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Kikuo Tsunoda

つのだ きくお

Tsunoda Kikuo

Pen Names: Aosagi Yuuki（Shared pen name with Jūzō Unno）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1906-05-25 （Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan）
Died
1994-03-26 （Higashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan） age 87
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Novelist
Active Years
1922-1975

Education

Tokyo Higher School of Industrial Arts
Period: 1925-1928
Year of Graduation: 1928
Country: Japan

Awards

Japan Detective Writers Club Award
1958
Work: When the Flute Plays, People Die
Category: 短編賞
Organization: Mystery Writers of Japan
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Yōkiden

1935 Fantasy Mystery

A battle over four shogi pieces called "Silver General," which mark the location of treasure hidden by Toyotomi Hidetsugu.

fantasy mysterypuzzletreasure
Adaptations
  • [Film] Ooka Seidan: Yōkiden / 並木鏡太郎 (1954)

Dokuro Sen

1937 Fantasy Mystery

A fantasy novel about the struggle over eight "skull coins" indicating the location of a treasure, involving a young swordsman, a masked villain, a cunning merchant, and a villainous woman.

fantasytreasure huntswordsman
Adaptations
  • [Film] Dokuro Sen / 松田定次 (1956)
  • [Film] Dokuro Sen / 松田定次 (1962)

Fūun Shōgidan

1938 Fantasy Mystery

A story about a legendary treasure of Heike descendants in Shōgidan, Minaminobu.

fantasytreasure huntshogi
Adaptations
  • [Film] Fūun Shōgidan / 荒井良平 (1940)
  • [Film] Fūun Shōgidan / 松田定次 (1955)
  • [Film] Fūun Shōgidan (1960)

Scarlet Peony Thief

1948 Historical Novel

A historical novel featuring Okamoto Masadan. The first postwar historical novel in which Mizuki Hankuro appears.

historical novelOkamoto Masadan
Adaptations
  • [Film] Scarlet Peony Thief / 安達伸生 (1950)

The Tragedy of the Takagi Family

1947 Detective Fiction

Written in 20 days, this is a classic mystery novel with impressive characterizations.

detective fictionclassic mystery

When the Flute Plays, People Die

1958 Detective Fiction

A short story centered on a perfect crime.

detective fictionperfect crime
Adaptations
  • [TV drama] When the Flute Plays, People Die (1989)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
fantasy mystery stylemeticulously plotted detective fiction
Recurring Motifs
shogi piecesotherworldly treasuresmysterious phenomena

Health

  • stomach cancer
    1985年頃
    underwent surgery
  • acute pneumonia
    1994年3月
    cause of death

Legacy

Contributed to the development of fantasy mystery and detective fiction, regarded as a representative author of the Showa period.

Trivia

  • Had a 4-dan level skill in shogi, studied under Toshio Takayanagi.
  • Recommended Ryotaro Shiba as a promising new writer.
  • Pen name "Aosagi Yuuki" was shared with Jūzō Unno.