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Often described as the “Agatha Christie of Japan,” Natsuki Shizuko stood out by writing crime fiction, a genre mostly explored by male writers in Japan. She nevertheless rejects this comparison, expressing that “mystery stories have to reflect real human problems in a way that readers can relate to, so, if people feel that [she] resemble[s] Christie, except on the superficial level of being a female mystery author, [she] must be doing something wrong.” [1] In this 1982 crime novel, Natsuki delves into the 80s’ of Japanese society, tackling social issues such as family inheritances, the strong patriarchal impact on women’s and men’s lives, or even Japanese people’s avid greed to see their financial and living situations change during Japan’s Golden Age, the Shōwa era (1926 – 1989).

In Daburyū no Higeki (The Tragedy of W in its original translation), American student Jane Prescott travels to Asahi Hills where the wealthy Wada family resides. At the family house, her friend and pupil Wada Chiyo awaits her and her precious tutoring to finalise the last details of her dissertation. The whole family is reunited to celebrate the new year, but what should have been a joyful holiday turns out to be a catastrophe: when the patriarch and leader of the pharmaceutical empire, Wada Yohei, is suddenly found dead, Chiyo takes the blame and admits having killed him to defend herself. Thence unfolds the most complex plan to save the Wada heiress from the claws of a merciless destiny.  

Reading this novel, I was first surprised by the presence of Jane Prescott, a Western character; while it is not completely new, considering the time the book was written, it was still unusual to find this Western protagonist. In an interview with Mark Shreiber, Natsuki explains that, in fact, the character was Japanese in the original story, and that it was her wish to “translate” her nationality in the English translation. Doing so, international audiences could relate to at least one character. [1] An outside figure with a different socio-cultural background, Jane also adds more layers when shedding light on the main two forces, the stark contrast between the womanising men of the Wada family and the women, perceived by men as frail creatures but actually strong and supportive. 

The novels of Natsuki Shizuko

Natsuki adopts a very original approach to crime genre, not with a mystery unfolding to reveal the murderer but with a narrative that tells in the first chapter who the culprit is. From then on, readers follow the characters and their scheme, as well as the police investigation, how detective Nakazato finds out the truth. This was undoubtedly the positive aspect of this novel, which demonstrates the cleverness of its characters and its author. 

The research conducted by Natsuki reads well on the page, yet at some point the storyline drags on, especially towards the end, once the Wada scheme is discovered. There were about fifty-something pages that, despite being important to complete the narrative, were repetitive and made me lose my interest in the plot, so much so that when the story comes to its climax, the latter fell flat and unsurprising. The hinted romance and emotional build-up between Jane and Shohei were so underdeveloped over the story that, in the end, their chemistry appeared a bit unexpected and contributed to making the novel’s ending lacking coherence. Eventually, I thought this well-rounded plot ridiculously farfetched, too much for my taste.

One crucial aspect of this novel, however, is that the whole scheme of protecting Chiyo wasn’t so much emphasising a plausible feminist argument as it was, once again, underlying the importance of “saving face,” of preserving a family’s reputation. Ōba Minako writes about tanin no mè [the eyes of the other], a Japanese expression which involves a deep self-judgement concerning one’s own actions and perceptions of and by others. [2] This implies shame, of course, when one family member acts in disgrace and stains the family’s name. With Natsuki’s novel, the question readers are thus left to ponder upon is to what extents people go and what they are willing to sacrifice to preserve social appearances. And this is brilliantly answered by Natsuki with how patriarchy, metaphorically represented by Mount Fuji, leads to these morally wrong characters and actions.

The novel is still a success. Translated several times over the last decades, Hutchinson Heinemann will publish a new edition of this famous mystery novel, thereby offering the chance to every Japanese literature lover to (re-)discover this classic. Pre-orders are now available, OUT in January 2025.

 

Sources

[1] Shreiber, Mark. “The Agatha Christie of Japan: An Interview with Shizuko Natsuki.” Murder & Mayhem. August 23, 2017. Available at: https://murder-mayhem.com/shizuko-natsuki-interview

[2] Ōba, Minako. “Using ‘The Eyes of the Other’ to See the Self Objectively (1974).” Modern Japanese Women Writers as Artists as Cultural Critics: Miyamoto, Ōba, Saegusa. Edited by Michiko Niikuni Wilson. (Portland, Oregon, U.S.: MerwinAsia, University of Hawai’i Press, 2013): 81–93.