'Japanese Bestseller Author' Keigo Higashino Passes Away After Battle with Colorectal Cancer

Best Known for Works Like "The Devotion of Suspect X"

Passed Away on July 23 at Age 68

Keigo Higashino, one of Japan's most prominent mystery novelists, has passed away.

Renowned Japanese mystery novelist Keigo Higashino passed away from colon cancer. Yonhap News

On July 27, local media including NHK belatedly reported that Higashino had died on July 23 after battling colorectal cancer. He was 68. In accordance with his family's wishes, his funeral was held privately. Japanese publisher Kodansha announced that details for a memorial event will be provided at a later date.

Higashino was born in Osaka Prefecture and graduated from Osaka Prefectural University. While working as an engineer, he began writing fiction, and at the age of 27, he made his literary debut with "After School" in 1985. This work received the Edogawa Rampo Prize, a prestigious newcomer mystery literature award presented by the Mystery Writers of Japan.

This success prompted him to pursue a full-time writing career, though he remained relatively unknown for about 10 years. Focusing primarily on the mystery genre, Higashino authored numerous works, and with the release of the "Galileo" series—centering on a genius physicist—in 1998, he began gaining widespread popularity.

Higashino's achievements include winning the 52nd Mystery Writers of Japan Award for a full-length novel in 1999, the 134th Naoki Prize and the 6th Honkaku Mystery Award for novels in 2006, and the Chuo Koron Literary Prize in 2012, earning recognition both for his popularity and his literary merit.

Notably, "The Devotion of Suspect X" and "Journey Under the Midnight Sun" were adapted into films in both Korea and Japan, further cementing his reputation. In particular, "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store" achieved bestseller status for several years in Korea, with accumulated sales surpassing 2 million copies.

Even during his illness, he continued writing and was due to release his posthumous work, "Eternal Memory," on August 5. According to Kodansha, from his debut novel "After School" in 1985 to the upcoming "Eternal Memory," Higashino published a total of 106 books (excluding co-authored works), and his cumulative Japanese print circulation exceeds 100 million copies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.