Fetch Case Of The Sharaku Murders Author Ian MacDonald Visible In Copy

in the Japan Times I am getting to my door every day, I found a book review that stirred my interest: Katsuhiko Takahashi 高橋克彦 The Case of the Sharaku Murders 写楽殺人事件, for which the author won the Edogawa Rampo Award 江戸川乱歩賞.
Written by a former Ukiyoe researcher turned to writer, the book tells the story of a great research discovery with some bumps, including suicide and murder, A funny, practically always very entertaining book that not only functions as thriller, but also explains lots of details on the history of ukiyoe, The only critic I could utter is that at times the historic exposition on ukiyoe are getting a bit long for the noninitiated, But this is probably also due to the many Japanese names appearing, All in all, a surprisingly interesting and funny book, Side node for ebook reader: both version, the Japanese and the English one are available from Amazon and probably some other places like a,rounded up

I never do this, but I have to confess to buying this book because of the ukiyoe art on the cover, It is called "Ōtani Oniji III as Yakko Edobei in the Play "Koinyōbō Somewake Tazuna," a fact I picked up by visiting the website of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The artist's name is Tōshūsai Sharaku, and he produced this piece in, As it just so happens, Sharaku plays a featured role in this book, although the story is set in modern times well, at least in thes when it was written.
The Case of the Sharaku Murders is a good book, although it's probably more appealing to people who have an interest in a the history of Ukiyoe or Japanese art in general, b Japanese history, and c murder mysteries anchored in the world of academia.
Geeky me has a fascination with all three, Another thing I ought to mention before launching into this book: the dustjacket notes that it is "specially selected for the Japanese Literature Publishing Project, started in" to promote the awareness and popularization of modern Japanese literature to the world.
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The Case of the Sharaku Murders begins on a dark and windy night with two men looking for someone along the cliffs on Japan's northeast coast near Tanohata.
The man in question has a vacation cottage there, and a phone call made earlier in the day had led the two men to search for him, One of the searchers is the man's brotherinlaw, Mizuno Keiji, who had filed a missing persons report when the search proved fruitless, A newspaper article four days later reveals that the missing man is Saga Atsushi, an awardwinning calligrapher, chairman of the Tokyo Bibliophilic Society, scholar of ukiyoe and a "central figure in the Ukiyoe Connoissership Society," and that his body had been found floating in the ocean, picked up by a man on a squid fishing boat.
The verdict is suicide. At Saga's funeral, two university friends, Ryohei and Yosuke, run into each other for the first time in over two years, Both had at different times been students at Musashino University, and both had studied under Professor Nishijima, who taught art history, who is a foremost authority on ukiyoe, and an expert on the artist Sharaku.
Ryohei became Nishijima's research assistant while Yosuke, who took a job in a trading company, had a falling out with another alum and Nishijima student Yoshimura Kentaro, Nishijima's powerful clout in the art world ensured that the students he favored would acquire great jobs in publishing, museums, and other forms of mass media, The action starts when Mizuno sells Ryohei a book from Saga's collection, a painting catalogue of Akita School paintings, Going through the preface, Ryohei discovers something interesting and teaming up with Yosuke and his sister Saeko, he begins a research project of his own that might possibly turn out to be the greatest find in the world of ukiyoe.
But, after people connected to Ryohei, Yosuke and their quest begin to die, a police inspector begins to wonder if the death of Saga was a suicide after all.


While there's so much more to this book, murder is at its heart, and there are a number of possible suspects to keep things interesting once the author leaves the history of ukiyoe behind.
I would estimate that about one third of the book is an exposition on the history of this art form, although since the story involves Ryohei's research, it seems justified here.
On the other hand, he throws in so many names, places, and historical periods that I had to start keeping a list of who was who, where they were, yada yada.
Once the writer gets back to the mystery, there is twist after twist, especially one really big one that I never saw coming, turning the story completely on its head.
The point is that this is a book I had to take my time reading it got a little boggy with so much detail but the payoff was a good, solid whodunit.
Along with the history of ukiyoe and a smattering of Japanese history, it also explores the "dogeatdog world" of academia and the professional rivalries that exist within the art world.


The Case of the Sharaku Murders is only the first of a trio called the "Ukiyoe Murder Trilogy," but the other two have not yet been translated.
Although I would definitely read another book by this author based on this one, it's not a book for people who want a quick, slambam mystery so while I recommend it, it's definitely not for everyone.
If you are into Japanese fiction, or Japanese art history, it might be right up your alley, but it's so specialized and detailed that I can understand people being less than awed.
However, as I noted earlier, sticking with it brings a very nice and twisty payoff, When it comes to ukiyoe, or woodblock prints, learners tread lightlyit's not an easy part of Japanese art history as it's extensive and sometimes mysterious, The Case of the Sharaku Murders delves into the ukiyoe world with gustoand copious amounts of historical naming and event plastering, For readers who have never studied Japanese art history or taken ukiyoe classes, this book will sit on bookshelves until someone who has plucks it from its dusty stores.
For those who know a little bit of ukiyoe, this book recaps then dives headfirst into Japanese art history without regard for the reader's desires, The murders, which promises a more noir spell to the Japanese background, are almost nonexistent inof the book, The dialogue is a transparent ploy to look at the reader and say, "Here's how this works," grasped hands included, For ukiyoe and Edogawa Rampo enthusiasts, this book is perfect for them, For the noir and crime lovers without a specific ukiyoe background, this book should stay on the shelves, When the body of Saga Atsushi, Japans preeminent connoisseur of ukiyoe woodblock prints, is pulled from the ocean off the coast of Tohoku, having apparently committed suicide, the shocked Japanese art world turns out to mourn his death.
Among them is Ryohei, an upandcoming young ukiyoe scholar and research assistant to Sagas colleagueturnedrival, Professor Nishijima, But a chance encounter with an old friend makes Ryohei wonder if there might be more to Sagas death than meets the eye Synopsis: Japan's connoisseur of woodblock prints drowns and research assistant Ryohei wonders if there is more to it.
Ein KunstKrimi aus der JapanReihe des Be, Bra Verlags.

Der wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter Tsuda entdeckt in einem alten Bildband aus ein Gemälde, das mit Sharaku signiert ist, Ihm bleibt der Atem weg: ist das der UkiyoMaler der EdoZeit und kann es sein, dass sich hinter dem Pseudonym verbirgt

Eine Forschungssuche beginnt, die Tsuda nicht nur in den Nordosten Japans und die Vergangenheit sondern auch auf die Spur eines perfiden Verbrechens führt.


Mehr zum Buch im Lesemonat Oktober YouTube

sitelink be/leJAhc Would be great for art history buffs who like a good mystery, Although the title says "Murders" the deaths of art historians recede into the backdrop at least at first of the larger mystery: that of the true identity of a lateth century Japanese ukiyoe artist, Sharaku.
Similar to our Shakespeare, in that there are several competing theories as to who this person "really" was, Could almost be called "cozy" in that there is very blood or gore, but much more academic than what we think of as a cozy mystery, So many pages dedicated to figuring out connections ofth century warlords and artists to see if the theories of Sharaku's identity hold water, Much more Sherlock Holmesesque than today's mystery/suspense/thriller more of an intellectual mystery,

this book is largely about the mystery of who is Sharaku like at leastof the book is really about that, it's an interesting framing device because it kind of obscures or eclipses the second mystery, which is a more traditional question of suicide or murder,

I'm not very knowledgeable about ukiyoe, so the academic sections were a bit dense but not overwhelmingly so, and I enjoy learning, I looked just now and there was a Sharaku whose identity remains a mystery, I'm curious whether this was written to put forth a reasonable theory I absolutely do not

know anything and therefore can't even begin to speculate or if it was just written about something that is culturally a compelling mystery.
basically, was this written for a super niche audience to appreciate the academic's attention to detail and as a sort of backdoor entry to put scholarship out in the world, OR is this something that the average person would be like oh Sharaku how interesting.


it was an interesting read but did a few things I don't appreciate in mysteries, e, g. hiding information so the reader can't figure it out alongside the characters and revealing things through an explanatory monologue, in that sense, this appears to have been more a vessel for theorizing than crafting a tightly woven mystery narrative, still, the framing device or at least that's how I'm conceptualizing it was interesting and I did learn some things, it was astonishing to think that people could forge things with such impunity in the art world, and I wondered if some of the techniques in this story are really used.


one minor note, I read this digitally and it had several typos like using the wrong tense for a verb and there was no formatting to indicate a change of scene so sometimes it took some time to catch up to what was going on.
for ukiyoe academics and those with a grasp of japanese geography

i gave this a real effort, i even started over once about half way through when i really aught to have given up entirely.


the author clearly did his research: details about art dealings, fraudulent practices, the cutthroat nature of academia, theoretical factions, just at the end of the day the book had no character, when deaths occur they just simply happen and we're back to analyzing things you have no attachment to,

the entire middle section was just lost on me, it's densely populated with references to political and artistic figures that are briefly given context and become the basis of a historical puzzle road trip, i could have done without the detailing of all the extraneous theories in favor of a tighter delivery,

and when they finally get back to trying to solve the murder case, the solution ends up being highly circumstantial, . . at which point i had stopped caring anyway,
sitelink Obituary: The Guardian sitelink Wikipedia Entry sitelink Obituary: The Guardian sitelink Wikipedia Entry sitelink,