Japanese detective fiction
Encyclopedia
, is a popular genre of Japanese literature
Japanese literature
Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...

. It's generally called (suirishousetsu) in Japan.

Name

When the Western detective fictions spread into Japan, it created a new genre called detective fiction in Japanese literature
Japanese literature
Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...

.

After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, because of the Toyo Kanji
Toyo kanji
The tōyō kanji, also known as the Tōyō kanjihyō are the result of a reform of the Kanji characters of Chinese origin in the Japanese written language. They were the kanji declared "official" by the Japanese on November 16, 1946...

 limitation, the genre was rename to deductive reasoning fiction .

However, when translating the Kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

 deductive reasoning into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, a loosely-defined term mystery
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...

is used instead of detective fiction. Although it's literally wrong (a mystery fiction doesn't necessary need to be logical, it can just be supernatural or fantasy) , it's being widely accepted.

Development

Edogawa Rampo
Edogawa Rampo
, better known by the pseudonym , was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogorō Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the .Rampo was an admirer...

 is the first Japanese modern mystery writer and the founder of the Detective Story Club in Japan. Rampo was an admirer of western mystery writers. He gained his fame in early 1920s, when he began to bring to the genre many bizarre, erotic and even fantastic elements. This is partly because of the social tension before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.(Gonda, 160)

In 1957, Seicho Matsumoto
Seicho Matsumoto
was a Japanese writer.Seichō's works created new tradition of Japanese mystery / detective fiction. Dispensing with formulaic plot devices such as puzzles, Seichō incorporated elements of human psychology and ordinary life. In particular, his works often reflect a wider social context and postwar...

 received the Mystery Writers of Japan Award
Mystery Writers of Japan Award
The are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of Japan. They honor the best in crime fiction and critical/biographical work published in the previous year.- MWJ Award for Best Novel winners :...

 for his short story
. The Face and Matsumoto's subsequent works began the within the genre, which emphasized social realism
Social realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...

, described crimes in an ordinary setting and sets motives within a wider context of social injustice and political corruption.(Gonda, 159-162)

Since the 1980s, a
has surfaced. It demands restoration of the classic rules of detective fiction and the use of more self reflective elements. Famous authors of this sect include Soji Shimada
Soji Shimada
is a Japanese logic mystery novelist. Born in the city of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, Mr. Shimada currently resides in Los Angeles, California.- Biography :...

 (島田莊司), Ayatsuji Yukito (綾辻行人), Arisugawa Arisu (有栖川有栖).

Quotation

Seichō Matsumoto. Zuihitsu Kuroi Techyō (Essays on the Mystery Novel). 1961. pp.18 - 25.

Ayatsuji Yukito. The Murders at the Ten-cornered Residence. 1991. pp.1.

See also

  • Mystery Writers of Japan
    Mystery Writers of Japan
    is an organization for mystery writers in Japan.The organization was founded on 21 June 1947 by EDOGAWA Rampo. It is currently chaired by Keigo HIGASHINO and claims about 600 members.It presents the Mystery Writers of Japan Award to writers every year...

     (founded in 1947)
    • Mystery Writers of Japan Award
      Mystery Writers of Japan Award
      The are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of Japan. They honor the best in crime fiction and critical/biographical work published in the previous year.- MWJ Award for Best Novel winners :...

       (since 1948)
    • Edogawa Rampo Award
      Edogawa Rampo Award
      The , named after Edogawa Rampo, is a Japanese literary award which has been presented every year by the Mystery Writers of Japan since 1955.Though its name is similar to the Edgar Allan Poe Awards, which has been presented by Mystery Writers of America, the Edogawa Rampo award is not a counterpart...

       (since 1955)
  • Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan
    Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan
    is a Japan-based organization for mystery writers who write Honkaku mystery.The organization was founded on 3 November 2000 by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Kaoru Kitamura, Tetsuya Ayukawa and the other mystery writers...

     (founded in 2000)
    • Honkaku Mystery Grand Prize
      Honkaku Mystery Grand Prize
      The are presented every year by the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan. They honor the best in honkaku mystery fiction and critical work published in the previous year.- Honkaku Mystery Grand Prize for Best Novel winners :...

       (since 2001)
  • Shunrō Oshikawa
    Shunro Oshikawa
    , was a Japanese author, journalist and editor, best known as a pioneer of science fiction.-Education and early career:While studying law at Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō at the turn of the century, Oshikawa published Kaitō Bōken Kidan: Kaitei Gunkan , the story of an armoured, ram-armed submarine in a...

     (1876 - 1914)
  • Edogawa Rampo
    Edogawa Rampo
    , better known by the pseudonym , was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogorō Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the .Rampo was an admirer...

     (né Hirai Taro) (1894 - 1965)
  • Seishi Yokomizo
    Seishi Yokomizo
    was a novelist in Shōwa period Japan.-Early life:Yokomizo was born in the city of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. 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...

     (1902 - 1981)
  • Ango Sakaguchi
    Ango Sakaguchi
    was a Japanese novelist and essayist. His real name was Heigo Sakaguchi .-History:From Niigata, Sakaguchi was one of a group of young Japanese writers to rise to prominence in the years immediately following Japan's defeat in World War II...

     (1906 -1955)
  • Seicho Matsumoto
    Seicho Matsumoto
    was a Japanese writer.Seichō's works created new tradition of Japanese mystery / detective fiction. Dispensing with formulaic plot devices such as puzzles, Seichō incorporated elements of human psychology and ordinary life. In particular, his works often reflect a wider social context and postwar...

     (1909 - 1992)
  • Tetsuya Ayukawa
    Tetsuya Ayukawa
    was a Japanese critic and novelist. He is noted for his Detective Onikawa Series of mystery stories.Ayukawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, but spent his youth in Dalian, China, when it was Japan's leased territory...

     (1919 - 2002)
  • Akimitsu Takagi
    Akimitsu Takagi
    , was the pen-name of a popular Japanese crime fiction writer active during the Showa period of Japan. His real name was Takagi Seiichi.-Biography:...

     (1920 - 1995)
  • Futaro Yamada
    Futaro Yamada
    was the pen name of , a Japanese author.He was born in Yabu, Hyogo.In 1947, he wrote a mystery novel and was awarded a prize by a novel magazine .He was discovered by Edogawa Rampo and became a novelist....

     (1922 - 2001)
  • Shinichi Hoshi
    Shinichi Hoshi
    Shinichi Hoshi was a Japanese novelist and science fiction writer. He is best known for his "short-short" science fiction stories, often no more than three or four pages in length, of which he wrote over 1000...

     (1926 - 1997)
  • Masako Togawa (1931 - )
  • Shizuko Natsuki (1938 - )
  • Jiro Akagawa
    Jiro Akagawa
    is a Japanese novelist born in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.- Biography :Best known for his humorous mysteries, Akagawa's first novel, Ghost Train, was published in 1976 and went on to win the annually granted All Yomimono New Mystery Writers' Prize by Bungeishunjū, a Japanese literary...

     (1948 - )
  • Soji Shimada
    Soji Shimada
    is a Japanese logic mystery novelist. Born in the city of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, Mr. Shimada currently resides in Los Angeles, California.- Biography :...

     (1948- )
  • Natsuo Kirino
    Natsuo Kirino
    is a Japanese novelist and a leading figure in the recent boom of female writers of Japanese detective fiction.-Biography:A prolific writer, she is most famous for her 1997 novel, Out, which received the Mystery Writers of Japan Award, Japan's top mystery award, and was a finalist for the 2004...

     (1951 - )
  • Miyuki Miyabe
    Miyuki Miyabe
    Miyuki Miyabe is a popular contemporary Japanese author active in a number of genres that include science fiction, mystery fiction, historical fiction, social commentary, and juvenile fiction...

     (1960 - )
  • Fuyumi Ono
    Fuyumi Ono
    is a Japanese novelist who is best known for writing series, on which a popular anime is based. Her name after marriage is , but she writes under her maiden name.- Biography :...

     (1960 - )
  • Natsuhiko Kyogoku (1963 - )
  • Hase Seishu
    Hase Seishu
    is a well-known Japanese novelist. He is known for writing Yakuza crime novels.A few of his novels were turned into movies.Seishu also wrote the story for Sega's 2006 video game, Yakuza, and its sequel, Yakuza 2....

    (1965 - )
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