Kosuke Kindaichi
| Kosuke Kindaichi | |
|---|---|
 A bronze statue of Kindaichi Kōsuke in Japan | |
| First appearance | The Honjin Murders (1946) |
| Created by | Seishi Yokomizo |
| Portrayed by | Kōji Ishizaka |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Private detective |
| Nationality | Japanese |
Kosuke Kindaichi (金田一 耕助, Kindaichi Kōsuke) is a fictional detective created by Japanese author Seishi Yokomizo. One of Japan's most famous fictional detectives, Kindaichi appeared in 77 novels and short stories between 1946 and 1980. The series has sold over 55 million books, and has been adapted into numerous films and TV series.[1]
Kindaichi first appeared in the 1946 novel The Honjin Murders, which won the first Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1948. Author Seishi Yokomizo continued writing novels and short stories featuring Kindaichi up until his death in 1980.
The character is known for his distinctive scruffy hair and clothes, and has been portrayed in films and TV by many well-known Japanese actors, including Kōji Ishizaka. The character's fame in Japan has been compared to globally-recognisable fictional detectives, including Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.
Stories featuring Kosuke Kindaichi
[edit]The Kosuke Kindaichi series consists of 77 stories, of which 26 are full-length novels, and 51 are short stories or novellas.[2]
| Japanese title | Direct translation | Official English title | First serialised | Type of story |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honjin satsujin jiken (本陣殺人事件) | The Honjin Murder Case | The Honjin Murders | 1946 | Novel |
| Gokumon-tō (獄門島) | Gokumon Island | Death on Gokumon Island | 1947 | Novel |
| Ko-mori to namekuji (蝙蝠と蛞蝓) | The Bat and the Slug | 1947 | Short story | |
| Kuroneko-tei jiken (黒猫亭事件) | The Black Cat Inn Incident | Murder at the Black Cat Cafe | 1947 | Short story |
| Satsujinki (殺人鬼) | A Killer | 1947 | Short story | |
| Kuroran-hime (黒蘭姫) | Black Orchid Princess | 1948 | Short story | |
| Yoru aruku (夜歩く) | Walking at Night | She Walks at Night | 1948 | Novel |
| Yatsu-haka mura (八つ墓村) | Eight Graves Village | The Village of Eight Graves | 1949 | Novel |
| Shi kamen (死仮面) | Death Mask | 1949 | Short story | |
| Inugami-kei no ichizoku (犬神家の一族) | The Inugami Family | The Inugami Curse | 1950 | Novel |
| Jokai (女怪) | The Female Monster | 1950 | Short story | |
| Sarusuberi no shita te (百日紅の下にて) | Under the Crepe Myrtle Tree | 1951 | Short story | |
| Jo'ō-batchi (女王蜂) | Queen Bee | 1951 | Novel | |
| Karasu (カラス) | The Crow | 1951 | Short story | |
| Akuma ga kitarite Fue wo fuku (悪魔が来りて笛を吹く) | The Devil Comes and Plays the Flute | The Devil's Flute Murders | 1951 | Novel |
| Yūrei-za (幽霊座) | The Ghost Theatre | 1952 | Short story | |
| Kodei (湖泥) | Lake of Mud | 1953 | Short story | |
| Fushichō (不死蝶) | The Immortal Butterfly | 1953 | Novel | |
| Ikeru shi kamen (生ける死仮面) | The Living Death Mask | 1953 | Short story | |
| Meiro no hanayome (迷路の花嫁) | The Bride of the Labyrinth | 1954 | Novel | |
| Yūrei otoko (幽霊男) | The Ghost Man | 1954 | Novel | |
| Hanazono no akuma (花園の悪魔) | The Devil of the Flower Garden | 1954 | Short story | |
| Ochitaru ten'nyo (堕ちたる天女) | Fallen Angel | 1954 | Short story | |
| Shinkirō no jōnetsu (蜃気楼島の情熱) | The Passion of Mirage Island | 1954 | Short story | |
| Nemureru hanayome (睡れる花嫁) | The Sleeping Bride | 1954 | Short story | |
| Mitsukubi-tō (三つ首塔) | The Three-headed Tower | 1955 | Novel | |
| Kyūketsuga (吸血蛾) | Vampire Moth | 1955 | Novel | |
| Kuromaido wa naze kushiru (車井戸はなぜ軋る) | Why Does the Well Creak? | Why Does the Well Creak? (published in Murder at the Black Cat Cafe) | 1949, revised as a Kindaichi story in 1955 | Short story |
| Kubi (首) | Neck | 1955 | Short story | |
| Haien no oni (廃園の鬼) | The Demon of the Abandoned Garden | 1955 | Short story | |
| Doku no ya (毒の矢) | Poison Arrow | 1956 | Short story | |
| Rō no bijin (蝋美人) | The Wax Beauty | 1956 | Short story | |
| Kuroi tsubasa (黒い翼) | Black Wings | 1956 | Short story | |
| Shinigami no ya (死神の矢) | The Grim Reaper's Arrow | 1956 | Novel | |
| Majō no koyomi (魔女の暦) | The Witch's Calendar | 1956 | Novel | |
| Kurayami no naka no neko (暗闇の中の猫) | A Cat in the Darkness | 1947, revised as a Kindaichi story in 1956 | Short story | |
| Yume no naka no on'na (夢の中の女) | The Woman in the Dream | 1956 | Short story | |
| Nanatsu no kamen (七つの仮面) | The Seven Masks | 1956 | Short story | |
| Meiro-sō no sangeki (迷路荘の惨劇) | Tragedy at Labyrinth Manor | 1956 | Novel | |
| Hanayakana yajū (華やかな野獣) | The Glamorous Beast | 1956 | Short story | |
| Trump-dai-jō no Kubi (トランプ台上の首) | The Head on the Card Table | 1957 | Short story | |
| Kiri no naka no on'na (霧の中の女) | The Woman in the Mist | 1957 | Short story | |
| On'na no kettō (女の決闘) | Duel of the Women | 1957 | Short story | |
| Doro no naka no on'na (泥の中の女) | The Woman in the Mud | 1957 | Short story | |
| Kaban no naka no on'na (鞄の中の女) | The Woman in the Bag | 1957 | Short story | |
| Kagami no naka no on'na (鏡の中の女) | The Woman in the Mirror | 1957 | Short story | |
| Kasa no naka no on'na (傘の中の女) | The Woman under the Umbrella | 1957 | Short story | |
| Ori no naka no on'na (檻の中の女) | The Woman in the Cage | 1957 | Short story | |
| Kagami ga ura no satsujin (鏡が浦の殺人) | Murder at Kagami Beach | 1957 | Short story | |
| Kashi-boat jūsan-gō (貸しボート十三号) | Rental Boat No. 13 | 1957 | Short story | |
| Akuma no temari uta (悪魔の手毬唄) | The Devil's Ball Song | The Little Sparrow Murders | 1957 | Novel |
| Kochū bijin (壺中美人) | The Beauty in the Jar | 1957 | Novel | |
| Shina ōgi no on'na (支那扇の女) | The Woman with the Chinese Fan | 1957 | Short story | |
| Tobira no kage no on'na (扉の影の女) | The Woman in the Shadow of the Door | 1957 | Novel | |
| Akuma no kōtansai (悪魔の降誕祭) | The Devil's Nativity | 1958 | Short story | |
| Hora no naka no on'na (洞の中の女) | The Woman in the Cave | 1958 | Short story | |
| Kan no naka no on'na (柩の中の女) | The Woman in the Coffin | 1958 | Short story | |
| Hi no Jūjika (火の十字架) | Crucifixion of Fire | 1958 | Short story | |
| Aka no naka no on'na (赤の中の女) | The Woman in the Red | 1958 | Short story | |
| Hitomi no naka no on'na (瞳の中の女) | The Woman in the Eyes | 1958 | Short story | |
| Spade no Jo'ō (スペードの女王) | The Queen of Spades | 1958 | Novel | |
| Bara no besso (薔薇の別荘) | Rose Villa | 1958 | Short story | |
| Akuma no chōji (悪魔の寵児) | The Devil's Favourite Child | 1958 | Novel | |
| Kōsui no shinjū (香水心中) | Perfume Lovers' Suicide | 1958 | Short story | |
| Kiri no sansō (霧の山荘) | Mountain Lodge in the Fog | 1958 | Short story | |
| Jinmensō (人面瘡) | Human-Faced Tumor | 1949, revised as a Kindaichi story in 1960 | Short story | |
| Mehiru (雌蛭) | Female Leech | 1960 | Short story | |
| Shiro to kuro (白と黒) | White and Black | 1960 | Novel | |
| Akuma no hyaku kuchibiru-fu (悪魔の百唇譜) | The Devil's Hundred Lips | 1962 | Novel | |
| Hidokei no naka no on'na (日時計の中の女) | The Woman in the Sundial | 1962 | Short story | |
| Ryōki no shimatsusho (猟奇の始末書) | Report on a Bizarre Incident | 1962 | Short story | |
| Yoru no kurubyō (夜の黒豹 | Black Panther of the Night | 1963 | Novel | |
| Neko yakata (猫館) | The Cat House | 1963 | Short story | |
| Kawahori otoko (蝙蝠男) | The Bat Man | 1964 | Short story | |
| Kamen butokai (仮面舞踏会) | Masquerade ball | 1962, revised in 1974 | Novel | |
| Byoinzaka no kubikukuri no ie (病院坂の首縊りの家) | The House of Hanging on Hospital Slope | 1975 | Novel | |
| Akuryō-tō (悪霊島) | Evil Spirit Island | 1978 |
Works in translation
[edit]Until the 21st century, the Kosuke Kindaichi books had not been translated into English.[1] However, beginning in 2019, British independent publisher Pushkin Press began translating and releasing Yokomizo's stories:[3]
- The Honjin Murders, published in 2019
- The Inugami Curse, published in 2020
- The Village of Eight Graves, published in 2021
- Death on Gokumon Island, published in 2022
- The Devil's Flute Murders, published in 2023
- The Little Sparrow Murders, published in 2024
- Murder at the Black Cat Cafe, published in 2025
- She Walks at Night, published in 2026
In other media
[edit]Film
[edit]Seizaburō Kawazu starred as Kindaichi in the 1954 film Yurei otoko, while Ryō Ikebe appeared in 1956's Vampire Moth, and Ken Takakura in 1961's Akuma no temari-uta.
Akira Nakao starred as Kindaichi in Yoichi Takabayashi's 1975 adaptation of The Honjin Murders entitled Death at an Old Mansion, which was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival.
Director Kon Ichikawa made six films about Kindaichi, starring Koji Ishizaka:
- The Inugami Family (1976)
- Akuma no temari-uta (1977)[a]
- Gokumon-to (1977)
- Queen Bee (1978)
- The House of Hanging on Hospital Slope (1979)
- The Inugamis (2006)
Kiyoshi Astumi played the detective in Yatsuhaka-mura (1977), while Toshiyuki Nishida appeared in Devil's Flute (1979). Director Nobuhiko Obayashi made a parody film in 1979 titled The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi, starring Ikkô Furuya in the title role. Takeshi Kaga played the character in the 1981 film Akuryoto, whilst 1996's Yatsuhaka-Mura starred Etsushi Toyokawa.
Television
[edit]There have been numerous television drama films starring various different actors as Kindaichi:
- Takaya Kamikawa in Kindaichi Kōsuke File - Meiro Sou no Sangeki (2002, TV Tokyo) and. Kindaichi Kōsuke File - Gokumon Tou (2003, TV Tokyo)
- Goro Inagaki in Inugamike no Ichizoku (2004), Yatsuhakamura (2004), Jōōbachi (2006), Aakuma ga Kitarite Fue o Fuku (2007) and Akuma no Temariuta (2009)
- Sosuke Ikematsu in Kindaichi Kosuke Tōjō! (2016)
- Hiroki Hasegawa in Gokumon tō (2016)
- Hidetaka Yoshiokain Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku (2018)
Actor Kazuyuki Furuya played Kindaichi on television for nearly 30 years. In 2013 and 2014 a pair of television films were made pairing Kindaichi with another famous fictional Japanese detective Edogawa Ranpo's Kogoro Akechi. Tomohisa Yamashita played Kindaichi, whilst Hideaki Itô was Akechi.[6][7]
Manga and anime
[edit]A profile of Kosuke appears at the end of the manga Case Closed Volume 6.
Hajime Kindaichi (金田一 一, Kindaichi Hajime), the main character of The Kindaichi Case Files, is depicted as the grandson of Kosuke Kindaichi.
In episode 14 of Lupin the Third Part II, a German count invites the best private detectives from all over the world - including Kindaichi - to the maiden voyage of his blimp in order to catch Lupin III, who is after the count's jewel.
In the Lupin the Third Part IV episode "From Japan With Love", the celebrity detective Akechi Kousuke Holmes is partially named after Kosuke Kindaichi (as well as Kogoro Akechi and Sherlock Holmes).
Video Games
[edit]There has been some game adaptions featuring Kosuke Kindachi:
- The Inugami Curse was adapted into a Nintendo DS visual novel by FromSoftware on January 22nd, 2009.[8]
- Kindaichi Mystery Series: The Honjin Murders is a visual novel adaption of the novel with the same name on the 23rd of April, 2025 by coly Inc on Steam and the Nintendo Switch.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "How locked room mystery king Seishi Yokomizo at last broke into english". The Guardian. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ "金田一耕助事件簿編さん室―発表順". yokomizo.to. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
- ^ "Seishi Yokomizo". Pushkin Press. 2026-05-07. Retrieved 2026-05-16.
- ^ Quandt, James (2001). Kon Ichikawa. Cinematheque Ontario. p. 429-437. ISBN 0-9682969-3-9.
- ^ Phillips, Alastair; Stringer, Julian (2007). Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts. Routledge. pp. 149–151. ISBN 9781134334223.
- ^ "Kindaichi Kôsuke vs. Akechi Kogorô". IMDb. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ "Kindaichi Kôsuke vs. Akechi Kogorô Again". IMDb. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ "Products | FromSoftware, Inc". www.fromsoftware.jp. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
External links
[edit]- Kindaichi Kosuke Museum - Fans Site (in Japanese)
