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/ARTS WEEKLY/JAPAN: Mystery Novel Gives Women a New Voice
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Jun 12, 2004 (IPS) - The stunning success in Japan, and recently in the United
States, of a mystery writer's novel, about a husband-killer and
psychopath gangsters, has injected new life into the
conservative Japanese publishing world that previously only
carried works depicting women as loyal housewives devoted
to their husbands.
The English translation of Natsuo Kirino's 'Out', published last
year, was nominated for best novel in the prestigious 2004
Edgar
Allen Poe Awards, handed out by the New York-based Mystery
Writers of America Organisation.
''Kirino's nomination signifies the emergence of a new literary
genre in Japan, a style that is far more universal in story,
characterization and reality,'' says Kenichi Sato, book editor of
the 'Yomiuri Shimbun' daily.
'' 'Out' features the story and emotions of ordinary housewives
who lead lives that are similar to women living in other urban
societies, '' Sato told IPS.
Sato points out that Kirino's style is a far cry from the past
where
Japanese writers, like Nobel prize winner Yasunari Kawabata
and
the country's best post-war novelist Yukio Mishima, gained
international limelight for writing hauntingly elegant prose
depicting the uniqueness of Japanese culture and portraying
women as innocent beauties devoted to men.
While Kirino, 53, a former jazz club waitress, might have failed
to
clinch the prestigious American literary award for mystery writing,
experts, however, say her entrance as the first Japanese writer
to
be nominated in that field marks a significant development in the
domestic literary scene.
This year's winner for best novel in the Edgar Allan Poe Awards
was leading British writer Ian Rankin for his 'Resurrection Men.'
Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston on Jan. 19, 1809 and died Oct.
7, 1849, was one of the pioneers of detective stories and
perfected
the psychological thriller.
He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism
of his time - important theoretical statements on poetry and the
short story - and had a worldwide influence on literature.
The Poe yearly awards are also for non-fiction and works in
television and film.
''Kirino's international popularity has raised the profile of
Japanese thrillers in the world. She represents a new genre of
writers and writing in Japan,'' Kazuki Onodera, a literary agent at
the major Kawadeshobo Publishing Company told IPS.
In a recent press conference, Kirino said she was inspired to
write 'Out' because of her frustration at the lack of novels in
Japan
focusing on middle-aged women.
''I wanted to read a novel about an ordinary middle-aged
housewife but there weren't any," said Kirino.
''The only ones I could find were about wives in rather well-off
families or housewives fretting about their husbands' infidelities.
So I decided to write one myself,'' she told reporters.
In 'Out', Kirino sets out to do just that. The story is centered
around four middle-aged women from poor families who work
the
gruelling night shift in a factory churning out thousands of boxed
lunches.
After one of them kills her husband, the women get together to
dispose the body by cutting it into pieces in a bathtub. They later
get embroiled with the police and psychopath gangsters.
'Out', published by Kodansha Limited, Japan's largest
publishing house, won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in
1998. The first release was 290,000 prints in Japan followed by
20,000 of the English translation in the United States last year.
It comes as no surprise that Kirino's novel is a best-seller
among women who see it as a spicy piece of work in an
otherwise
dull literary world dominated by conservative male values.
In a fan website, fledging young mystery writer Tomoko Kano
writes: ''Kirino seduces women readers by her powerful female
characters in 'Out'.''
Her characterization breaks the stereo-types of women and
poses a threat to older men who prefer reading about the fairer
sex depicted as elegant objects, a feature of male fantasy,'' adds
Kano.
On a recent trip to the United States to promote Kirino's book,
Akihiro Miyata, head of Kodansha's literary section, told reporters
that Japanese authors are now breaking into the international
market by not relying "on Japanese sentimentality and
orientalism
but rather on straightforward entertainment."
Indeed, this was evident in New York bookstores when 'Out'
was
displayed in the mystery section, rather than shelved away in the
Japanese author category.
Kawadeshobo's Onodera explains Kirino's deft portrayal of
ordinary women in Japanese society, as those who have part-
time
jobs, face abuse from their husbands and financial hardship,
touches the hearts of the younger generation.
"Many of them consider such issues important and so can
relate
to her work,'' he points out.
''Writers such as Kirino represent a new trend in fiction that has
emerged during the past two decades in Japan where social
issues, now, are quite different compared to the past,'' adds
Onodera.
The new novels are classified as entertainment writing and
publishers predict these Japanese authors will soon be making
inroads internationally for their high quality writing in line with the
growing reputation of Japanese animation and pop culture.
Onodera says such changes can even be observed in serious
fiction. The latest winners in February of Japan's most coveted
literary awards, the Akutagawa, were two young women, whose
novels covered such themes such as body piercing and high
school loneliness.
Hiromi Kanehara, 20, co-winner of the Akutagawa prize, wrote
recently that she might have come across, in her book, as an
airhead, but then said: ''I don't give a hoot.''
Japan's new authors are also similar to the characters they
write
about.
For instance, Kirino's hobbies are skiing, bowling and playing
mahjong, a traditional Chinese gambling game popular with
ordinary Japanese men and women.
''The days when fiction was dominated by uniquely Japanese
themes and ethics are over,'' says book editor Sato. ''New trends
are emerging with the birth of a new generation of Japanese
who
want to write on pertinent things and address sexual inequality
in
the country.'' (END)
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