Creator & Role Information

Shimada, SoujiHara, Tenka

Birthplace: Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan After spending years as a dump truck driver, free writer, and musician, he made his debut as a mystery writer in 1981 when The Tokyo Zodiac Murders remained as a finalist in the Edogawa Rampo Award. His most well-known works include the Detective Mitarai Series and the Detective Yoshiki Series. His works often involve themes such as the death penalty, Nihonjinron (his theory on the Japanese people), and Japanese and international culture. He is a strong supporter of amateur Honkaku (i.e. authentic, orthodox) mystery writers. Following the trend of Social School of crime fiction led by Seicho Matsumoto, he was the pioneer of "Shin-Honkaku" (New Orthodox) logic mystery genre. He bred authors such as Yukito Ayatsuji, Rintaro Norizuki and Shogo Utano, and he led the mystery boom from the late 1980s to present day. As the father of "Shin-Honkaku," Shimada is sometimes referred to as "The Godfather of Shin-Honkaku" or "God of Mystery." (Source: Wikipedia)