MATSUMOTO SEICHO

Popular novelist Matsumoto Seicho, given name Kiyoharu, was born in Fukuoka Prefecture. Due to his family’s impoverished situation, he spent time after graduation from high school working in menial jobs. In 1950, his first novel was chosen as a winner of the Asahi Weekly’s “One Million Novels” competition. His novel Aru ‘Kokura Nikki’ Den (A Story of ‘Kokura Diary,’ 1953) was awarded the Akutagawa Ryunosuke Prize. Thereafter, Matsumoto became famous for his detective novels, many of which were bestsellers, including Ten to sen (1958; tr. Points and Lines, 1970) and Suna no utsuwa (1961; tr. Inspector Imanishi Investigates, 1989). An unusually large number of Matsumoto novels have been made into films. A literary award was founded in his honor.

See also BUNGEI SHUNJU; MINAKAMI TSUTOMU.