Course Description: This course looks at Japanese Detective Fiction from the 1920s to the present in literature, film, and anime. It traces the emergence of the genre in popular literature, and follows the ways that the genre has adapted to different contexts within modern Japanese history and different narrative forms. Additionally, we will analyze the different ways that literature, live-action film, and animation can put readers/viewers into the role of the investigator, and how this has affected the distinct courses that the genre has taken in different media. Readings will include work by Edogawa Ranpo, Yokomizo Seishi, and Miyabe Miyuki; films will include work by Ishii Teruo, Nomura Yoshitarō, Suzuki Seijun, and Ōbayashi Nobuhiko; anime will include Detective Conan (a.k.a. Case Closed) and Paranoia Agent.

Course Objectives: Students will get an overview of the history of mystery and detective literature, film, and animation from the 1930s to the present. Further, they will learn about the different ways that these media articulate and recreate the process of investigation for readers/viewers.

Required Books:

· Edogawa Rampo—The Black Lizard & Beast in the Shadow

· Soji Shimada—The Tokyo Zodiac Murders

· Abe Kobo—The Ruined Map

· Miyabe Miyuki—All She Was Worth

· Aoyama Gosho—Case Closed, Vol. 1 (manga)

Complete syllabus and teaching evaluations available upon request.