Edogawa Ranpo - Edogawa Ranpo

Mystery writer. His real name was Hirai Taro. He was born on October 21, 1894 in Nabari, Mie Prefecture. He graduated from the School of Politics and Economics at Waseda University. Since becoming fascinated with works such as "The Ghost Tower" by Kuroiwa Ruiko as a junior high school student, he has been an avid reader of Western mysteries. His pen name comes from Edgar Allan Poe, who he admired. After graduating from university, he worked in a variety of jobs, including as an employee at a trading company, a shipyard clerk, a secondhand book dealer, a Tokyo City Hall official, and a Chinese noodle stall owner. He submitted "Two-Sen Copper Coin" to "Shin Seinen," which caught the eye of editor-in-chief Morishita Uson, and it was published in the April issue of the magazine in 1923 (Taisho 12). The main story, which uses a full-scale code-breaking trick, is a monumental work that established the modern mystery novel in Japan. After that, he wrote short stories with original tricks and original ideas, such as "Psychological Test" (1925), "The Murder Case on D Hill", "The Attic Walker" and "The Human Chair", as well as long novels such as "The Lakeside Pavilion Incident" (1926) and "Injuu" (1928), and also published masterpieces of fantastic horror such as "The Man Traveling with a Pressed Picture" and "The Demon of the Isolated Island". However, around 1930, he felt his creative energy was drying up, and turned to popular thrillers such as "The Spider Man" (1929) and "The Golden Mask" (1930), which sold shocking suspense, while he also wrote children's stories such as "The Phantom Thief Twenty Faces" and received acclaim. The serious work of his middle period is "Pomegranate" (1934), and he was practically banned from writing during World War II. After the war, he wrote full-length novels such as "Kajin Gengi" (1954), but his passion was directed towards popularizing mystery novels, nurturing the next generation of writers, and research and criticism, rather than writing novels. In 1947 (Showa 22), he became the first president of the Mystery Writers of Japan, and in 1954, to commemorate his 60th birthday, he established the Edogawa Rampo Prize with the aim of discovering new writers, and in 1988, he became the first chairman of the Mystery Writers of Japan Association. In addition to writing mystery novels, he also published the critical collections "Gen'ei-jo" (Part 1 and Part 2) (1951, 1954) and the autobiographical essay collection "Tantei Shosetsu Forty Years" (1961). He died on July 28, 1965.

[Jun Atsugi]

"The Complete Works of Edogawa Rampo, 25 volumes (1978-79, Kodansha)" ▽ "Edogawa Rampo - Criticism and Research, by Nakajima Kotaro (1980, Kodansha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

推理作家。本名平井太郎。明治27年10月21日、三重県名張市に生まれる。早稲田(わせだ)大学政経学部卒業。中学生のころに黒岩涙香(るいこう)の『幽霊塔』などの作品に熱中して以来、欧米のミステリーを耽読(たんどく)。ペンネームは彼が傾倒したエドガー・アラン・ポーに由来する。大学卒業後は貿易商社員、造船所事務員、古本商、東京市役所吏員、屋台の支那(しな)そば屋など各種の職業を転々とする。『二銭銅貨』を『新青年』に投稿、編集長森下雨村(うそん)の目にとまり、1923年（大正12）同誌の4月号に掲載された。本格的な暗号解読をトリックにした本編は、日本に近代的な推理小説を確立した記念碑的な作品である。その後『心理試験』（1925）、『D坂の殺人事件』『屋根裏の散歩者』『人間椅子(いす)』など、独創的なトリックと斬新(ざんしん)な着想による短編と、『湖畔亭(こはんてい)事件』（1926）、『陰獣』（1928）などの長編を執筆するかたわら、『押絵と旅する男』『孤島の鬼』のような幻想的な怪奇趣味の名編を発表した。しかし30年前後から創作力の枯渇を覚え、どぎついサスペンスを売り物にした『蜘蛛男(くもおとこ)』（1929）、『黄金仮面』（1930）などの通俗スリラーへと転じ、また一方では『怪人二十面相』以下の児童読み物を書いて喝采(かっさい)を博した。中期の本格的な作品としてみるべきものは『石榴(ざくろ)』（1934）で、第二次世界大戦中は事実上執筆禁止の状態に置かれた。戦後は『化人幻戯』（1954）のような長編も書いたが、乱歩の情熱は創作よりもむしろ推理小説の普及と後輩の育成、研究と評論へと向けられ、47年（昭和22）探偵作家クラブの初代会長となり、54年還暦を記念して新人発掘を意図した江戸川乱歩賞を設定、63年には日本推理作家協会の初代理事長に就任した。推理小説の創作のほかに、評論集『幻影城』正・続（1951、54）、自伝的エッセイ集『探偵小説四十年』（1961）がある。昭和40年7月28日死去。

［厚木　淳］

『『江戸川乱歩全集』全25巻（1978～79・講談社）』▽『中島河太郎著『江戸川乱歩――評論と研究』（1980・講談社）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例