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Ango Sakaguchi

さかぐちあんご

Sakaguchi Ango

Pen Names: Ango（Used in writing activities）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1906-03-20 （Niigata Prefecture, Japan）
Died
1955-01-17 （Tokyo, Japan） age 48
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Writer
Active Years
1925-1955

Awards

Detective Writers' Club Award for Long Novels
1949
Work: Discontinuous Murder Case
Category: 長編賞
Organization: Detective Writers' Club
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Discontinuous Murder Case

1947 Novel, Mystery

Serialized in the magazine "Nihon Shosetsu" from 1947 to 1948 and published as a book in 1948, this mystery novel follows detective Dr. Kose as he uses psychological clues to unravel a series of seemingly unconnected murders.

PsychologyMurder CaseMysteryHuman RelationsTrick
Adaptations
  • [Film] Discontinuous Murder Case / 曽根中生 (1977)
  • [TV Drama] Showa Masterpiece Mystery Selection: Discontinuous Murder Case / 若松節朗 (1990)

Bibliography

  • Discontinuous Murder Case
  • Repatriation Murder Case (unfinished)
  • Meiji Enlightenment Ango Detective Story

Adaptations

  • Discontinuous Murder Case (1977 film)
  • Showa Masterpiece Mystery Selection: Discontinuous Murder Case (1990 TV drama)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Rational detective fiction stylePuzzle-focused writing style
Recurring Motifs
Psychological methodsComplex human relationshipsTrickery

Legacy

Ango Sakaguchi's "Discontinuous Murder Case" opened new horizons in Japanese mystery fiction, earning high praise from eminent authors like Edogawa Rampo and Seicho Matsumoto. The work has been reprinted numerous times, studied extensively, and adapted into film and television dramas.

Academic Societies

  • Mystery Writers of Japan

In Popular Culture

  • Adapted into a 1977 film and a 1990 TV drama

Quotes

  • It was usually not worth seeing, but this novel brilliantly broke the established belief.
    Source: Edogawa Rampo's review of 'Discontinuous Murder Case' (1948)
  • It is the creation of a trick not seen even in the West.
    Source: Seicho Matsumoto's 'Author Critique'

Trivia

  • Ango Sakaguchi paid prize money to readers out of his own pocket.
  • Screenwriter Haruhiko Arai came to dislike films while shooting this movie.