Six Four

Six Four (Japanese: ロクヨン) is a crime/mystery novel written by Hideo Yokoyama and published in 2012. It was the first of his novels to be translated into English (REFERENCE).

The novel follows a man named Mikami, a disillusioned former detective, now police press director as he prepares for the visit of one of the top police officials in Japan. As Mikami tries to fulfill his obligations in his present role, he uncovers a dangerous secret about a mistake made in the fourteen year old "Six Four" kidnapping case, the reason for the police commissioner's visit to the prefecture. To further complicate matters, Mikami also has to worry about his missing daughter Ayumi, and the emotional state of his wife Minako. As Mikami delves further into these uncertain and mysterious waters, he is plagued by his responsibilities and the conflicts that arise among the reporters, Administrative Affairs, and Criminal Investigations.

Characters

• Mikami - Press Director of Prefecture D, main character/protagonist of novel
• Minako - Wife of Mikami, stays at home to await a call from Ayumi
• Ayumi - Daughter of Mikami and Minako who had run away from home
• Akama - Director of Administrative Affairs and the second-in-command of the Prefectural HQ
• Ishii - Division Chief of the Secretariat
• Arakida -
• Shinji Futawatari - Inspector for Administrative Affairs, incites certain events of the plot
• Kinji Tsujiuchi - Captain of the Prefectural HQ, the man in charge of the prefecture and the favorite to become the next commissioner general
• Kozuka - commissioner general of the National Police Agency in Tokyo, the man in charge of all 260,000 police officers

Plot Summary

The novel begins with Mikami and his wife Minako meeting with a regional captain to examine a body of a young female which could be that of his daughter, Ayumi.

Development

The original novel was composed over a period of ten years, and published in 2012. Jonathan Lloyd-Davies said in an interview that it took him over a year to translate it into the English version. He worked independently of author Hideo Yokoyama and conducted research by extensively reading Japanese police websites and online records. The length of the novel and the considerable

Title

- Japanese title: ロクヨン

- Refers to the year during which the main case took place. Based on the Japanese naming system: https://guides.library.duke.edu/c.php?g=289768&p=1931161

Novel History

Publication Period

• The novel was an instant hit and sold roughly a million copies within the first week of its release in Japan.

Interview with Hideo Yokoyama himself

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/books/japanese-crime-thriller-six-four.html

- "said he is interested in the psychology and social dynamics of characters who happen to be affected by crime", hence main character not being detective but rather a police department media relations person whose own daughter has disappeared.

- Yokoyama was a reporter "on the police beat" himself in Gunma

- AWARD: Japan Academy Prize nomination (original Japanese) Year: ??

- Best seller in Britain Year: ??

- Title: "from the reign of Emperor Hirohito, the father of the current Japanese emperor, Akihito, and denotes the year in which the cold kidnapping case at the center of the novel took place. (The Japanese count the years of each emperor’s reign separately from the Gregorian calendar year, and the year of the emperor’s death was known as “64.”)" "The final year of the reign of Emperor Hirohito was 64, based on a Japanese system under which each emperor’s reign is counted separately from the Gregorian calendar year."

Interview with the translator

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/jonathan-davies-six-four-hideo-yokoyama-interview/

- worked independently (NOT with Hideo)

- did research on Japanese police system by reading police websites and online records.

https://fsgworkinprogress.com/2017/03/16/the-gap-between-languages/

- took over a year to finish translating

- challenge: keeping track of the numerous characters and names

Literary Review

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/04/six-four-hideo-yokoyama-review-crime-thriller-phenomenon-japan

• The title of the article: Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama – the crime thriller that is a publishing phenomenon in Japan
• Provides a brief outline of the plot and its major points
• Useful in describing the method of writing and its significance.
• A quality literary review that goes beyond the writer's opinion of the novel.
• Establishes significance of minor details and author choices that completely change how the novel is read and how it is received.

Literary Review

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/six-four-avoids-every-crime-fiction-cliche-the-reward-is-a-gripping-novel/2017/01/29/b2f3c928-e4cc-11e6-ba11-63c4b4fb5a63_story.html

• Title: ‘Six Four’ avoids every crime-fiction cliche. The reward is a gripping novel.
• Gives a very brief summary of specific events from the novel.
• Establishes the major conflicts of the novel in its summary. (Only one that has done so as of yet).
• Quality literary review that denotes important, underlying pieces of the plot.

• Highlights the importance of the author and the translator in giving the public the quality story.

Literary Review

https://www.stornowaygazette.co.uk/lifestyle/can-we-recommend-hideo-yokoyama-six-four-1129839

• Title: Can we recommend: Hideo Yokoyama - Six Four
• A literary review that also provides history about the author and novel
• Gives a very succinct and brief plot summary that builds anticipation with limited information
• Quality review that uses a limited amount of text.
• Establishes the quality and worth of the novel in its genre.

A

Need to include information about how many copies have been sold, awards won, etc.

- 2013 – The Best Japanese Crime Fiction of the Year (Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! 2013): Six Four

- 2016 – Shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger: Six Four