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Ho-Ling Wong

The Mystery Tray Disappears by Nishimura Kyotaro

Traveling Japan In Mysterious Fashion

By Ho-Ling Wong

September 21, 2011

Go to a random bookstore in Japan and you’ll quickly find the section with travel guides. Domestic travel guides. From the southern islands of Okinawa to the northern Hokkaido, every area in Japan is covered. Because domestic tourism in Japan is big. Really big. Not so surprising, really, as there are big geographical and cultural…

Judge Ooka by Bertus Aafjes, historical Japanese crime written by a modern-day Dutchman

Judge Ooka in the East and West

By Ho-Ling Wong

September 9, 2011

I’ll admit it right away: I don’t read Dutch crime fiction. But that’s certainly not because there is none to be found. In fact, as evidenced by Leslie Elman’s  “A Touch of Dutch” article, there is quite a bit.  It’s just that I try to focus mainly on Japanese crime fiction. However, I had to…

japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edogawa Rampo

Japanese Fictional Crimes and Criminal Fictions

By Ho-Ling Wong

August 12, 2011

It is commonly said that truth is stranger than fiction, and while I won’t go quite that far, I have to admit that the truth can be quite strange at times. Criminals can be extremely creative, with the most creative often being the most successful. As G.K. Chesterton wrote in his Father Brown story “The…

Katsura Hoshino’s Cover for Sherlock Holmes

Poirot and Holmes on Holiday in Japan

By Ho-Ling Wong

July 31, 2011

I had only been in Japan for a couple of days, but I had already perfected my answer to the constant question: why are you studying Japanese? My answer: because I like Japanese detective fiction. Which always leads to discussions about how I got to know about Japanese detective fiction, etc. But one day, I…

Forest in three texts

Crimes in Writing and Writings in Crime

By Ho-Ling Wong

July 16, 2011

Languages can be fun, but they usually take a lot of time and effort to learn. Even if you put in the hours, some seem impossible to master. I for one can’t even make it past basic-level Korean, it seems, and my efforts to try to teach foreign friends to pronounce the Dutch ‘G’ have…

The Terror of Werewolf Castle by Nikaido Reito

World’s Longest Detective Story: The Terror of Werewolf Castle

By Ho-Ling Wong

June 28, 2011

I am not making a habit of discussing books that aren’t available outside of Japan. Really. I myself am very aware that it is frustrating to read articles on oh-so-interesting books that aren’t available in a language you can read. But some books need the promotion. Some books must be made known to the outside…

Detective Conan

Detective Conan: Smartest Modern Detective in Asia?

By Ho-Ling Wong

June 15, 2011

We all have to start somewhere. My first encounter with Japanese detective fiction was through the Japanese animated movie Detective Conan: The Fourteenth Target. It changed my life. I started to read through all of the Detective Conan comics. Through the comics, I started to learn about other Japanese writers and series. I changed my…

Ellery Queen dynamic duo: Manfred B. Lee and Frederic Dannay

Ellery Queen is Alive and Well and Living in Japan

By Ho-Ling Wong

May 28, 2011

Crime novel critic Kiyoshi Kasai focuses in his books on “orthodox” detective novels, which refer to the Golden Age detective novels in the Christie-Queen-Carr tradition. He identifies three distinct “waves” in the development of the orthodox detective novels in Japan , the first (1920-1940s) being the one represented by Edogawa Rampo, while the second is…

Cover of

Chaotic Steps in Japanese Crime Fiction: A Brief History From the 1920s-1940s

By Ho-Ling Wong

May 8, 2011

Discussions of Japanese detective fiction, especially those concerning the pre-World War II period, will inevitably mention the name Edogawa Rampo. Essayists will mention how he was the first full-time modern crime writer in Japan, and how he’s considered the father of the Japanese detective story. They will also mention how Hirai Tarō’spen name, Edogawa Rampo,…

Bookshelf of Japanese detective fiction

Exploring Japanese Detective Stories: A Primer

By Ho-Ling Wong

April 25, 2011

Why should you care about the Japanese detective story? Well, Japan has a long and rich tradition in the genre, and even today, the detective novel holds a vital place in Japanese fiction.  From light-hearted travel-mysteries to Golden Age–styled novels, from the ‘social detective’ with his cultural commentary to the grotesque mystery, the Japanese detective…

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