Keigo Higashino, Author of "The Devotion of Suspect X," Passes Away at 68

Passed Away from Colon Cancer on the 23rd
Authored 106 Books in 40 Years, Over 100 Million Copies Sold in Japan
"Eternal Memory," a New Novel, to Be Published Next Month

Keigo Higashino, the Japanese novelist who received worldwide acclaim for works such as "The Devotion of Suspect X," "Journey Under the Midnight Sun," and "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store," has passed away. He was 68 years old.

On its website on the 27th, Japanese publisher Kodansha announced, "Keigo Higashino passed away from colon cancer in the early morning of the 23rd." The funeral was held as a private family ceremony attended only by relatives. The family has decided not to accept condolence money, flowers, or telegrams, and whether a separate memorial event will be held will be announced at a later date.

Born in Osaka, Japan, in 1958, Higashino graduated from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Osaka Prefecture University and worked as an engineer at an auto parts company. While working at his job, he began writing novels and made his literary debut in 1985 by winning the Edogawa Rampo Prize—one of Japan's most prominent mystery newcomer awards—for his novel "After School."

By overlaying intricate scientific tricks with themes of human guilt, redemption, and fractures in family and society, he greatly expanded the reader base for mystery novels. In 1999, he won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for his novel "Secret," and in 2006, swept both the Naoki Prize and the Honkaku Mystery Award with "The Devotion of Suspect X," a story of a genius mathematician's perfect crime. He won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature with "The Curtain of Prayer Falls," and was awarded the Japanese Government's Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2023.

His representative series include the "Galileo" series featuring the physicist Manabu Yukawa and the "Detective Kaga" series starring detective Kyoichiro Kaga. Many of his works—including "Journey Under the Midnight Sun," "Yusei no Inai Yoru" ("The Connections of Shooting Stars"), "Shinzanmono," and "Masquerade Hotel"—have been adapted into movies and dramas. The cumulative total of his books published in Japan has exceeded 100 million copies, and his works have been published in 41 countries and regions.

He was also one of the most widely read Japanese authors in Korea. In particular, "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store," published in Korea in 2012, surpassed 1 million cumulative sales in 2018. It became a long-term bestseller, ranking among the top 10 overall bestsellers for the first time in Kyobo Book Centre’s tracking history for five consecutive years.

Since his debut, aside from co-authored works, Higashino published a total of 106 books over 40 years. On August 5, to mark the 30th anniversary of the "Galileo" series, his 11th full-length novel in the series, "Eternal Memory," is scheduled for release. This will be his 106th book and the last new work with a confirmed publication schedule during his lifetime.

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