Natsuhiko Kyogoku

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Natsuhiko Kyogoku (京極 夏彦, Kyōgoku Natsuhiko^?, March 26, 1963 -) is a Japanese mystery writer and designer and yōkai researcher, who is a member of Ōsawa Office (大沢オフィス). ^[1] Vertical have announced that they will be publishing his debut novel as Summer of the Ubume^[2].

Contents 1 Background 2 Feature of Writing 2.1 Yōkai(妖怪) 2.2 Tsukimono-Otoshi(憑物落とし) 2.3 Book Design 2.3.1 Cover 2.3.2 Thickness 2.3.3 Layout 3 Bibliography 4 References

[edit] Background

Kyogoku was born in Otaru, Hokkaido. After dropping out of Kuwasawa Design School (桑沢デザイン研究所), he worked as a publicity agent and established a design company. In 1994, Kodansha published Ubume no Natsu (姑獲鳥の夏);Kyogoku debuted as a novelist then. He has since written many novels, and received two Japanese literary prizes; Kyogoku won the 16th Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize (山本周五郎賞) for Nozoki Koheiji (覘き子平次) in 2003,, and won the 130th Naoki Prize (直木賞) for Nochi no Kōsetsu Hyaku Monogatari (後巷説百物語) in 2004.^[3]

Most of his works are concerned with yōkai, creatures in Japanese folklore; Kyogoku's affection toward yōkai is so great that he describes himself as a yōkai researcher. This preference of him has been strongly influenced by Shigeru Mizuki (水木しげる), who is an eminent specialist about yokai. Kyogoku's respect for Mizuki is great^[4], so he participates in the World Yōkai Association (世界妖怪協会) at which Mizuki presides, and is a member of the Kanto Mizuki Meeting (関東水木会), the Research Institute of the East-Asian Mysterious and Marvelous phenomena (東アジア恠異学会).

[edit] Feature of Writing

[edit] Yōkai(妖怪)

Kyogoku considers yōkai folklore to be a system for sublimating the people's desires, grief, pleasure and other emotions, and applied this idea to his novels.^[5] His works are often advertised as yōkai novels by the publisher, and their covers usually represent yōkai. Nevertheless in his writing, yōkai themselves don't appear, except as part of a fable, which serves to explicate the criminal characters' motives; in his novel, the criminal character's state is sometimes expressed by a phrase to the effect that "he is possessed by the yōkai", and the book title usually includes the relevant yōkai name. For example, in Ubume no Natsu, ubume is introduced as part of an expectant mother ghost folklore, considered to be an expression of "mental hate"^[6], and this expression, "mental hate", is the clue to the mystery in this work. However, ubume as substance doesn't appear until at the end of Ubume no Natsu. Thus, Kyogoku doesn't claim the existence of ghosts or monsters like the occultists in his novels. He thinks of yōkai folklores as products of human emotions, and after originally analyzing the structure of each yōkai folklore, applies the result to his works.

[edit] Tsukimono-Otoshi(憑物落とし)

In Kyogoku's works, especially Kyōgokudō (京極堂) Series, the main character Akihiko Chuzenji (中禅寺 秋彦, Chūzenji Akihiko^?) solves a case by clearing up "yōkai possessing in characters"; this technique is called Tsukimono-Otoshi, the most striking aspect of his novels. Tsukimono-Otoshi is primarily Onmyōdō's (陰陽道) term, the exorcism of yōkai, demons or ghosts possessing people. However, in his writing, as explained above, yōkai as substance are nonexistent, so this term's meaning differs from its origin. Chuzenji does Tsukimono-Otoshi as part of his rhetoric he uses in exposing the criminal character's hidden pathos, and likens the emotion to a particular yōkai folklore. This action of him often results in solving the mystery, but this result is only an unexpected by-product for Chuzenji. He doesn't have an intention to solve the problems, while insistently trying to accomplish Tsukimono-Otoshi. This behavior is something that is not seen in traditional mystery stories whose main character intently attempts to solve mysteries, and thus characterizes Kyogoku's novels.^[7]

[edit] Book Design

Kyogoku's works' another characteristic is the book design: cover, thickness and layout. As explained above, he has founded a design company before, and after he became a novelist, has been working as a designer too. Therefore, remarkably for novelists, he is always concerned with the binding process of his works directly, and sometimes designs the other novelists' books, e.g., Gankyū Kitan (眼球綺譚), Yukito Ayatsuji (綾辻行人).^[8]

[edit] Cover

Kyogoku's books' covers are elaborately designed so as to match their themes. In Kyōgokudō Series, the covers always represent yōkai featured in each weird story. In Kodansha Novels version of this series, the covers are illustrations drawn by Shirou Tatsumi (辰巳四郎) and Ayako Ishiguro (石黒亜矢子), and in Kodansha Bunko version, the covers are photographs of paper dolls made by Ryō Arai (荒井良). In Kōsetsu Hyaku Monogatari Series, the covers also represent yōkai, and as for the first edition of this series, the reverse sides of covers are fearful ukiyo-e which connect the story, e.g., Ono no Komachi Kyūsōzu(小野小町九相図). On the other hand, unlike these horror works, in Dosukoi Series, because these novels are comedies burlesquing other Japanese novels, the covers always represent funny fat sumo wrestlers.

[edit] Thickness

Almost all Kyogoku's books, especially Kyōgokudō Series, are very thick in comparison with other Japanese novels. For example, Tesso no Ori (鉄鼠の檻) is 826 pages long, Jorōgumo no Kotowari (絡新婦の理) is 829 pages long, Nuribotoke no Utage , Utage no Shitaku (塗仏の宴　宴の支度) and Nuribotoke no Utage , Utage no Shimatsu (塗仏の宴　宴の始末), a novel in two volumes, is 1248 pages long in total. Because of the thickness, his books look like bricks or dice, and are often called "brick books" or "dice books".^[9]

[edit] Layout

The layout of Kyogoku's writings is arranged according to his own rules. First, one sentence never steps over a page break. Moreover, every time a new version is published, Kyogoku always lays out the work again according to this rule. He explained the intention, "I made it possible for readers to stop reading whenever they want to. If one sentence steps over, readers who are weary of reading must turn over the page. I sense that is contemptible, because not interest to the story but physical factor force readers to read."^[10] Second, many kanji characters in his writing are invariably given kana characters alongside. Kyogoku can use DTP software perfectly, so he freely writes old-fashioned characters and ateji characters with the purpose of capturing old Japanese atmosphere in his novels. However, such characters are difficult even for Japanese people to read. Therefore, giving kana characters alongside kanji characters in his writing is essential for readers to be able to understand those characters' meaning.^[11] Third, sentences are marked out by entering null lines before and after them on purpose. That technique enables readers to perceive the curious blank where the important sentences are written.^[12] In these ways, Kyogoku always keeps readability in mind, and dedicates himself not only to sentences but also the layout.^[13]

[edit] Bibliography

• Kyōgokudō(京極堂) Series^[14]
  • Ubume no Natsu (姑獲鳥の夏)(1994)
  • Mōryō no Hako (魍魎の匣)(1995)
  • Kyōkotsu no Yume (狂骨の夢)(1995)
  • Tesso no Ori (鉄鼠の檻)(1996)
  • Jorōgumo no Kotowari (絡新婦の理)(1996)
  • Nuribotoke no Utage , Utage no Shitaku (塗仏の宴　宴の支度)(1998)
  • Nuribotoke no Utage , Utage no Shimatsu (塗仏の宴　宴の始末)(1998)
  • Onmoraki no Kizu (陰摩羅鬼の瑕)(2003)
  • Jyami no Shizuku (邪魅の雫)(2006)
  • Hyakkiyagyō--In(百鬼夜行――陰)(1999)
  • Hyakkitsurezurebukuro--Ame(百器徒然袋――雨)(1999)
  • Konjakuzokuhyakki--Kumo(今昔続百鬼――雲)(2001)
  • Hyakkitsurezurebukuro--Kaze(百器徒然袋――風)(2004)
• Koten Kaisaku(古典改作) Series
  • Wrau Iemon (嗤う伊右衛門)(1997)
  • Nozoki Koheiji (覘き子平次)(2002)
• Kōsetsu Hyaku Monogatari(巷説百物語) Series
  • Kōsetsu Hyaku Monogatari(巷説百物語)(1999)
  • Zoku Kōsetsu Hyaku Monogatari(続巷説百物語)(2001)
  • Nochi no Kōsetsu Hyaku Monogatari(後巷説百物語)(2003)
  • Saki no Kōsetsu Hyaku Monogatari(前巷説百物語)(2007)
• Loup-Garou Kihisubeki Ōkami(ルー=ガルー 忌避すべき狼)(2001)
• Dosukoi Series
  • Dosukoi Kari(どすこい（仮）)(2000)
  • Dosukoi Yasu(どすこい（安）)(2002)
  • Dosukoi.(どすこい。)(2004)

[edit] References