Japanese Literary Awards

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Yonosuke Kuroki

くろき ようのすけ

Kuroki Yonosuke

Aliases: 筑波 昭
Pen Names: Akira Tsukuba（Used for nonfiction works and some investigative books）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1928 （Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Writer, Non-fiction writer, Editor
Active Years
1950-1989
Affiliations
Ibaraki Shimbun (served as deputy editor), The Mystery Writers of Japan (member; listed as deceased member)
Memberships
The Mystery Writers of Japan

Education

Nihon University, College of Art
College of Art
Country: Japan
Left before graduation (dropped out)

Awards

Houseki Prize (contest)
1957
Work: The Poisonous Serpent of Cleopatra
Organization: Houseki (magazine)
Result: finalist
Edogawa Rampo Prize (finalist)
1967
Work: Points of Ambition
Organization: Edogawa Rampo Prize selection committee
Result: finalist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Points of Ambition

1967 Mystery novel

A long-form mystery novel depicting crimes and human relationships intertwined with ambition and vested interests.

ambitioncrimehuman relationships

Illusion of the Trap

1969 Mystery novel

A work exploring hidden traps behind incidents and the entanglement of psychology.

trapspsychologydeception

Backlight Blues

1970 Mystery novel

A mid-to-long length story themed around truths emerging in backlight and shadows of the past.

the pasttruthloneliness

Tsuyama Massacre: Why the Village's Talented Youth Committed the Crime

1981 Non-fiction / True crime

A nonfiction investigative book examining the background and social factors behind an actual crime.

true crimecriminal historysocial analysis

Bibliography

  • Points of Ambition
  • Illusion of the Trap
  • Backlight Blues
  • The Legacy of the Empire of Japan
  • Skewed Challenge: The Zero Room of the San-Oh Hotel
  • The Porno Murder Case
  • Competing Motives to Kill
  • Phantom Field of Murder
  • The Tombstone Turned Aside
  • True Record: The Greatest Incident of the Great Earthquake
  • Midday Illusion
  • True Record: The Greatest Incident of the Combined Fleet
  • Dark Currents
  • Festival of Fiction
  • No Reward for Murder
  • The Yamatai-koku Murder Case
  • The Man Who Shook the Kremlin
  • Design of Desire
  • Target: The Kremlin — Devilish Plot
  • Tsuyama Massacre: Why the Village's Talented Youth Committed the Crime
  • Spring of 1971 in Gunma: The Crimes of Kiyoshi Okubo
  • The Andropov Corps
  • Bizarre Crimes: A Comprehensive View of Representative Cases from Meiji, Taisho, and Showa
  • False Orders: Novel of a Resident Spy Corps
  • Target: The She-Leopard
  • Fallacious Deduction: Essay 'The Murder of Natsume Soseki'
  • Sleeper: The Revived Ghost of Stalin
  • The Dropout Detective: Kairakuen Murder Case
  • Detective Rampo: True Record — The Sendagaya Pass Seller Murder
  • The Murder of a Young Wife in Sugamo: The Most Difficult Prewar Showa Case
  • The Stamp-Collecting Maniac Murder Case

Style & Themes

Literary Style
A hard-nosed, investigative nonfiction styleMystery-structure writing that probes social issues
Recurring Motifs
crimeconspiracyshadows of postwar society

Legacy

A writer active in both nonfiction investigations of postwar crimes and mystery fiction. Records of his later life are sparse; he is listed as a deceased member by the Mystery Writers of Japan.

Academic Societies

  • The Mystery Writers of Japan

Trivia

  • Born Yonosuke Kuroki; used the pen name Akira Tsukuba.
  • 'The Poisonous Serpent of Cleopatra' was a finalist for the Houseki Prize in 1957.
  • 'Points of Ambition' was a finalist for the Edogawa Rampo Prize in 1967.
  • Listed as a deceased member in the Mystery Writers of Japan membership roster.