Edogawa Ranpo: Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1956) by Edogawa Ranpo
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Being a devoted fan of the Detective Conan (名探偵コナン) anime series—the protagonist Edogawa Conan was named after Edogawa Ranpo (江戸川乱歩) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I naturally became familiar with both legends of the mystery genre. Under the pen name of Edogawa Ranpo—derived from the Japanese pronunciation of Edgar Allan Poe, his favorite author, Hirai Taro (1894-1965), became famous for his Akechi Kogoro series and was named “the father of Japanese mystery.”
Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edogawa Ranpo is a short story collection that includes 9 of his best short stories: The Human Chair, The Psychological Test, The Caterpillar, The Cliff, The Hell of Mirrors, The Twins, The Red Chamber, Two Crippled Men, The Traveler With The Red Pasted Rag Picture.
The stories in this collection are around 15-30 pages, but they pack a punch that most novels fail to achieve. I remember telling my mother about my favorite story from this collection The Caterpillar, a story about the wife of a quadruple amputee, where I simply retold the story to her over the phone, inadvertently bringing her to tears. This is easily my favorite short story collection and has propelled Edogawa Rampo from an author that I knew very little about, despite my love of the mystery genre, to be one of my favorite authors. I look forward to reading more by Edogawa Rampo and I strongly recommend this collection of short stories.
Quick Background: Who is Edogawa Ranpo?
Born in Mie Prefecture in 1894, Hirai Taro spent his childhood mostly in Nagoya, but at the age of seventeen, he went to Tokyo to pursue higher education. During his time studying at Waseda University, where he graduated with high honors, he attempted to translate works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, one of his favorite authors.
In 1923, the same year the great earthquake that devastated the Tokyo-Yokohama area, Edogawa Ranpo made his literary debut by publishing the mystery story The Two-Sen Copper Coin (二銭銅貨) in a magazine called Shin Seinen, a popular Japanese magazine targeted towards young adolescents—which was also the only mystery magazine that existed in all of Japan (at the time). Shin Seinen had previously published stories by Western authors including Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, and G. K. Chesterton, but this was the first time the magazine published a major piece of mystery fiction by a Japanese author. Because of this, some including James B. Harris, Ranpo's first translator into English, have called this the first piece of modern mystery fiction by a Japanese writer.
However, well before Ranpo’s debut, a number of other Japanese authors such as Ruiko Kuroiwa, Kido Okamoto, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, Haruo Sato, and Kaita Murayama had written mystery and crime fiction with characters that possessed exceptional sleuthing ability. Today, the Japan Mystery Writers’ Club, a select-membership of mystery writers founded by Edogawa Ranpo, continues to write mysteries for the Japanese audience.
For more on Edogawa Ranpo’s history and his work click here.
The First Encounter: The Human Chair
My first experience with Edogawa Ranpo’s work was sometime last year when I found an audio version of The Human Chair on YouTube. It was so creepy, and the twist at the end so unforeseen it sent chills down my spine. I thought to myself, how could someone come up with this story?, and immediately wanted more, and decided to buy this short story collection which includes this story and eight others. I have embedded both an English and a Japanese version of the The Human Chair below. Enjoy!
English
日本語
Disclaimer: The following section contains major spoilers!
My Favorite Story of this Collection: The Caterpillar (Spoilers!)
This story was initially published in 1929 during a time where Japan still had imperialistic ambitions and soldiers were revered as war heroes. This controversial short story which was banned from being reprinted in 1939, shed light on how war affects the soldiers and their families. Instead of an image of a handsome young man returning from battle, Ranpo’s character illustrates the harsh realities of war. Ranpo also showcases the short-lived admiration that soldiers receive on their return, as well as the pressure that the wives of the soldiers must endure from the watchful eyes of the surrounding community.
The protagonist of this story is Tokiko, wife to Lieutenant Sunaga—or at least that was what he used to be called. Former Lieutenant Sunaga had been struck by shrapnel from a shell leaving him as a quadruple amputee that was deaf and mute. The only way of communication was by writing. She would write down her message on a piece of paper, and he would write a response using his mouth in replacement of his missing hands and arms. At first, her husband’s condition was a “novelty,” and Tokiko was content with the praise she received for sticking by Sunaga despite his current state, but after three years of sacrifice, she started to change. She started to feel a sense of disgust when she was praised, for she knew that it had become nothing more than a facade—both the compliments and her smile. She even began to fear herself, for her unimaginable spiteful thoughts, and eventually, those thoughts manifested into a reality. She began tormenting her sexually starved husband—who she started to refer to as just a “lump of flesh.”
“Tokiko knew just one way to soothe her husband’s temper. As words and excuses were of no avail, whenever they had their strange “lovers’ quarrels,” she resorted to this more expedient act.
Suddenly bending over her husband, she smothered his twisted mouth with kisses. Soon, a look of deep contentment and pleasure crept into his eyes, followed by an ugly smile. She continued to kiss him—closing her eyes to forget his ugliness—and, gradually, she felt a strong urge to tease this poor cripple, who was so utterly helpless.”
What began as some light teasing progressively worsened, and after waking up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, she blinds him in a fit of rage, leaving him with only the sense of touch. Realizing what she had done, she tries to apologize to him, but he cannot hear, nor can he see a written apology. Using her index finger, she writes the words, “I’m sorry,” on his chest over and over. This part really struck me. The other stories in this collection were unique, but this story was exceptionally provoking. It wasn’t just a grotesque and unusual story. It had an emotional component that stimulated a deeper connection—one of which I had never felt from the act of reading before.
The story ends with Tokiko returning to their house after trying to get someone to help her husband (who was bleeding from the eyes) where she discovers her husband to be missing. While looking around the house for him, she finds a sloppily written note that says, “I forgive you!” Her husband is then seen inching his way through the grass like a caterpillar committing suicide by falling into a well and essentially freeing his loyal wife from the burden of taking care of him.
Thanks for reading my review! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Out of this collection, which was your favorite story? Have you read the Akechi Kogoro series? If so, which case is your favorite?
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