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Takashi Takada

たかだ たかし

Takashi Takada

Profile

Gender
Male
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
novelist, mystery writer
Active Years
1998-

Awards

Mephisto Prize
1998
Work: QED: The Curse of the Hyakunin Isshu
Organization: Mephisto Editorial Department (Kodansha)
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

QED: The Curse of the Hyakunin Isshu

1998 mystery novel 316 pages

In January (Heisei 4), Dairiku Masakaki, a collector of Hyakunin Isshu and president of a trading company, is found beaten to death while clutching a poem card. Journalist Komatsuzaki and his friend Kuwabara investigate, unraveling a mystery hidden in the Hyakunin Isshu as they work to solve the crime.

Hyakunin Isshuclassical waka poetrymysterypuzzle-solving
Adaptations
  • [manga] QED: The Curse of the Hyakunin Isshu (manga) / 松本救助 (2014)

Bibliography

  • QED: The Curse of the Hyakunin Isshu
  • QED: The Cipher of the Six Waka Poets
  • QED: The Baker Street Problem
  • QED: The Grudge of Toshogu
  • QED: The Sealed Room of the Ritual
  • QED: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
  • QED: The Assassination of Ryoma
  • Dokuso-shi (Poison Herb Master): QED Another Story
  • Dokuso-shi: The Baptism of the White Serpent
  • Kanna: The Descent of Asuka

Adaptations

  • Manga adaptation by Matsumoto Kyusuke (web Mephisto)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
detailed puzzle-oriented plottinglogical, deduction-driven narrativesincorporation of classical literature motifs
Recurring Motifs
Hyakunin Isshuwaka poems as cluesintersection of classical and modern elements

Legacy

This first entry in the QED series brought Takashi Takada attention after receiving the Mephisto Prize. His blending of classical waka poetry with orthodox puzzle-driven mysteries has been praised and, through manga adaptations, reached a broader readership.

In Popular Culture

  • Manga serialization on web Mephisto increased the series' visibility

Trivia

  • QED: The Curse of the Hyakunin Isshu is the first work in the QED series.
  • It won the 9th Mephisto Prize.
  • A manga adaptation has been serialized on web Mephisto since 2014.