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The Isle of South Kamui and Other Stories
A young Tokyoite doctor accepts a post on a remote island south of Okinawa. When a highly contagious fatal disease breaks out, he has to choose between saving himself or saving others.
A hormone-ridden teenage youth left alone with his young stepmother following his father’s death is consumed with jealousy as her affections turn to another man.
A journalist in search of answers travels from the metropolis to a bleak shore on the Japan Sea and eventually the furthest extreme of ice-bound Hokkaido, as he investigates the suicide of a young man.
In a backstreet of the metropolis, a wily old detective follows his hunches to nail the murderer of a young prostitute.
A conflict arises between two detectives investigating the shocking suicide of a 6-year-old child, the son of a young actress famed for her immoral behavior. Can it really be suicide, or is it murder?
In this early collection of five short stories, Kyotaro Nishimura explores the criminal mind and what makes people do the unthinkable.
A hormone-ridden teenage youth left alone with his young stepmother following his father’s death is consumed with jealousy as her affections turn to another man.
A journalist in search of answers travels from the metropolis to a bleak shore on the Japan Sea and eventually the furthest extreme of ice-bound Hokkaido, as he investigates the suicide of a young man.
In a backstreet of the metropolis, a wily old detective follows his hunches to nail the murderer of a young prostitute.
A conflict arises between two detectives investigating the shocking suicide of a 6-year-old child, the son of a young actress famed for her immoral behavior. Can it really be suicide, or is it murder?
In this early collection of five short stories, Kyotaro Nishimura explores the criminal mind and what makes people do the unthinkable.
164 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2012
About the author
Kyōtarō Nishimura
339 books19 followersKyotaro Nishimura (pseudonym of Kihachiro Yajima, born 6 September 1930 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese writer of mystery stories. Nishimura is best known for his "train series" mysteries. He won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1981 for The Terminal Murder Case.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 17, 2020
Given its preoccupation with death, this collection of short stories had no right to be as enjoyable as it was. A slightly unsettling, melancholic, macabre dive into 5 short stories, which themselves were powerful page turners. The police feature heavily, but even as an anarchist I was not put off. The themes of unsolvability, of complexity, of subjectivity were very strong.
November 19, 2017
I chuckled after finishing it, and I don't think I was supposed to. The amount of suicides was like from a comedy sketch.
June 3, 2019
3.5 Stars
May 20, 2016
I put off reading this book for a long time because of the strange cover choice - could this really be the same Kyōtarō Nishimura who has written hundreds of mysteries set on trains? - of which I have read and enjoyed two. Apparently it is.
The cover image choice is a fail.
First story is the titular isle. Somewhat Somerset Maughum-esque piece about doctor who travels to an island of noble savage and almost resists infecting them all. Almost.
Second up is A Summer Reverie, which is Mishima-aping to rival Kyoko's House. Youthful, athletic nihilist longs for stepmother, attempts to kill her older novelist friend during summer on the coast of Izu. Contains both blood and cum.
The last three stories are more conventional detective/crime stories, with the twist that two deal with suicide, in a more nuanced way than, say, Patriotism, which is about as nuanced as a sword to the abdomen.
Would read more Nishimura, but I'm unsure where to start.
Update: Apparently, Nishimura has written and published over 500 works, making Stephen King look like Harper Lee.
The cover image choice is a fail.
First story is the titular isle. Somewhat Somerset Maughum-esque piece about doctor who travels to an island of noble savage and almost resists infecting them all. Almost.
Second up is A Summer Reverie, which is Mishima-aping to rival Kyoko's House. Youthful, athletic nihilist longs for stepmother, attempts to kill her older novelist friend during summer on the coast of Izu. Contains both blood and cum.
The last three stories are more conventional detective/crime stories, with the twist that two deal with suicide, in a more nuanced way than, say, Patriotism, which is about as nuanced as a sword to the abdomen.
Would read more Nishimura, but I'm unsure where to start.
Update: Apparently, Nishimura has written and published over 500 works, making Stephen King look like Harper Lee.
June 10, 2015
Pretty strong set of noir/dark fiction stories. I don't know which was my favorite, they were all pretty good stories, but very bleak overall. One gets the feeling from what gets translated that Japan is one gigantic goth community.
I think maybe the title story edges out the others because of the strange setting, a remote island on the very ass end of Japan that has an idol/oracle thing that still gets a healthy dose of worship and sacrifice, starring a volunteer doctor that makes some hard decisions and ends up in a really harsh situation.
The other stories are about a psycho kid who shoots his mom who would have had him shoot himself, a journalist investigating why a guy killed himself, and two detective stories investigating the murder of a prostitute and the "suicide" of a six year old kid.
I think maybe the title story edges out the others because of the strange setting, a remote island on the very ass end of Japan that has an idol/oracle thing that still gets a healthy dose of worship and sacrifice, starring a volunteer doctor that makes some hard decisions and ends up in a really harsh situation.
The other stories are about a psycho kid who shoots his mom who would have had him shoot himself, a journalist investigating why a guy killed himself, and two detective stories investigating the murder of a prostitute and the "suicide" of a six year old kid.
September 15, 2016
parables, symbolism, those darn self-centered tokyoites, a detective's eyes?
pretty solid stuff, maybe slightly tarnished by the emotional weight of the former half and the self-affirmation of the latter.
pretty solid stuff, maybe slightly tarnished by the emotional weight of the former half and the self-affirmation of the latter.
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November 11, 2018now I remembered why I stopped reading short stories.
I won't be rating this book as I find it's not my cup of tea. it's well written and may deserves a 5 stars rating to some people. but for me, the stories gives out a sad feeling. I preferred collection of short stories that have good mixture of laughter and tears.
I won't be rating this book as I find it's not my cup of tea. it's well written and may deserves a 5 stars rating to some people. but for me, the stories gives out a sad feeling. I preferred collection of short stories that have good mixture of laughter and tears.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews