about this show is how it allows for mystery stories that are usually too complex for television. The intermezzzos between the drama parts allow for the studio guests, but also the viewers to organize all the new information they get. The goal of the questions asked during these intermezzos are in fact precisely that: organizing information / pushing the ideas of the viewers in the right way. Because there's a bit of help along the way, the stories themselves can become much more complex than the usual mystery drama. You'd think that having to create a fair play mystery with participants (studio guests and people at home) would result in a mystery plot that'd be easier to solve, but not here: the writers make use of the extended time, and the fact they can gently guide people to the solution through the intermezzo questions to create plots that are quite complex.

One important factor is the fact all participants have access to "evidence cards": the necessary clues to solve the mystery. These cards, which show all the characters and evidence (for example, a card with the dying message), allow everyone to keep all the important facts at hand. Another interesting feature is the use of the homepage: during the broadcast of this show, people could go the official website to find additional evidence, like a panorama picture of the crime scene, so people could examine the crime scene themselves. In the studio, they even have handy alibi charts ready for the guests. I really like how the program really gives the viewers at home a good look at everything in detail. With all the facts at hand, the focus is less on small details, but more on the logic of getting everything to fit (and I like that better in a mystery story).

Overall, I'd say Bihakujima Satsujin Jiken is an okay mystery story that fits perfectly with the unique concept of the program, but it's also a story that is rather predictable and perhaps too classic. I had hoped for something like Shikakukan no Misshitsu Satsujin Jiken, which had something extra to surprise the viewer with. I wouldn't say this show was lacking, but it was definitely nothing more than I had expected.

Original Japanese title(s): 『謎解きLive 美白島殺人事件』

The Darkest Nightmare

The human whose name is written in this note shall die

"Death Note"

To be honest, I think this particular installment falls outside the scope of this blog, but oh well, it at least gives me a chance to fanboy about Death Note...

While the Death Note might look like just an ordinary black notebook, it is in fact a tool utilized by the Death Gods to terminate the life of humans. The notebook allows the user to kill any person as long as they know the name and face of their target, simply by writing down their names in the notebook. Ten years ago, a genius young man got his hands on a Death Note and started killing off criminals left and right with the help of the supernatural powers of the Death Note, leading society into believing in the existence of "Kira", a vengeful entity who would 'cleanse the world of evil' by killing off those who opposed them. It took the combined efforts of a special Task Force and the world's greatest detective to stop the "Kira" killings and the terrible weapon that is the Death Note. And now, ten years later, no less than six Death Notes have found their way to Earth. One of the new owners of a Death Note claims to be the successor to the original "Kira", but his goal is not only to punish the sinful: he is also after the remaining Death Notes. The Anti-Death Note Task Force, under the leadership of Death Note expert Mishima Tsukuru, is reopened by the Japanese police, and the unit is assisted by Ryuzaki, the successor to the detective who managed to stop the original "Kira" ten years ago. Who shall stand, and who shall fall at the end of the struggle for possession of the Death Notes in the 2016 film Death Note: Light Up The NEW World?

Death Note is a hit comic thriller that originally ran from 2003-2006 that chronicled how the genius Yagami Light came into possession of a Death Note and starts exterminating all 'evil' humans on Earth by writing down the names of not only criminals in the note, but everyone (like the police and other forces who believed in freedom) who opposed Light's reign as "Kira", the god of this new world ruled by fear. The titular Death Note was a supernatural object (and even Death Gods appeared as characters in the series), so while you're right in assuming this was not a conventional mystery series, the intellectual battles that unfolded across the series between Light and the world's greatest detective "L" were really something to behold. As Rampo said, a mystery story is one that focused on a mystery, and the subsequent solving of it through a logical process. Readers of Death Note were constantly presented with brilliant cat-and-mouse games between Light (as the possessor of the Death Note) and L (representing law and justice) as they both tried to checkmate each other. The mysteries of this series were not about murders or alibis or anything conventional as that: the situations themselves were mysteries. How was Light going to get out of that trap set by L? How was L going to avoid getting killed by Light? The strategic chess game between Light and L was fantastic and also important: fair. While Light had access to supernatural powers in the form of the Death Note, the note itself had various rules that limited its use, and it was a joy to see how the rules of the Death Note were used to not only create, but also solve the most exciting situations that seemed to spell nothing but doom for either of the protagonists. Seen as such, Death Note is definitely a mystery series.

The success of Death Note led to various adaptations and spin-offs, and even Netflix has an original American remake planned for release later this year. The 2016 film Death Note: Light Up The NEW World on the other hand is a direct sequel to the Japanese live-action film adaptations of the original comic (2006's Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name), which features a different (shortened) version of the original story, so readers of the manga/viewers of the anime might be surprised at some of the differences in the backstory (the films are great though).

But you might also be surprised to learn that Light Up The NEW World is not a very good film.

The base story is fairly similar to the original Death Note storyline, and that's not strange. The cat-and-mouse games between a brilliant mind who considers himself to be a god thanks to the Death Note, and a brilliant detective who believes it's wrong for one human to have such power were what drove the plot of Death Note, creating one new situation after another where you wondered how they were going to get out of that. This "Genius Death God" VS ""Genius Detective" core dichotomy is repeated in Light Up The NEW World, but it doesn't work that well because mainly, the protagonists of this film are not nearly as smart as the original Light and L. We are introduced to the "successors" of both Light and L in this film, but neither of them show the same level of (almost superhuman) intelligence their predecessors had. The original Death Note was like watching high level chess, where you know what the rules are, but still barely manage to keep up with the amazing moves of each of the two insanely intelligent players. The new protagonists in Light Up The NEW World are simply playing the same chess game at normal speed, and their strategems don't feel as nearly impressive. At no point does Light Up The NEW World manage to be as exciting as the original films, nor does it manage to present the viewer with unique situations which are solved in a logical way.

In fact, the few moments where Light Up The NEW World does make 'smart' use of the Death Note rules to create engaging situations which need solving, those rare moments are basically nothing more but water-downed versions of events that are either taken from the manga, or even worse, were already featured in the original two films! This was probably the greatest disappointment, as the few moments that show some promise were nothing more than inferior repeats of situations done much better in the earlier two films. The conclusion to this film for example is nothing more than a less impressive version of an important event in Death Note: The Last Name (and the corresponding arc in the original manga), and its weaknesses are strengthened by the fact there is no proper building up, or foreshadowing, to this conclusion. I really find it a fault that they didn't properly develop the plot to facilitate the ending, because I think it could've at least worked much better if structured better. Now's it's basically a rip-off, and not even done right!

The rest of the film consists of many "If only they did more with that...". From horrible use of characters from the original two films, to the rather limited use of the fact there were six Death Notes on Earth, it's all rather disappointing. And don't get me started on the impossible way it sometimes shoehorns new backstories to the characters from the original films, because logistically, a lot of what drives the plot of Light Up The NEW World contradicts directly with the original films. Another misstep is the position of "hacking" in this film. Sure, computer hacking is seldom portrayed realistically in fiction, but when you have all kinds of rules to limit the power of a supernatural weapon like the Death Note to keep the cat-and-mouse games interesting, I find it weird that they allow hacking to be overpowered and capable of doing anything. It's as if hacking is more powerful than a Death Note.

The few times Death Note: Light Up The NEW World does manage to feel somewhat interesting, it's only because it's mirroring the original series, and that shows that on its own, it's really not that fun. That's the word I was looking for. It's simply not fun. If it's not attempting (poorly) to replicate the events and situations that made the original Death Note films so engaging, then it's busy throwing things at you that weaken the plot on the whole. At no point does Light Up The NEW World manage to come close to the strategic mystery plots that manage to make the original a hit.

Original Japanese title(s): 『デスノート Light up the NEW World』