Associate Professor of the East Asian Languages and Literatures Kyoko Omori recently published an English translation of “The Yellow Lodger,” a short story by Japanese writer Yamada Futaro. The translation appears in Old Crimes New Scenes: A Century of Innovations in Japanese Mystery Fiction, edited by Charles Exley and Michael Stone Tangman and published by the University of Hawai’i Press.
The original story was published in 1953, immediately after the end of the occupation by the Allied Powers. In this story, Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki (1867-1916) faces off with Sherlock Holmes in a battle of wits and defeats the famous British detective.
Omori said the short piece is of significance when we consider its meanings in the global, historical context throughout the 20th century, as well as in relation to literary approaches such as pastiche.
