Seichō Matsumoto (1909–1992), credited with popularizing detective fiction in Japan, published his first book, Points and Lines, in 1958. He went on to write 30 novels, only a handful of which are widely available in English.
Modern Library is bringing three Matsumoto works to U.S. readers: Points and Lines, now known as Tokyo Express and translated by Jesse Kirkwood, pubbed in October. Another Kirkwood translation, of the 1982 psychological thriller Suspicion, is due out in March with an introduction by crime novelist Alafair Burke; Louise Heal Kawai’s translation of 1975’s A Quiet Place is slated for July.
Amor Towles, known for A Gentleman in Moscow and other novels, wrote the introduction to Tokyo Express and says Matsumoto’s minimalist writing stands in contrast to his predecessors in the U.S., such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. “Noir is one of the great inventions of American culture,” Towles says. “Matsumoto took his appreciation for American suspense writing and launched the genre in Japan. When you pick up Matsumoto, you’re clearly in a different place altogether. He’s not trying to create this intricate, well-described atmosphere—he’s stripping it down to its most simple form.”
Though he began writing in the post-WWII years, Matsumoto avoids recognizable references to war or politics, according to Towles. “There’s not the mention of a veteran, there isn’t the mention of a building which has been bombed, there isn’t the mention of loss of life, there isn’t mention of the American presence in the country.”
Instead, Matsumoto focuses on the influence of government and institutions on daily life. “Part of what makes these books so compelling is that on the one hand, you have the mystery. But on the other hand, you have this very quiet, wry depiction and critique of modern life,” Towles says. “It can be cold. It can be scientific. The individual can be taken advantage of by those with ill intent. And the detectives are navigating that world in order to solve the crime.”
With Tokyo Express and other works, Matsumoto transformed the American-style hardboiled detective novel into a template for future generations of Japanese crime writers. “In the years following World War II, Matsumoto used the detective novel to explore guilt, class tension, and the quiet desperation of ordinary lives in a rapidly changing Japan,” says Rachel Rokicki, VP and publishing director of backlist and Modern Library at Random House. “Rather than glamorous detectives or sensational crimes, his world is populated by bureaucrats, commuters, and everyday people whose fates hinge on chance and conscience.”
