Guy's Books and Thoughts

After the defeat of Japan in World War II, the Occupation authorities
decided to ban military epic literature. Other types of literature
such as mysteries were encouraged. I think the now defunct British
magazine MANGA MAX claimed that Agatha Christie was translated into
Japanese about this time. My impression is that Mrs. Christie has
been popular ever since. I remember reading one website saying that
the Japan was the first country to do an animated version of a
Christie story.

One of the fictional detective, Kosuke Kindaich, was created by a Mr.
Yokomizo. I think I ran across a NEWSWEEK article about him, which
stated that he did NOT want his works translated. He did not think
people would understand his stories which were written from a Japanese
context. But after his death in 1981, I note that at least one of his
books was translated into English. My guess is the translation was
done within the last 6 years. Back then I do not recall seeing any of
his books available. My interest in this Kosuke Kindaichi was due
to another fictional character. Two authors decided to create
a �grandson� to this fictional detective named Hajime Kindaichi.. The
family of the Mr. Yokimizo were not too thrilled. But somehow an
arrangement was worked out. And the grandson had his share of his
adventures. The title of the series was �Case files of the young
Kindaichi.� The �grandson�s� adventures were portrayed in graphic
novels (comic), live action drama and anime. I believe the anime was
very popular. I�ve read some of the graphic novels and seen a few
episodes of the live action dorama. Perhaps this �grandson� may have
revived some interest in the �grandfather.� I have not had a chance
to read the adventures of the �grandfather.� I�ve only seen a
description of one of the �grandfather�s� case.

The mysteries of the �grandson� dealt with murders which turned out
often times to be revenge killings. Sometimes it was a desperate
attempt to save a loved one which motivated the murder. I remember
someone in a District Attorney�s office remaking that there were cases
in which the victim was worse than the culprit. Perhaps that person
would like the adventures of �grandson� Kindaichi. I think
the �grandfather�s� mysteries also dealt with revenge killings. And
perhaps the revenge killings genre would tie in with some of the
Agatha Christie stories such as the book AND THEN THERE WERE NONE..
But in the case of the Christie story, the revenge was not so much
personal, but that of an �avenging angel.�

I vaguely remember reading something about the first mysteries to be
introduced to Japan. I may have read it on the web. And my memory is
suspect on this matter. But as I recall, the first mystery was
translated from the Dutch into Japanese, just before the fall of the
Tokugawa regime. For some reason, the translator did NOT realize he
was translating a work of fiction. I believe it wasn�t until after
the fall of the Tokugawa regime that the translator realized that he
had translated a work of fiction. I understand the stories themselves
were not very good. But nevertheless those were the first (Western?)
detective stories introduced to Japan.

Other Western detective mysteries, such as Sherlock Holmes, did make
their way to Japan. And today there are Sherlock Holmes organizations
in Japan. I think Edgar Allan Poe�s works made their way to Japan.
One writer must have been such an admirer of Poe that he gave himself
the Japanese pen name Edogawa Rampo, which sort of sounds like the
original, when said quickly.

Before the introduction of such detective stories, I think there were
some type mystery stories where the judge would figure out what
happened. A famous real life judge in Japanese history is Oka (or
O�oka). There are all sorts of stories attributed to him. But many
of them are apparently apocryphal. In one story there where two women
who claimed to be the mother of the child. Oka had one grab one arm
and the other woman grab the other arm play tug of war. The real
mother let go of the child when the child cried out. This must have
been a famous story, because I saw it referenced in a Japanese manga
or graphic novel entitled DOUBT. In that manga ,two boys fighting
over one girl tug in different directions on the girls arms. She is
not too happy and tells them both to get lost. I believe in the
process she refers to the Oka story. One web source, I read, said the
Oka story about the women tugging on the arms of a child is apocryphal
and goes back to China and even further back to the story of Solomon
of the Bible.

I first learned of Oka, as a child, when I got a book of Oka stories
from school. Back then in the public schools, we could order certain
books from scholastic press. I don�t know if that is the case today.
Anyway the book I got had several stories about Oka. The one that I
remember most is about the food vendor, who wanted his tenant above to
pay extra for rent This was because the tenant would smell the aroma
of the food, which would make the rice taste much better. Oka solved
the problem by having the tenant make some clinking noise with some
coins. In other words he had the tenant pay for the smell of the food
with the sound of money. I have no idea if this story is authentic.
I think I�ve read or heard of similar stories from other countries.

I should add that Oka has found his way into Japanese TV dramas. He
is a character in a samurai drama called ABARENBO SHOGUN. Oka is a
side character in this TV series, about a Shogun who would disguise
himself as an ordinary samurai. And week after week this shogun would
uncover some wrong doing and pronounce sentence on the wrong doer. I
think the sentence was along the lines of �You have offended the
Shogun and you will die.� Same old ending. But the show lasted 25
years. There also was a TV series about Oka (or O�oka). Someone said
remarked that his Japanese wife was surprised to see how small the set
of the O�oka TV series was when she visited. I think she must have
been a big fan of the series.

I don�t think Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, or Dorothy Sayers
intended to specifically for a Japanese audience or a world audience.
My guess is there focus was on the British audience. Yet their
stories have had appeal all over the world. I think a similar
phenomenon can be seen in the writings of Japanese manga (comic)
artist, Rumiko Takahashi. She has expressed puzzlement that her works
have found popularity all over the world, in spite of the fact that
she wrote specifically for a Japanese audience. Perhaps these writers
had touched themes which were common throughout countries and
cultures. Doyle was a spiritualist. Christie and Sayers were
Christians, I did not detect any �preaching� in the works of Christie
or Sayers, I wonder if some of their Christianity �bubbles� up to the
surface in their stories? I do think that some of the Hercule Poirot
stories of Christie have application to Christian apologetics, though
the stories do not �preach� Christianity. Some of her mysteries have
shown the limitations of human reasoning and how ASSUMPTIONS and
prejudices can lead one astray.

I am not sure if one can say detective mysteries can �preach�
Christianity. But I do think these stories (and unfortunately true
crime stories) affirm what the prophet Jeremiah said about the heart
being deceitfully wicked. These mysteries can explore issues which
would probably be under the category of, what we Lutherans call, �The
Law;� thus demonstrating the reality of Original Sin and human
inadequacy; and thus humanity�s need for a perfect savior.