Edogawa Rampo

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Edogawa Rampo ( Japanese 江 戸 川 乱 歩 ), actually Hirai Tarō ( 平井 太郎 ; * October 21, 1894 in Nabari , Honshū; † July 28, 1965 ) was a well-known Japanese author and literary critic . He is considered to be the founder of the modern Japanese crime novel . The main character in his crime stories was usually the detective Akechi Kogoro ( 明智 小五郎 ), whom he invented .

Life

Edogawa was born to a wealthy family. His father ran a large company, so in his youth he had no financial worries. From 1912 to 1916 he studied economics at Waseda University . Then he kept himself afloat with various jobs. Later he opened his own bookstore with friends, during which time he got married.

In his youth, Edogawa read many novels and stories and was a great admirer of Edgar Allan Poe . His pseudonym Edogawa Rampo is based on the Japanese pronunciation of Edgar Allan Poe - but at the same time the characters used can also be understood as a “stroll along the Edogawa ”. In addition to Poe, he was also influenced by crime writers Maurice Leblanc and Arthur Conan Doyle . In 1923 he made his debut with his novel "Zwei Groschen" ( 二 銭 銅 貨 , Nisen Dōka ), which was published a little later under his pseudonym Edogawa Rampo and ushered in the first great success of the Japanese crime novel.

From the 1920s he began to incorporate increasingly bizarre elements into his actions, such as in Der Stuhlmann ( 人間 椅子 , Ningen Isu ) from 1925 about an ugly armchair maker who creates a hollow armchair, inside of which he hides, around the bodies of women in particular to feel on him, or Mōjū ( 盲 獣 ; filmed as The Blind Beast ) from 1931 about a blind sculptor who kidnaps a singer, imprisons and dismembered in a dungeon made of human parts. With such stories he was one of the founders of the literary movement of eroguro nansensu (erotic-grotesque nonsense). With the outbreak of World War II, he had to stop writing such stories. After the end of the war, he mainly wrote detective novels for young people.

Many of his stories have been translated into English, and eight stories have been published in German in the book Spiegelhölle , including the story The Caterpillar , which is temporarily banned in Japan . Several of his novels were made into films in Japan during his lifetime.

Edogawa is also known as the editor of the magazine "Hōseki" ( 宝石 jewel ), a magazine for the detective novel. In his honor, the Edogawa Rampo Prize for Crime Fiction is awarded every year .

Trivia

Shin'ichi Kudō borrows in the series Detective Conan the family name of his pseudonym Conan Edogawa from Rampo Edogawa and the first name of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle .

The main belt asteroid (10321) Rampo was named after the author .

Based on Edogawas works was 2015, the anime series Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace .

Works (selection)

  • Edogawa Rampo: The mirror hell . In: Klaus Kracht for the Mori Ogai memorial of the Humboldt University Berlin (ed.): Small series . tape 6 , 1998, ISSN  1435-0351 , pp. 53 (Japanese, original title: 鏡 地獄 . Translated by Silke Bock, bilingual Japanese, German).
  • Nihaijin ( 二 廃 人 )
    • German Two Disabled, translated by Martina Berlin, in: Spiegelhölle, MAAS Verlag, Berlin, 2005, pp. 5–24
  • Soseiji ( 双生 児 )
    • German twins, translated by Martina Berlin, in: Spiegelhölle, MAAS Verlag, Berlin, 2005, pp. 27–47
  • Shinri shiken ( 心理 試 験 )
    • German The psychological test, translated by Martina Berlin, in: Spiegelhölle, MAAS Verlag, Berlin, 2005, pp. 49–87
  • Akai heya ( 赤 い 部屋 )
    • German The Red Room, translated by Martina Berlin, in: Spiegelhölle, MAAS Verlag, Berlin, 2005, pp. 89–115
  • Ningen isu ( 人間 椅子 )
    • Ger. The chair man, translated by Martina Berlin, in: Spiegelhölle, MAAS Verlag, Berlin, 2005, pp. 117-139
  • Imomushi ( 芋 虫 )
    • Die Raupe, translated by Martina Berlin, in: Spiegelhölle, MAAS Verlag, Berlin, 2005, pp. 161-184
  • Dangai ( 断崖 )
    • dt. Auf der Klippe, translated by Martina Berlin, in: Spiegelhölle, MAAS Verlag, Berlin, 2005, pp. 187-208
  • Akai heya ( 赤 い 部屋 )
    • German The Red Room, translated by Reiko Sato, Japanese crime stories, 1985

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Robert F. Wittkamp: Murder in Japan . The Japanese crime thriller and its heroes: From World War II to the present. Iudicium, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-89129-745-9 , pp. 27 .
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Edogawa or Hirai is the family name, Rampo or Tarō the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Edogawa, Rampo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 江 戸 川 乱 歩 (Japanese); Hirai Tarō (real name); 平井 太郎 (real name, Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese writer and critic
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Nabari
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 1965