The Murder in the Honjin
Encyclopedia
The Murder in the Honjin is a mystery novel by Seishi Yokomizo
. It was serialized in the magazine "Houseki" from April 1946 until December in the same year. Yokomizo won the 1st Mystery Writers Club Award by this work in 1948.
It's the first novel in Kosuke Kindaichi
series, about the murder in a locked room in a Japanese house surround with the thicked snow.
, and everything ended without the incident.
Later that night, the screaming, angry sound of the koto was heard across the mansion. Ginzo rushed to the newly wedded couple's bedroom, only to find the couple were killed in a bloody fashion. There was a Japanese sword stabbed into the ground in the middle of the garden and no footprints on the surrounding thick snow, leaving a perfect "locked room" mystery.
A private detective, summoned by Ginzo Kubo
An inspector from Okayama prefecture in charge of the case.
A girl school teacher, would be married with Kenzou Ichiyanagi.
The owner of an orchard, Katsuko's uncle.
The mother of family.
The eldest son, the present head of family, and a scholar.
The eldest daughter, married with a company employee and travelled to Shanghai
.
The second son, worked as a doctor at a hospital in Osaka
.
The third son.
The second daughter, with the poor health, but excellent in playing koto.
The family's cousin.
Ryousuke's wife.
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...
. It was serialized in the magazine "Houseki" from April 1946 until December in the same year. Yokomizo won the 1st Mystery Writers Club Award by this work in 1948.
It's the first novel in Kosuke Kindaichi
Kosuke Kindaichi
Kosuke Kindaichi is a famous fictional Japanese detective created by Seishi Yokomizo, a renowned mystery novelist. His first case, The Honjin Murder Case, a story of locked room murder in old family which many people regard as one of the best Japanese detective stories, was published on April 1946...
series, about the murder in a locked room in a Japanese house surround with the thicked snow.
Story
1937 November 25th, Okayama, in the mansion of the scions of the former honjin, the wedding of Kenzou Ichiyanagi and Katsuko Kubo was held. The celebrants included the mother Itoko, the third son Saburo, the second daughter Suzuko, the cousin Ryousuke and Ginzo Kubo, Katsuko's uncle. In the ceremony, Suzuko performed the kotoKoto (musical instrument)
The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...
, and everything ended without the incident.
Later that night, the screaming, angry sound of the koto was heard across the mansion. Ginzo rushed to the newly wedded couple's bedroom, only to find the couple were killed in a bloody fashion. There was a Japanese sword stabbed into the ground in the middle of the garden and no footprints on the surrounding thick snow, leaving a perfect "locked room" mystery.
Key figures
- Kosuke Kindaichi
A private detective, summoned by Ginzo Kubo
- Tsunejirou Isokawa
An inspector from Okayama prefecture in charge of the case.
- Katsuko Kubo
A girl school teacher, would be married with Kenzou Ichiyanagi.
- Ginzo Kubo
The owner of an orchard, Katsuko's uncle.
House Ichiyanagi
- Itoko Ichiyanagi
The mother of family.
- Kenzou Ichiyanagi
The eldest son, the present head of family, and a scholar.
- Taeko Ichiyanagi
The eldest daughter, married with a company employee and travelled to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
.
- Ryuuji Ichiyanagi
The second son, worked as a doctor at a hospital in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
.
- Saburou Ichiyanagi
The third son.
- Suzuko Ichiyanagi
The second daughter, with the poor health, but excellent in playing koto.
- Ryousuke Ichiyanagi
The family's cousin.
- Akiko Ichiyanagi
Ryousuke's wife.