Edogawa Rampo

Edogawa Rampo (江戸川 乱歩 Edogawa Ranpo), born Tarō Hirai (平井 太郎 Hirai Tarō, October 21, 1894 - July 28, 1965) was a Japanese author and critic. He wrote many works of detective fiction. Kogoro Akechi was the primary detective of these novels. Image File history File links Edogawa_lampo. ... is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... is the 209th day of the year (210th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... This is an alphabetical list of authors who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centers upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ... Kogorō Akechi (明智小五郎 Akechi Kogorō) is a fictional character and the creation of Japanese mystery writer Edogawa Rampo. ...

Rampo was a great admirer of western mystery writers, and especially of Edgar Allan Poe. The pseudonym "Edogawa Rampo" is actually a Japanese rendering of Poe's name. Other authors who were special influences on him were Maurice Leblanc and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Mystery fiction is a distinct subgenre of detective fiction that entails the occurrence of an unknown event which requires the protagonist to make known (or solve). ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, editor, critic and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... Maurice Leblanc Maurice Leblanc Maurice-marie-émile Leblanc (11 December 1864 - 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French counterpart to Conan Doyles creation Sherlock... Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (May 22, 1859 - July 7, 1930) is the British author most famously known for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction. ...

Biographical Information

Tarō Hirai was born in Mie Prefecture in 1894. He grew up in Nagoya and studied economics at Waseda University starting in 1912. After graduating in 1916 he worked a series of odd jobs, including newspaper editing and selling soba noodles as a street vendor. Mie Prefecture (三重県; Mie-ken) is part of the Kinki region on Honshu island, Japan. ... Nagoya ) is the fourth largest city in Japan. ... Waseda University ), often abbreviated to Sodai ) is a co-educational, private university in Japan. ... Soba served on a zaru Soba ) is the Japanese word for buckwheat. ... A cook making hand-pulled noodles. ...

In 1923 he wrote his first mystery story, "The Two-Sen Copper Coin." (Nisen Dõka, 二銭銅貨). The story was soon published under the nom de plume "Edogawa Rampo" by the magaizine "Shin Seinen," which had also published stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, and GK Chesterton. Although there is a history of crime literature in Japan, this is generally acknowledged to be the first original modern-style Japanese mystery story. Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, editor, critic and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish born author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and the adventures of Professor Challenger. ... For the town of Chesterton in Cambridgeshire, see Chesterton (Cambridge). ... Look up mystery in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

He later went on to found and head the Japan Mystery Writers' Club.

Rampo could understand spoken English, but could not speak or read well. He and his translator, James B. Harris, collaborated for five years on the first English translation of some of his stories.

Thematic Elements

• Many of Rampo's characters are preoccupied with planning and executing a "perfect crime."
• Mirrors, lenses, and other optical devices appear in many of Rampo's stories and as symbols of distorted or heightened reality.
• Many of Rampo's stories include characters who were wounded or disfigured during World War I.

A mirror is a reflective surface that is smooth enough to form an image. ... A lens. ... An optical instrument either processes light waves to enhance an image for viewing, or analyzes light waves (or photons) to determine one of a number of characteristic properties. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

Major Works

"Kogoro Akechi" stories

• "The Murder on D— Hill" (D坂の殺人事件, D-zaka no satsujin jiken^?, January 1925)
• "The Psychological Test" (心理試験, Shinri Shiken^?, February 1925)
• "The Black Hand Syndicate" (黒手組, Kurote-kumi^?, March 1925)
• "The Apparition" (幽霊, Yūrei^?, May 1925)
• "The Attic-Stroller" (屋根裏の散歩者, Yane-ura no Sanposha^?, August 1925)
• The Dwarf (一寸法師, Issun-bōshi^?, 1926)
• "Who" (何者, Nanimono^?, November 1929)
• "The Spider-Man" (蜘蛛男, Kumo-Otoko^?, 1929)
• The Utmost of the Bizarre (猟奇の果, Ryōki no Hate^?, 1930)
• The Conjurer (魔術師, Majutsu-shi^?, 1930)
• The Vampire (吸血鬼, Kyūketsuki^?, 1930) First appearance of Kobayashi
• The Golden Mask (黄金仮面, Ōgon-kamen^?, 1930)
• Black Lizard (黒蜥蜴, Kuro-tokage^?, 1934) Made into a film by Kinji Fukasaku in 1968
• The Were-Panther (人間豹, Ningen-Hyō^?, 1934)
• The Devil's Crest (悪魔の紋章, Akuma no Monshō^?, 1937)
• Dark Star (暗黒星, Ankoku-sei^?, 1939)
• Hell's Clown (地獄の道化師, Jigoku no Dōkeshi^?, 1939)
• "The Dangerous Weapon" (兇器, Kyōki^?, June 1954)
• (化人幻戯, Kenin-Gengi^?, 1954)
• Shadow-Man (影男, Kage-otoko^?, 1955)
• "Moon and Gloves" (月と手袋, Tsuki to Tebukuro^?, April 1955)

Black Lizard (Kurotokage) is a 1968 Japanese yakuza film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. ... Kinji Fukasaku (深作欣二 Fukasaku Kinji) (3 July 1930 – 12 January 2003) was a Japanese film actor, writer and director. ...

Others

• "The Two-Sen Copper Coin" (二銭銅貨, Ni-sen Dōka^?, April 1923)
• Hakuchū-mu (July 1925, 白昼夢)
• "The Human Chair" (人間椅子, Ningen Isu^?, October 1925)
• "The Red Chamber" (赤い部屋, Akai heya^?, April 1925)
• The Strange Tale of the Panorama Island (パノラマ島奇談, Panorama-tō Kidan^?, 1926)
• Kohan-tei Jiken (1926, 湖畔亭事件)
• "The Hell of Mirrors" (鏡地獄, Kagami-jigoku^?, October 1926)
• Beast in the Shadows (陰獣, Injū^?, 1928)
• "The Caterpillar" (芋虫, Imomushi^?, 1929)
• Kotō no Oni (1929, 孤島の鬼)
• "The Traveler with the Pasted Rag Picture" (押絵と旅する男, Oshie to Tabi-suru Otoko^?, 1929)
• Hakuhatsu-ki (1931, 白髪鬼)
• The Blind Beast (盲獣, Mōjū^?, 1931)
• Yōchū (1933, 妖虫)
• Ryokui no Oni (1936, 緑衣の鬼)
• Yūrei-tō (1937, 幽霊塔); translation from novel A Woman in Grey of Alice Muriel Williamson, adaptation by Kuroiwa Ruiko(黒岩涙香).
• Yūki no Tō (1939, 幽鬼の塔)
• The Triangle-Hall Terror (三角館の恐怖, Sankaku-kan no kyōfu^?, 1951)
• Jūjiro (1955, 十字路)

Alice Muriel Williamson (1869 - September 24, 1933) was a British novelist. ...

Trivia

• In the anime and manga Case Closed (Detective Conan in Japan), the main character, Jimmy Kudo (Shin'ichi Kudo in the Japanese version), chooses the alias Conan Edogawa, after Doyle and Edogawa.

The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ... This article is about the comics published in East Asian countries. ... Case Closed is also the title of a book on the JFK assassination by Gerald Posner. ... Jimmy Kudo, shown in his regular form (top) and his Conan Edogawa form (bottom) Jimmy Kudo, known as Shinichi Kudo ) in the original Japanese anime and manga, is the main character of the anime and manga Case Closed, known in Japan as Detective Conan (名探偵コナン Meitantei Conan). ... A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ... Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish born author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and the adventures of Professor Challenger. ...

See also

• Japanese Literature

Japanese literature spans a period of almost two millennia. ...

External links

• Kurodahan Press A publisher planning to release English translations of Rampo's stories.
• Edogawa Rampo's World A fansite in English and Japanese.
• Rampo, Edogawa, "Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination," translated to English by James B. Harris. 1956, Charles E. Tuttle Company.