Akimitsu Takagi

Advantages: Readable
Disadvantages: More American Than Japanese

...Akimitsu Takagi’s ”The Tattoo Murder Case” is a classic of Japanese detective fiction. First published in 1948 it depicts a Japan only just beginning to emerge from the destruction of World War Two but also, just as importantly, beginning its long love affair with the American way of life, if not necessarily with the Americans themselves. In narrative terms, it is essentially a “locked room” murder case where the detectives are pitted not just against a particularly astute murderer, but also against their own preconceptions and limitations. The Japanese side of the equation is thematic and circumstantial. In few countries have tattoos achieved such a cult status as in Japan. Not for the tattooed Japanese the frowned upon western practice of having odd tattoos about the body with names of girlfriends... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: A decent murder mystery
Disadvantages: The more formal writing style may take a little getting used to

...A friend of mine handed me a Christmas present one year, with the tag reading something like "knowing what you're interested in, you'll probably like this." It is the kind of present only a close friend could have chosen, combining as it does my vague but long standing ambition to get a tattoo, my love for Japan following a trip there several years ago and my almost constant reading. Akimitsu Takagi's "The Tattoo Murder Case" was originally published and set in a Japan recovering from the Second World War. In this time of suffering for the Japanese people in general, Kinue Nomura seems to have suffered more than most. Her brother was in the Army had never returned from service at the end of the war and her sister was in Hiroshima at the time the bomb dropped and hadn't been heard from since. Shortly afterwards, Kinue Nomura is found... Read review

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Advantages: Thrilling story
Disadvantages: None really

..., although I don't particularly see it as a bad thing. The author has clearly been influenced by British and American writers; to the extent that the solution to how the murder was done could almost have been taken from an Arthur Conan Doyle book. It is not completely non-Japanese though. I think that the description of society in Japan after the Second World War is vivid and interesting and well-phrased for a western reader, as are the cultural connotations of being the daughter of a tattoo artist and the mistress of a wealthy man. One advantage of this book is that it might be ideal for someone who would like to read Japanese literature, but is put off by the possibility of not being able to understand the cultural background. The characters in the novel are not particularly well-drawn out. Takagi uses the tactic of many a crime fiction writer... Read review

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