“In the railroad yard of Tokyo’s Kamata Station a disfigured corpse is found, its head pillowed on one rail, thighs across another, awaiting the departure of the first morning train to complete the grisly work. The solitary clue is a name: Kameda. It leads nowhere until from the Homicide Division comes Inspector Imanishi Eitaro, a dogged, respected investigator, minimally educated, genteel, a gardener fond of haiku.”“Typically Japanese, he takes his work not only seriously but personally, even more so when the victim turns out to have been a retired policeman. When the case is closed unsuccessfully, he pursues the investigation on his own. Too abashed to even ask for expenses when his hunch directs him on an expedition to a rural village, he uses his wife’s savings (gladly proffered, since it is for the job). From the Japanese Sea to the Pacific, from Tokyo to the rural north, Imanishi pursues his quarry, using up vacation days and off-duty hours. Peasants, politicians, movie makers, actors, doctors, scholars — the hunt for the murderer takes him into the recesses of Japanese society and the Japanese psyche. With utter dedication, Imanishi moves ever closer, tracing what are really a string of crimes dedicated by a uniquely Japanese motive.”
“Inspector Imanishi Investigates is not simply a mystery, not is its author a simple mystery writer. (…) Seichô Matsumoto, is credited as the restorer and innovator of Japanese detective fiction following the Pacific War (…). In the 1950s, he introduced the “social detective story,” a police procedural that depicted society in realistic terms. Appearing first as a newspaper serial and then in book form in 1961, Suna no Utsuwa (“Vessel of Sand”) sold in the millions and established its author as the leader of a new generation of writers. Although he only began writing at the age of forty, in his long and distinguished career, Seichô Matsumoto has published over 450 novels, histories and non-fiction works, and has garnered many awards, including [notably for this novel] the the Akutagawa Literary Prize and the Mystery Writers of Japan Prize.”
[Text from the inside jacket]
WARNING: May contains trace of spoilers! People allergic to the discussion of any plot's elements before seeing a movie are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions for their safety and should avoid reading further.
