Tokyo Express

First Japanese edition published by Kobunsha Co. Ltd 1958

Republished in The Complete Works of Matsumoto Seichō, Vol. 1, by Bungeishunju Ltd 1971

This translation first published 2022

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In a rocky cove in the bay of Hakata, the bodies of a young & beautiful couple are discovered. Stood in the coast's wind & cold, the police see nothing to investigate- the flush of the couple's cheeks speaks clearly of cyanide, of a lovers' suicide. But in the eyes of two men, Torigai Jutaro, a senior detective, & Kiichi Mihara, a young gun from Tokyo, something is not quite right. 

Together, they begin to pick at the knot of a unique & calculated crime... Now widely available in English for the first time, Tokyo Express is celebrated around the world as Seicho Matsumoto's masterpiece - & as one of the most fiendish puzzles ever written.

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Seichō Matsumoto was born in 1909 in Fukuoka, Japan. Self-educated, Matsumoto published his first book when he was forty years old & quickly established himself as a master of crime fiction. His exploration of human psychology & Japanese post-war malaise, coupled with the creation of twisting, dark mysteries, made him one of the most acclaimed & best-selling writers in Japan. He received the prestigious Akutagawa Literary Prize in 1950 & the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 1970. He died in 1992.

Jesse Kirkwood is a literary translator working from Japanese into English. The recipient of the 2020 Harvill Secker Young Translators’ Prize, his translations include The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto & A Perfect Day to Be Alone by Nanae Aoyama.