The Honkaku Mysteries

Shedunnit

Caroline Crampton

Arts, Books

4.9 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2021

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Exploring the thriving tradition of classic Japanese whodunnits. Thanks to my guests, On Nomoto, grandson of honkaku writer Seishi Yokomizo, and Daniel Seton, commissioning editor at Pushkin Press. No major spoilers about clues or endings in this episode. However, there is some mention or discussion of the books listed below. Sources and further information: — The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro by Edogawa Rampo — "The Spider" by Koga Saburo, translated by Ho-Ling Wong and John Pugmire — Foreign Bodies edited by Martin Edwards — The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo — The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo — The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shiimada —“A Brief Introduction To Honkaku And Shin Honkaku Mysteries” by Tara Cheesman —“The King Of The Golden Age Crime Novel In Japan: Seishi Yokomizo” by Paul French — Detective Fiction and the Rise of the Japanese Novel, 1880–1930 by Satoru Saito — “Inheriting the Nation: Seishi Yokomizo’s Kindaichi Novels” by Chiho Nakagawa in Clues: A Journal of Detection, Volume 32, Number 2, Fall 2014, pp. 90–99 — Interview with translater Louise Heal Kawai on the In GAD We Trust podcast NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK independent bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge. To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter. The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice. Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/thehonkakumysteriestranscript. Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's over a hundred years now since the Golden Age of Detective Fiction began in Britain.
0:09.6	Some writers who were key to the popularity of the who done it between the two world wars
0:13.7	are still household names in the UK and the US today, Agatha Christie of course, but
0:19.5	the likes of Dorothy L. Sayers, John Dixon Car, Ellery Queen and others have their dedicated
0:24.6	fan bases too.
0:26.4	And in the last decade, there's been a great revival of interest in crime fiction from
0:30.2	the 1920s and 30s, with authors whose work has not stayed in the limelight quite so well,
0:36.0	now being brought back to mainstream availability.
0:39.0	But an neglected part of my own reading, and I think that of many other fans of Detective
0:43.1	Fiction from this time, is what was happening beyond the Anglophone world.
0:48.2	While it is true that what we now refer to as the Golden Age style of Detective Novel did
0:52.9	find many of its initial practitioners among British and American writers.
0:57.8	They were not the only ones trying their hand at it.
1:01.4	Japan also has a deep and intriguing tradition of 20th century crime writing, and thanks
1:06.9	to a recent spate of translations, those of us who aren't able to read these stories
1:11.2	in their original language, can now enjoy who done it from a different culture and tradition.
1:16.7	Today, we're going to delve into the Honkaku mysteries.
1:26.8	Welcome to She Done It, I'm Caroline Grampton.
1:38.3	Before we start this episode, a brief note on pronunciation.
1:42.7	While I've made every effort to try and say the Japanese words and names in this episode
1:46.4	as accurately as I can, I'm not a Japanese speaker and I'm sure I'm making mistakes.
1:52.0	If you are interested in learning more about the language and translation side of this topic,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Caroline Crampton, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Caroline Crampton and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.