Seishi Yokomizo (Japanese: 横溝 正史, Hepburn: Yokomizo Seishi, 24 May 1902 – 28 December 1981) was a Japanese mystery novelist, known for creating the fictional detective Kosuke Kindaichi.
Early life
Yokomizo was born in the city of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. He read detective stories as a boy and in 1921, while employed by the Daiichi Bank, published his first story in the popular magazine Shin Seinen ("New Youth"). He graduated from Osaka Pharmaceutical College (currently part of Osaka University) with a degree in pharmacy, and initially intended to take over his family's drug store. However, drawn by his interest in literature, and the encouragement of Edogawa Rampo, he went to Tokyo instead. There he was hired by the Hakubunkan publishing company in 1926. After serving as editor in chief of several magazines, he resigned in 1932 to devote himself full time to writing.
Literary career
Yokomizo was attracted to the literary genre of historical fiction, especially that of the historicaldetective novel. In July 1934, while resting in the mountains of Nagano to recuperate from tuberculosis, he completed his first novel Onibi, which was published in 1935, although parts were immediately censored by the authorities. Undeterred, Yokomizo followed on his early success with a second novel Ningyo Sashichi torimonocho (1938–1939).
During World War II, he faced difficulties in getting his works published and was in severe financial difficulties. The lack of Streptomycin and other antibiotics also meant that his tuberculosis could not be properly treated, and he joked with friends that it was a race to see whether he would die of disease or of starvation.
Soon after the end of World War II, his works received wide recognition and he developed an enormous fan following. He published many works as serials in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine, concentrating only on popular mystery novels based on the orthodox western detective story format, starting with Honjin Satsujin Jiken (The Honjin Murders) and Chōchō Satsujin Jiken (both in 1946). His works became the model for many other postwar Japanese mystery writers. He was also often called the "Japanese John Dickson Carr" after a writer whom he admired[citation needed]. Yokomizo is most well known for creating the private detectiveKosuke Kindaichi.
Many of his works have been made into movies. In particular, The Inugami Clan (犬神家の一族, Inugamike no Ichizoku, January 1950 - May 1951) received two film adaptations by Kon Ichikawa: The Inugami Family in 1976, and his 2006 remake The Inugamis.
The scholar Mari Kotani called his 1939 story The Death's Head Stranger (髑髏検校, Dokuro-Kengyo) "the first successful adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "the archetype of Japanese vampire literature."[1]
In 2018 a literature professor found a previously missing piece of Yokomizo's wartime serial romance story "Yukiwariso," completing the manuscript for publication in book form.[2]
^Kotani, Mari (1997). "Techno-Gothic Japan: From Seishi Yokomizo's The Death's Head Stranger to Mariko Ohara's Ephemera the Vampire". In Gordon, Joan; Hollinger, Veronica (eds.). Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture. The University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN9780812216288.
