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novelist
Saho Sasazawa
Japanese writer
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Also known as Sasazawa Saho
Key facts
Occupation
novelist, writer
Citizenship
Japan, Empire of Japan
Born
November 15, 1930
Died
October 21, 2002
On IJR
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Article
Sasazawa Saho (笹沢左保; November 15, 1930 – October 21, 2002) was a Japanese author, known as the creator of the Kogarashi Monjirō novels, which became a hit televised drama series.
He was a self-declared member of the shinhonkaku-ha or "new orthodox" school of detective fiction writing. Aside from mysteries, he also wrote thrillers, essays and history books, with some 380 books to his credit.
Contents
Life and works
Saho Sasazwa was born Masaru Sasazawa (笹沢勝), the third son of poet Yoshiaki Sasazawa. Born in Yokohama according to many sources, but it has also been said he was actually born in Yodobashi, Tokyo and later moved to Yokohama. There he attended what is now Kanto Gakuin University's high school division, but failed to graduate, frequently running away from home during this period.
By 1952 he was in Tokyo, working at the Postal Insurance Bureau run by the Postal Ministry. Around this time he dabbled in writing plays.
In 1958, he was struck by a DUI car, suffering injuries expecting to take 8 months to fully heal. But his short stories Yami no naka no dengon (闇の中の伝言; "The message in the dark") and Kunin me no giseisha (九人目の犠牲者; "The ninth victim"), which he had submitted to prize contest before the accident both qualified and were printed in the December 1958 special issue of the Hoseki magazine.
In 1960, his Manekarezaru kyaku (招かれざる客; "The uninvited guest") became a runner-up for the 5th Edogawa Rampo Prize, and the release of this in book format marked his debut as novelist.
He adopted the pen name Saho, which was taken from his wife's name Sahoko (佐保子).
His Hitokui (人喰い; "Man-eater", 1961) was awarded the 14th Mystery Writers of Japan Award, after which he resigned from the Postal Ministry and became a full-time professional writer.
With his Roppongi shinjū (六本木心中; "Roppongi double-suicide") (1962) he received his third nomination for the prestigious semi-annual Naoki Prize for popular fiction. He had been twice nominated for the prize before, for Hitokui and Kūhaku no kiten (空白の起点; "Starting point of blankness"), and although he was short-listed to win this time, he was disappointed once again. Around this time, while declaring himself to be one of the practitioners of honkaku-ha (本格派) or "orthodox school" of mystery fiction-writing, he wrote a trilogy on double-suicide without homicide; of these, the Naoki Prize-nominated Roppongi Double-Suicide was appraised as a piece "depicting empty love between a young man and a girl", which entwined "the drama of loss of faith in humanity" into the mystery novel.
Legacy and influence
He was a prolific writer, who at his height wrote 1,000 or even 1,500 pages of manuscript per month, he has been called a "constant innovator" or experimenter. In particular, Sasazawa is known for applying the mystery novel techniques of "surprise-twist endings (donden-gaeshi)" and climatic endings in writing matatabi fiction, thus introducing a fresh angle in the fiction about these wandering rogue swordsman-gamblers.
He wrote a study in sensual-erotic suspense with the novel Akuma no heya (悪魔の部屋; "Demon's Room") which was adapted into film, and crime novels consisting entirely of conversation, such as Donden gaeshi (どんでん返し; "the flip-reversal"), and Dōgyōsha (同行者; "fellow believer of the path"), and Ushiro sugata no seizō (後ろ姿の聖像; "rear-view icon") where the alibi trick undergoes a complete 180-degrees plot-twist.
He held a staunch purist stance about detective fiction writing. Sasazawa identified himself as a proponent of the Shin-honkaku-ha (新本格派) "New Orthodox School" or "New Authentic School". Such a writer, he explained, was not only required to be "orthodox" (or "authentic") and devise a clever trick used in the crime, but in addition, needed to maintain realisticness in the human characters employed. When he sat on the selection panel for the Edogawa Rampo Prize, he repeatedly bewailed the laxening of the definition of what could be considered "detective fiction". In 1977, he wrote an essay that polemicized against the novel of manners contaminating the mystery fiction genre.
Selected works
Modern mysteries
Tasatsu misaki (他殺岬; "Cape Homicide"), 1976
Furin misaki (不倫岬; "Cape Adultery"), 1978
Mujō misaki (無情岬; "Cape Merciless"), 1979
Tōbō misaki (逃亡岬; "Cape Escape"), 1981
Aijin misaki (愛人岬; "Cape Lover"), 1981
Akuma misaki (悪魔岬; "Cape Devil"), 1985
Zanshō misaki (残照岬; "Cape Afterglow"), 1987
Akuma no heya (悪魔の部屋; "The Devil's Chamber"), 1981
Akuma no kohan (悪魔の湖畔; "The Devil's Lakeside"), 1981
Akuma no kankei (悪魔の関係; "The Devil's Relationship"), 1982
Akuma no hitojichi (悪魔の人質; "The Devil's Hostage"), 1982
Akuma no chinmoku (悪魔の沈黙; "The Devil's Silence"), 1983
Akuma no yūwaku (悪魔の誘惑; "The Devil's Enticement"), 1983
Akuma no shokei (悪魔の処刑; "The Devil's Execution"), 1994
Onna wa getsuyōbi ni naku (女は月曜日に泣く; "The Woman Weeps on Monday")
Nichiyōbi ni wa korosanai (日曜日には殺さない; "No Kills on Sunday")
Ososugita ame no kayōbi (遅すぎた雨の火曜日; "The Belated Rain of Tuesday")
Yami wa suiyōbi ni otozureru (闇は水曜日に訪れる; "Darkness Visits on Wednesday")
Period novels
Mikaeri tōge no rakujitsu (見かえり峠の落日; "Sunset at Look-back Pass"), Kodansha, 1970
Shamenbana wa chitta (赦免花は散った; "The Clemency Flower has Scattered"), Kodansha, 1971
Nyoninkō no yami wo saku (女人講の闇を裂く; "Ripping the Women's Group's Darkness"), 1971
Rokujizō no kage wo kiru (六地蔵の影を斬る; "Slicing the Six Jizo's Shadows"), 1972
Akatsuki no oiwake ni tatsu (暁の追分に立つ; "Standing at the Fork in the Road at Dawn"), 1972
Yonakiishi wa kiri ni nureta (夜泣き石は霧に濡れた; "The Night-wailing stone Dampened in the Fog"), 1972
Onnen-zaka wo hotaru ga koeta (怨念坂を螢が越えた; "Fireflies over Grudge Hill"), 1973
Fue ga nagareta Karisaka tōge (笛が流れた雁坂峠; "Flute sounded on Karisaka Pass"), 1973
Kirisame ni nido naita (霧雨に二度哭いた; "Cried twice in the Misty Rain"), 1976
Inochi wa ichido suteru mono (命は一度捨てるもの; "Life is for throwing away once"), 1976
Sanzu no kawa wa hitori de watare (三途の川は独りで渡れ; "Cross the Sanzu River Alone"), 1977
Nido to ogamenu mikazuki (二度と拝めぬ三日月; "A Crescent Moon You Will Never Again Behold"), 1977
Ōshuji nanoka no shissō (奥州路・七日の疾走; "Path to Ōshu, a Seven-day Speed-Race"), 1978
Autobiography
Shijin no ie (詩人の家; "A Poet's house"), 1978
Essays
Aishikata aisarekata no himitsu (愛し方愛され方の秘密; "The Secret to Loving and Being Loved"), Shodensha, 1978
Asu wa waga mi kokoro aru oya no tame ni (明日はわが身 心ある親のために; "Tomorrow It Will Befall Me: For Parents with a Conscience"), Inner Trip, 1981
Sonna koi nara yamenasai (そんな恋ならやめなさい; "If that's the Kind of Love, You Should Quit"); Part2; Part3. PHP, 1990; 1991; 1993
Gan mo jibun inochi wo ikikiru boku no gan kokufuku-ki (ガンも自分 いのちを生ききる 僕のガン克服記; "Cancer is part of me: Living out Life to the Fullest. My Chronicle of Surmounting Cancer"), Kayryusha, 1994
Kogarashi monjirō: kakawari gozansen (木枯らし紋次郎 関わりござんせん; "Kogarashi Monjiro: It's nothing to do with me", 1972), Toei, starring Bunta Sugawara.
Kaettekita Kogarashi Monjirō (帰って来た木枯し紋次郎; "The Return of Kogarashi Monjiro", 1993), Toho, starring Atsuo Nakamura.
Mushukunin Mikogami no Jōkichi: Kiba wa hikisaita (無宿人御子神の丈吉 牙は引き裂いた; "Drifter Mikogami no Jokichi: The Fangs Did Tear Apart", Eng. Title The Trail of Blood, 1972), Toho, starring Yoshio Harada.
Mushukunin Mikogami no Jōkichi: Kawakaze ni kako wa nagareta (無宿人御子神の丈吉 川風に過去は流れた; "Drifter Mikogami no Jokichi: In the River-Wind Did the Past Flow Away", Eng. Title The Fearless Avenger, 1972), Toho, starring Yoshio Harada.
Mushukunin Mikogami no Jōkichi: Tasogare ni senkō ga tonda (無宿人御子神の丈吉 黄昏に閃光が飛んだ; "Drifter Mikogami no Jokichi: In the Twilight Sparks Did Fly", Eng. Title Slaughter in the Snow, 1973), Toho, starring Yoshio Harada.
Akuma no heya (悪魔の部屋; "Demon's Room", 1982), Nikkatsu, starring Reiko Nakamura.
Otonashi Gen Sanojigoroshi (音なし源 さの字殺し; "Soundless Gen: The Letter Sa Murder", 1983), Fuji TV.
Uragiri no hōshū Tsuihōsha Kuki Shinjūrō (裏切りの報酬 追放者・九鬼真十郎; "Payment for Betrayal: The Banished One, Kuki Shinjuro", 1983, Fuji TV, starring Shigeru Tsuyuguchi)
Yume to shōchi de Nezumi kozō Ōedo seishunezu (夢と承知で 鼠小僧大江戸青春絵図; "Full Knowing it's a Dream: Nezumi Kozo's Great Edo Adolescence Painting", 1988), NTV.
Manga adaptations
Kogarashi Monjirō (木枯し紋次郎), artwork by Goseki Kojima, Geibunsha, 1973.
Jigoku no Tatsu torimono-hikae (地獄の辰捕物控; "Tatsu from Hell's Casebook"), artwork by Takeshi Kanda, Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha, 2004.
Sanada jūyūshi (真田十勇士; "Sanada Ten Braves"), artwork by Kenji Okamura, LEED, 2016.
Ginrō ni kodoku wo mita (銀狼に孤独をみた; "In the Silverwolf was Beheld his Loneliness"), artwork by Kaiji Kawaguchi, adapted by Sentaro Kubota, Ohzora Comics, 2007. From the Itako no Itaro series.
Article from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), where it is maintained by volunteer editors.
In 1970, he ventured into writing period novels (in particular matatabi fiction about traveling gamblers) with Mikaeri tōge no rakujitsu (見返り峠の落日; "Sunset at Look-back Pass"). Sasazawa's style of this gambler fiction has been characterized as "casting a nihilistic shadow, adding an aura of Cowboy Westerns". The samurai period gambler piece that brought Sasazawa lasting fame was his Kogarashi Monjirō series, begun with the episode entitled Shamen bana wa chitta (赦免花は散った; "The Clemency Flower has Scattered", 1970). The book was TV-dramatized with Atsuo Nakamura playing the leading role of the gambler Monjirō, and the program achieved immense popularity.
He continued to write fiction in both contemporary and period settings.
Some of his outputs in modern settings from the subsequent period include the child-kidnapping novel Mayonaka no shijin (真夜中の詩人; "Midnight poet", 1972), called a masterpiece on par with his earlier great works; Haruka nari waga ai o (遥かなりわが愛を; "My love so far", 1976) which launched the Detective Isenami series;Tasatsu misaki (他殺岬; "Cape homicide", 1977) was a time-limit kidnapping story with a twist, the scandal-monger must devise a ransom for the perpetrator who only wants vengeance; Kyūkon no misshitsu (求婚の密室; "The marriage-proposing locked room", 1978) features a well-crafted locked room gimmickry.
He also became well known at one time for Akuma no heya ("Devil's room", 1981) and its sequels in his Akuma ("Devil") series of erotic suspense-thriller novels (kannō sasupensu (官能サスペンス)), this being a hybrid genre between the erotic novel and suspense-thriller.
His Aribai no uta (アリバイの唄; "Alibi song", 1990) started the Hideo Yoake casefile series of novels, dramatized on TV as the Taxi Driver's Mystery Diary starring Tsunehiko Watase; The TV series Torishirabe shitsu "Interrogation room" ran its first episode in 1994 based on the novel of the same title published 1993.
Period pieces other than Monjirō include Sasurai kaidō (さすらい街道; "Wandering highway", 1972) which employs mystery novel techniques in historical settings, the Jigoku no Tatsu crime-solving novels (1972–), televised as Jigoku no Tatsu torimono hikae (地獄の辰捕物控) "Tatsu from hell's Casebook"; another TV-dramtized series on Hanmi no Okon (1974–), whose title character Okon bears a tattoo which forms a complete dragon when combined with her lover's.
During his lifetime he published some 377 books.
With declining health in 1987, he recuperated at a hospital in the town of Mikatsuki, Saga which bore a name similar to Mikazuki-mura (Mikazuki Village), the fictitious birthplace of Monjirō. After being discharged, he made the adjacent town of Fujichō his home, and although he had to relocate in 1995 to Hyogomachi in Saga city for hospital access, the Fujichō residence later became the Sasazawa Saho Memorial Museum.
He established the Kyushu Saga Taishūbungaku Prize for literature by new authors in 1993, with the final 24th prize awarded in 2017.
In 2001 he returned to Kodaira, Tokyo, and succumbed to liver cancer (HCC) on 21 October 2002 at a hospital in Komae, Tokyo.
Saraba dōbi no kitakaze (さらば土曜日の北風; "Goodbye North-Wind of Saturday")
Akujo mokuyōbi ni shisu (悪女木曜日に死す; "Evil Woman dies on Thursday")
Oikoshi kinshi: Doraibā tantei Yoake Hideo no jikenbo (追越禁止—ドライバー探偵夜明日出夫の事件簿; "No Passing: Casebook of Driver Detective Hideo Yoake"), Kodansha Novels, 1991
Ippōtsūko: Doraibā tantei Yoake Hideo no jikenbo (一方通行—ドライバー探偵夜明日出夫の事件簿; "One Way Street"), 1992
Hirusagari: Yoake Hideo no jikenbo (昼下がり—夜明日出夫の事件簿; "Past Noon"), 1994
Yoake: Yoake Hideo no jikenbo (夜明け—夜明日出夫の事件簿; "Dawn"), Nichibun Bunko, 1998
Yūgure: Yoake Hideo no jikenbo (夕暮れ—夜明日出夫の事件簿; "Evening"), 1999
Aribai no uta: Yoake Hideo no jikenbo (アリバイの唄—夜明日出夫の事件簿; "Alibi Song:"9), 199
Seizon suru yūrei: Yoake Hideo no suiri nisshi (生存する幽霊—タクシードライバーの推理日誌; "The Living Ghost: a Taxi-Driver's Deduction Journal"), Tokuma Bunko, 2000
Manekarezaru kyaku (招かれざる客; "The Uninvited Guest"), 1960
Kiri ni tokeru (霧に溶ける; "Melting in the Fog"), 1960
Kekkon te nanisa (結婚って何さ; "What is Marriage Anyway"), 1960
Hitokui (人喰い; "Maneater"), 1960
Kūhaku no kiten (空白の起点; "Starting-point of Blankness"), former title Koshū no kiten (孤愁の起点; "Starting-point of Lonely Woe"), 1961
Awa no onna (泡の女; "Woman of Froth"), 1961
Mahiru ni wakareru no wa iya (真昼に別れるのはいや; "Don't want to Break up at Midday"), 1961
Kurai keisha (暗い傾斜; "Dark Slope", 1962)
Totsuzen no ashita (突然の明日; "Sudden Tomrrow"), 1963
Yureru shikai (揺れる視界; "Shaking Filed of Vision"), 1963
Mayonaka no shijin (真夜中の詩人; "Midnight Poet"), 1972
Sannin no tōjōjinbutsu (三人の登場人物; "Three Personae Dramatis"), 1975
Harukanari waga ai o (遥かなりわが愛を; "My Love so far"), 1976
Harukanari waga sakebi (遥かなりわが叫び; "My Distant Scream"), 1977
Honoo no kyozō (炎の虚像; "Virtual Flame Image"), 1977
Ijōsha (異常者; "Abnormal Individual"), 1978
Umi no banshō (海の晩鐘; "Vesper at Sea"), 1979
Kyūkon no misshitsu (求婚の密室; "The Marriage-Proposing Locked Room"), 1978
4 Sanada Yukimura Osaka-jō nyujō (真田十勇士 巻の4 真田幸村大坂城入城; "4 Sanada Yukimura Enters Osaka Castle"), 1997-05
5 Senjō ni chitta yūshi tachi (真田十勇士 巻の5 戦場に散った勇士たち; "5 The Braves Fall on the Battlefield"), 1997-05
Yakubyōgami Donta's caebook.
Yakubyōgami Donta (疫病神呑太; "Donta the Yakubyōgami"), Tokuma Shoten, 1991-10
Tokuma Bunko format
Yakubyōgami torimonochō (疫病神捕物帳; "The Yakubyōgami Casebook"), 1997-02
Futtekita akanbō (降って来た赤ン坊 疫病神捕物帳; "The Infant Fallen out of the Sky"), 1998-07
Or, "Full knowing it's a Dream" series
(jō) Nezumi Kozō to rekishijō no otokotachi ibun (夢と承知で 上 鼠小僧と歴史上の男たち異聞; "Untold Tales of Nezumi Kozo and Historical Men (1)"), Yomiuri Shimbunsha, 1985-11
(ge) Nezumi Kozō to rekishijō no otokotachi ibu (夢と承知で 下 鼠小僧と歴史上の男たち異聞; "Untold Tales of Nezumi Kozo and Historical Men (2)"), 1985-11
Kobunsha Bunko format
(jō) Nezumi Kozō to Tōyama Kinshirō (夢と承知で 上 鼠小僧と遠山金四郎; " Nezumi Kozo and Toyama Kinshiro (1)"), Kobunsha Bunko, 1991-11
(ge) Nezumi Kozō to Tōyama Kinshirō (夢と承知で 下 鼠小僧と遠山金四郎; "Nezumi Kozo and Toyama Kinshiro (2)"), 1991-11
Jigoku no Tatsu muzan torimonohikae: Kubinashi jizō wa katarazu (地獄の辰・無残捕物控 首なし地蔵は語らず; "Tatsu from Hell's Brutality Casebook: The Headless Jizo will not Talk"), Kappa Novels, 1972
Jigoku no Tatsu muzan torimonohikae: Okappiki ga jūji wo suteta (地獄の辰無残捕物控 続 岡っ引きが十手を捨てた; "The okappiki Relinquished his Jutte tool"), 1972
Tōkaido burai-tabi (東海道・無頼旅; "Ruffian's Journey along Tokaido Highway"), 1976
Kobunsha Bunko fo
Kubinashi jizō wa katarazu, Kobunsha Bunko, 1985-11
Okappiki ga jūji wo suteta, 1985-12
Asu wa meido ka Kyo nō yume ("Dream of Hell or Kyoto Tomorrow"), 1986-06
Shodensha Bunko format
Jigoku no Tatsu hankachō (地獄の辰犯科帳; "Tatsu from Hell's Crime Record Files", 1999-04) , Shodensha Bunko
Jigoku no Tatsu muzanchō (地獄の辰無残帳; "Tatsu from Hell's Brutality Notebook", 1999-09)
Jigoku no Tatsu hidōchō (地獄の辰非道帳; "Tatsu from Hell's Atrocity Notebook", 1999-12)
Hanmi no Okon 1: Ourami mōshimasen (半身のお紺 1 お怨み申しません; "I. I Will Tell no Gripe"), Kodansha, 1974
Hanmi no Okon 2: Sadame ga nikui (半身のお紺 2 さだめが憎い; "II. Hating Destiny"), 1974
Hanmi no Okon 3: Samete uzukimasu (半身のお紺 3 醒めて疼きます; "III. Sobering up and Throbbing"), 1975
Kobunsha Bunko format
Onna mushukuin, Hanmi no Okon: Ourami mōshimasen (女無宿人・半身のお紺 お怨み申しません; "Female Vagabond Hanmi no Okon: I Will Tell no Gripe"), 1986-11
Onna mushukuin, Hanmi no Okon: Sadame ga nikui (女無宿人・半身のお紺 さだめが憎い; "Female Vagabond Hanmi no Okon: Hating Destiny"), 1986-12
Onna mushukuin, Hanmi no Okon: Samete uzukimasu (女無宿人・半身のお紺 醒めて疼きます; "Female Vagabond Hanmi no Okon: Sobering up and Throbbing"), 1987-01
Shodensha Bunko series
Hanmi no Okon: Onna mushukuin hijō tabi (半身のお紺 女無宿人非情旅; "Hanmi no Okon: Female Vagabond's Merciless Journey"), Kobunsha Bunko, 2000–06
Hanmi no Okon: Onna mushukuin muzan ken (半身のお紺 女無宿人無残剣; "Hanmi no Okon: Female Vagabond's Brutal Sword"), 2000–08
Hanmi no Okon: Onna mushukuin aizōkō (半身のお紺 女無宿人愛憎行; "Hanmi no Okon: Female Vagabond's Merciless Journey"), 2001–06
Itako no Itaro series
Itako no Itarō: Ōtone no yami ni kieta (潮来の伊太郎 大利根の闇に消えた; "Itako no Itarō: Disappeared into the Great Tone River's Darkness"), Yomiuri Shimbunsha, 1975
Itako no Itarō: Kettō Hakone-yama Sanmai-bashi (潮来の伊太郎 決闘・箱根山三枚橋; "Duel at Sanmai Bridge, Mount Hakone"), 1975
Kobunsha format
Itako no Itarō: Ōtone no yami ni kieta, 1982-08
Itako no Itarō: Kettō Hakone-yama Sanmai-bashi, 1982-10
Tokuma Bunko format
Ōtone no yami ni kieta, 1988-06
Kettō Hakone-yama Sanmai-bashi, 1988-07
The Banished One
Kuki Shinjūrō series
Edo no yūgiri ni kiyu: tsuihōsha Kuki Shinjūrō (江戸の夕霧に消ゆ 追放者・九鬼真十郎; "Vanished in Edo's Evening Fog: The Banished One, Kuki Shinjūrō"), Toen Shobo, 1978-08
Bijo ka kitsune ka tōge michi (美女か狐か峠みち 追放者・九鬼真十郎; "The Beauty or the Fox or the Mountain Pass Road"), 1979
Tokuma Bunko version
Edo no yūgiri ni kiyu, 1989-05
Bijo ka kitsune ka tōge michi, 1989-06
Mushukunin Mikogami no Jōkichi jō, Volume 1, Kodansha, 1972
Mushukunin Mikogami no Jōkichi chū, Volume 2, 1972
Mushukunin Mikogami no Jōkichi ge-no-ichi, Volume 3. Part 1, 1973
Mushukunin Mikogami no Jōkichi ge-no-ni, Volume 3. Part 2, 1973
Tokuma Bunko format
"Volume 1", Tokuma Bunko, 1987-10
"Volume 2", 1987-11
"Volume 3", 1987-12
"Volume 4", 1988-01
Otonashi Gen torimonochō: rensaku jidai suiri shōsetsu (音なし源捕物帳 連作時代推理小説; "Otonashi Gen's Casebook: Series Period Mystery Novels", 1979-02), Kobunsha
Bunkyū: Shimizu no Komasa buraiken (文久・清水の小政無頼剣; "Bunkyu Period: Shimizu no Komasa's Ruffian Sword"), Non Pochette Bunko, 1989-04
Hana ochiru chishō Akechi Mitsuhide (花落ちる 智将・明智光秀; "Bloom Fallen: the Resourceful General Akechi Mitsuhide", 1989-09), Shincho Bunko
Issen kiro, ken ga hashiru (一千キロ、剣が疾る; "One Thousand Kilometers, The Sword Dashes"), Kobunsha, 1990-10
Jiki bikyaku hashiru (直飛脚疾る; "The Direct Courier Dashes", retitled), Kobunsha Bunko, 1999-02
Asai Nagamasa no ketsudan: (浅井長政の決断 賢愚の岐路; "Azai Nagamasa's Decision: Forkpath of Wisdom and Folly"), Kadokawa Bunko, 1990-10
Kyōran Haru no yoru no yume. Matsuo Bashō to Yaoya Oshichi (狂乱 春の夜の夢 松尾芭蕉と八百屋お七; "Madness, a Spring Night's Dream: Matsuo Basho and Yaoya O-Shichi"), Kobunsha Bunko, 1992-10
Iemitsu bōsatsu: Tōkaidō no kōbō jūgonichi (家光謀殺 東海道の攻防十五日; "The Iemitsu Assassination: Fifteen Days of Defense and Offense along Tokaido"), Bungeishunjū, 1993-03
Bunshun Bunko format, 1996-03; Kobunsha Bunko format, 2000–05
Ieyasu chūsatsu shimatsu-ki (家康誅殺始末記; "Ieyasu's Punishment by Death, the Chronicles of the Affair"), Futabasha, 1994-12
Jōmawari-dōshin saigo no nazotoki (定廻り同心 最後の謎解き; "A Jomawari-Doshin Detective's Final Puzzle-solving"), Shodensha Bunko, 2002–12
Kaizokusen Yūrei-maru (海賊船幽霊丸; "The Pirate Ship Yurei-maru"), Kobunsha, 2003–10
Kobunsha Bunko format, 2006-03
Takushī doraibā no suiri nisshi (タクシードライバーの推理日誌; lit. "Taxi Driver's Deduction Journal", also given as "Taxi Driver's Mystery Diary", 1992–2016), TV Asahi, starring Tsunehiko Watase.
Iemitsu bōsatsu Sandai shōgun ni semaru nazo no ansatsu gundan! (家光謀殺 三代将軍に迫る謎の暗殺軍団!; "The Iemitsu Assassination: The Mysterious Assassin Squad Closes in on the Third Shogun!", 1995), TV Asahi.
Yama-yuri satsujin jiken (山百合殺人事件; "Mountain Lily Murder Case"). Original screenplay to Ninjōkeiji Miyamoto Seishirō: Shi wo maneku yama-yuri (人情刑事・宮本清四郎 死を招く山百合; "The Soft-hearted Detective Kiyoshiro Miyamoto: The Mountain Lily that Invites Death", 2005, TV Tokyo)., TV Tokyo.
Kogarashi Monjirō (木枯し紋次郎; 2009), Fuji TV starring, Yosuke Eguchi.
