Murder in Japan : Japanese stories of crime and detection

These fourteen stories, arranged chronologically, reflect a changing Japan from the early part of this century to the present. Although certain elements will be familiar to any mystery buff—murderers with no intention of being caught, hapless victims, wiley detectives—there are also decidedly Nipponese traits. For example, the murders are rarely committed by firearms, since there has been gun control in Japan for more than 300 years. Also, the national importance of honor and the tendency to commit suicide, seppuku, when honor is lost, is often exploited by a clever killer. A knife thrower in a traveling acts slits his wife's throat: murder or miscalculation? A brilliant university student incriminates himself by executing a murder too well. A Chinese businessman avenges the murder of his parents by a Japanese soldier during the war. A group of Buddhist monks protect their embezzlement ring by manipulating an underling's belief in the importance of honor and provoking his suicide. The Japanese have long had a love affair with the Western genre of the detective story. For the past eighty years they have generated at tremendous output of crime and detective fiction, but very little has been translated into English. These fourteen stories, arranged chronologically, reflect a changing Japan from the early part of this century to the present. Although certain elements will be familiar to any mystery buff--murderers with no intention of being caught, hapless victims, wiley detectives--there are also decidedly Nipponese traits. For example, the murders are rarely committed by firearms, since there has been gun control in Japan for more than 300 years. Also, the national importance of honor and the tendency to commit suicide, suppuka, when honor is lost, is often exploited by a clever killer. Among the notable authors in this collection are Edogawa Rampo, Taro Hirai's pseudonym, a loose transliteration of Edgar Allan Poe; Ryunosuka Akutagawa, whose story In a Grove inspired Kurosawa's classic film Rashomon ; and Shizuko Natsuki, a highly successful contemporary author who often writes about the clash between outmoded traditions and modern realities in Japan. -from the book flap The psychological test / by Edogawa Rampo The red chamber / by Edogawa Rampo The razor / by Naoya Shiga Han's crime / by Naoya Shiga The thief / by Junichiro Tanizaki In a grove / by Ryunosuke Akutagawa The affair of the Arabesque inlay / by Tatsuzo Ishikawa Black market blues / by Haruto Ko The secret alibi / by Seicho Matsumoto The woman who took the local paper / by Seicho Matsumoto Rain / by Shotaro Yasuoka The dream soldier / by Kobo Abe The pawnshop murder / by Shizuko Natsuki The sole of the foot / by Shizuko Natsuki.