Front cover of the first English language translation published by Kodansha (orig. translation 1970). Image sourced from Goodreads. Ma le cose sono davvero più complicate oppure a volte sono proprio come appaiono? E se si, come fare a dimostrarlo? I treni partono sempre alla stessa ora o c’è un piccolo lasso di tempo tra due viaggi che potrebbe ribaltare la vicenda? Tokyo Express presents its readers with an intriguing set-up that is somewhat let-down by the story giving away too much too soon. The premise made me think that this would be a whodunnit with some noir undertones, but it soon became apparent that the mystery driving the narrative was more of the whydunnit variety. There was a cat-and-mouse sort of dynamic that had the potential of elevating the story into the realms of a work of psychological suspense that is never utilised to its full potential (the characterization for both cat and the mouse is too surface-level). Nevertheless, the writing is concise and clear-cut, and the plot develops in a cogent manner. There are some unlikely coincidences (our detective is questioning someone who after claiming they can’t remember X or Y, all of a sudden come up with some vital bit of info). The atmosphere is the driving force of the story, as I found the setting (1950s Japan) and ambience in Tokyo Express to be strongly rendered. E proprio questa esattezza matematica che permette un incastro ad orologeria tipo battaglia navale colpito - e - affondato è il punto di forza del giallo ma anche il suo punto debole, e alla lunga stanca.

Matsumoto's works created a new tradition of Japanese crime fiction. Dispensing with formulaic plot devices such as puzzles, Matsumoto incorporated elements of human psychology and ordinary life into his crime fiction. In particular, his works often reflect a wider social context and postwar nihilism that expanded the scope and further darkened the atmosphere of the genre. His exposé of corruption among police officials as well as criminals was a new addition to the field. The subject of investigation was not just the crime but also the society in which the crime was committed. Non credo si possa apprezzare questo rapidissimo thriller scritto nel 1958 da Matsumoto senza essere mai stati in Giappone: risulterebbe incomprensibile. Seicho Matsumoto ( 松本清張, Matsumoto Seichō), December 21, 1909 – August 4, 1992) was a Japanese writer. Seichō Matsumoto (1909-1992) was so prolific a writer with 450 published works that he was known as the Georges Simenon of Japan. Many of these were in the crime and mystery fiction genre, although he also wrote historical fiction and non-fiction. His writing themes often reflected his personal feelings in opposition to American and Japanese corruption.

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Naturally, only having read a couple of Seishi Yokomizo’s books, that was the only point of comparison I had for Japanese mystery fiction. The first thing I noticed was while Tokyo Expressis set only around a decade after the two Yokomizo books I’d read (set in the mid-1940s), this one feels more modern-day, closer in time to where we are with Japan’s well laid out and busy railway system, Tokyo with its coffee shops and trams, and government offices with clandestine dealings with businesses and corruption. Very different from Yokomizo’s isolated villages, rife with superstition and cut off in a sense from city life and ways. Yokomizo of course, also gives us a closer look at the people involved. Torigai's, and then Mihara’s investigations, form the bulk of the story, in many ways they’re thinly-sketched figures yet somehow, they’re quite compelling. Shabby, world-weary, provincial Inspector Torigai’s a particularly sympathetic character, and his bond with the younger, overworked Inspector Mihara’s very effective. Their investigation, with its links to government corruption and bribery, provides a striking glimpse of the machinery of everyday life in post-war Japan, along with its many contradictions: an era of massive reconstruction resulting in a society caught between tradition and rapid change; a place weighed down by complex and damaging social and professional hierarchies, where industrialists thrive but the police are understaffed and poorly-paid. Matsumoto’s portrait of 1950s Japan’s obviously inflected by his comparatively left-wing politics, reminding me at times of the approach of radical crime writers like Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö.

Due cadaveri su una spiaggia, a pochi chilometri da Tokyo. Giovani amanti, cianuro: è un suicidio, è chiaro. Ma: La precisione è un requisito fondamentale per i mezzi di trasporto in Giappone e Seichō Matsumoto utilizza questo espediente per costruire l’intera narrazione: Tokyo Express è infatti un romanzo breve in cui un due persone, giudicate da tutti amanti, apparentemente si sono suicidate. Tic toc, tic toc” il tempo scorre inesorabile e ogni ora, minuto, secondo alla stazione di Tokyo si ferma un treno ogni binario, ciascuno con una precisa destinazione. Tokyo Express", romanzo d'esordio di Seicho Matsumoto, scritto nel 1958 è un compendio di diversi stilemi del giallo classico, non ultimo quello del "giallo ferroviario" (anche se qui il crimine non avviene in treno ma la ferrovia fornisce l'alibi) frequentato dai più grandi giallisti a partire da Agatha Christie con "Assassinio sull'Orient Express" ma anche con "Il mistero del treno azzurro" e altri racconti, oppure da Freeman Wills Crofts con "Il mistero dell’espresso della notte".Tokyo Express is a Japanese mystery/detective novel by Seichō Matsumoto, first published in 1958 and in this version, translated by Jesse Kirkwood. Having only read two of Seishi Yokomizo’s Kindaichi mysteries so far, when this showed up on NetGalley, I was keen to give it a try, and while it turned out quite different from the usual ‘mystery’ novel, I found it to be a very enjoyable one indeed. I read Tokyo Express through its inclusion in the 2022 Year of Reading subscription from the English language bookstore Shakespeare and Company in Paris, France. For the most part I enjoyed the train motif in this story even if it wasn't quite on the level of Agatha Christie's train-related whodunnits. Credited with popularizing the genre among readers in his country, Matsumoto became his nation's best-selling and highest earning author in the 1960s. His most acclaimed detective novels, including Ten to sen (1958; Points and Lines, 1970); Suna no utsuwa (1961; Inspector Imanishi Investigates, 1989) and Kiri no hata (1961; Pro Bono, 2012), have been translated into a number of languages, including English. Both the detectives we come in the book across are likeable—whether it is the young, energetic and intelligent Mihara or the older, somewhat self-deprecating Torigai who first suspects that all is not as seems to the eye. Neither of them like more modern detective fiction carry any great burdens, and I kind of liked having a book that was focused on the puzzle rather than the people for a change. Torigai is of course weighed down by past mistakes and long experience while Mihara is unsurprisingly more spirited. I wish Torigai had had more of a role in the investigation, though, since I’d enjoyed seeing him work on the case initially and examine things he thought seemed wrong. But it was good to see that whether it was the local police or those in Tokyo, none was content to simply take the matter at face value and move on. All wanted to find the truth.