The Samurai Detectives by Shōtarō Ikenami: a tale of honour, desire and mystery in Edo Japan

By Hui-Ying Kerr, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Communication and Promotion, Nottingham Trent University

An upright young samurai, a cross-dressing sword-wielding maiden, a retired warrior, honour killings, killings not-so-honourable, and lovers of all kinds. Welcome to The Samurai Detectives, the first part of a series of popular historical mystery novels by Shōtarō Ikenami (1923-1990).

Originally written as a serialisation in the monthly magazine Shōsetsu Shinchō between 1972 and 1989, the series was published as 16 complete novels under the title, Kenkyaku Shōbai (Swordsman’s Business). Regarded as one of Ikenami’s…

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