East Wind Coming

by Yuichi Hirayama

  Title Page

  East Wind Coming

  By

  Hirayama Yuichi

  &

  John Hall

  Publisher Information

  Published in the UK by MX Publishing

  335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive, London, N11 3GX

  www.mxpublishing.co.uk

  Digital edition converted and distributed in 2013 by

  Andrews UK Limited

  www.andrewsuk.com

  Copyright 2013 Hirayama Yuichi and John Hall

  The right of Hirayama Yuichi and John Hall to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.

  All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cover design by www.staunch.com

  Foreword by Hirayama Yuichi

  One hundred years has passed since the publication of “Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes” by Ronald Knox in 1912. That’s four generations of Sherlockians in United States and Britain. On the other hand, there have been only three generations of Sherlockians in Japan, as its history didn’t begin until after World War II.

  It is said the first Sherlockian meeting in Japan was in 1948, with Richard Hughes, Edogawa Rampo, Yoshida Ken-ichi and others attending. But this scion society had only one meeting, and then Hughes moved to Hong Kong. The real history of Japanese Sherlockiana began with Dr. Naganuma Kohki and his first book, Sherlock Holmes no Chie (Wisdom of Sherlock Holmes), published in 1961. He was an earnest Sherlockian and the first Japanese to become a member of The Baker Street Irregulars. Naganuma’s generation was an introductory age. He wrote nine books on Sherlockiana, most of which were overviews of western studies and investigations. Before Naganuma, we had only a few articles on Sherlockiana, and it was unusual for us to give such consideration to detective stories.

  The second generation was that of Dr. Kobayashi Tsukasa and his wife, Ms. Higashiyama Akane. They began the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club in 1978, the first nation-wide Sherlockian society in Japan. The couple was tireless Sherlockian evangelists, publishing many books to spread Sherlockiana all over the nation. I also became a member of JSHC when I was just a high school student. JSHC once had more than one thousand members, and remains one of the largest Sherlockian societies in the world.

  As the third generation of Sherlockians, I have seen Sherlockiana imported and developed. Now it is time to export the results. In 1991 I began publishing an international Sherlockian magazine, Shoso-in Bulletin. At that time, there was The Baker Street Journal, Sherlock Holmes Journal and many other Sherlockian magazines but most of them were American or at least printed in English. I planned to introduce Sherlockiana to Japanese and other non-English speaking countries. In 2004, the bulletin’s final volume, vol.14, was published. I believe the journal succeeded in its mission.

  This series of published articles are not only from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, but also from France, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, Brazil, Hong Kong, and Japan.

  This volume contains all of my own articles published in The Shoso-in Bulletin, and several that appeared in The Baker Street Journal, The Ritual, Canadian Holmes, and other Sherlockian magazines printed in English. (One of them was translated into Italian, and published in an Italian magazine.) After twenty years of writing, I believe it is a good time to sum up my overseas works.

  In these writing and publishing endeavors, there are two people who supported me the most; without their help, it would not have been possible to write even one Sherlockian article in English. The first one to thank is Mr. John Hall of England. I met John when I attended the general meeting of the Northern Musgraves. He is a famous Sherlockian scholar, and I always admire his vast knowledge and kind gentlemanship. We wrote some articles together and exchanged Sherlockian questions and answers. It was a fun game and good training as a Sherlockian. All of these articles are included in this book.

  The other friend is Ms. Mel Hughes of the United States. She was the co-editor of The Shoso-in Bulletin. She was previously a professional editor, and without her help, The Shoso-in Bulletin would not have continued as long as it did. I thank her so much for her great support and help.

  I also thank to Ms. Peggy Perdue of Canada. She assisted us in the completion of this book. She checked my poor English with great patience.

  In this book, names of Japanese people are written in our traditional style, family name first, for instance HIRAYAMA is my family name, and YUICHI is my personal name.

  Foreword by John Hall

  Yuichi and I first met about twenty years ago (doesn’t bear thinking about!) and began co-authoring articles on Sherlockian Topics soon after. It was Yuichi who thought of the format which is here used, namely that each of us should ask the other three questions on each of the cases in the Sherlockian canon; the other would then supply - as best as might be - answers, the questioner would then, if need be, respond. The intention being that there should be eventually be either a consensus of opinion on, or two markedly different readings of, the particular topic.

  It worked reasonably well, apart from the fact that other things came along and prevented our completing studies of all sixty of the cases. We hope, however, that such as we did complete might be of some interest to other students of this most fascinating of subjects, Sherlock Holmes and his works.

  Sherlock Holmes in Japan

  Japan is a Maple-White Land of Sherlockiana. Nobody knows even of its existence. But there are more than one thousand Sherlockians and many papers and books, which include many that have been out-of-print in the West for many years.

  There is a cliff between your countries and mine. That is a language cliff, which is very high and dangerous. If you want to get over it alone, you need to make even more of an effort than that of Professor Challenger. This is a rope for you. I hope it helps your climbing.

  First of all, I must tell you a history of Sherlockiana in Japan.

  The first translation of the Canon was in 1894. It was “The Man with the Twisted Lip” in the magazine Nihonjin. You may be surprised at this fact. At that time, our ancestors tried at western ways so hard in order to keep our independence. Most Asian countries were under the reign of western Empires except Thailand, China and Japan. Our ancestors decided to make Japan as “rich and strong”. They followed Germany in establishing an army and educating children. They also followed the British style of economy, navy and culture. It had been believed for a long time that British products were always first class.

  In 1916, Adventures was translated. In 1929, the entire Canon except His Last Bow was translated into Japanese. From 1931 to 1932, most of works of Doyle were translated in eight volumes. Nobuhara Ken translated the Canon by himself in 1951. This translation is the most well read now.

  You can find several Japanese names in the member list of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London. The first Japanese Sherlockian was the late Dr. Naganuma Kohki. He was the first Japanese member of The
Baker Street Irregulars and published nine Sherlockiana books.

  The first Japanese Sherlockian society “The Baritsu Chapter” was established in 1948. The members were Mr Richard Hughes, Count Makino, Dr Naganuma and some other Japanese and Western people. The society donated a plate to The Criterion Bar of London which was stolen a long time ago. This society had only one meeting. After that, it moved to Hong Kong. The society and Mr. Hughes’s name are found in De Waal’s The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as a Hong Kong society.

  In 1977, Dr. Kobayashi Tsukasa and his wife Mrs. Higashiyama Akane established The Japan Sherlock Holmes Club. Now its members are more than one thousand. It must be one of the largest Sherlockian societies in the world.

  This society publishes the news letter “The Baker Street News” ten times a year, and the magazine The World of Holmes. Regrettably, all articles are written in Japanese.

  Japanese Sherlockians inclinations are interesting. As we had no Victorian times in our history, it is important to know how people lived in this time. There are papers with titles like “English Cooking”, “Victorian Gentlemen’s Hats”, “Victorian Maps” etc. For British Sherlockians, these are easy matters. It is sufficient to only ask their grandparents. At one meeting which I attended, there was an argument on Holmes’ washroom. No one knows where and how it was.

  Another interest of Japanese Sherlockians is writing parodies. So many parodies are published in private Sherlockian magazines. Most of writers are young beginners. It is sad that there are only a few stories which are attractive enough to translate and show you.

  Sherlockian collections are fun for us, too. It is not popular to collect books in English, because of their lack of knowledge of English. The most famous collector’s items are nine Dr. Naganuma books. They are not easy to find, and are expensive. If you want one, you need twenty pounds per Dr Naganuma book. Though you can buy two good Sherlockiana books in English with this, as there are not many Sherlockians who can understand English, they cannot have the Agra treasure.

  It is believed in Japan, that Sherlockian papers like “Dr Watson was a woman” or “Who was the king of Bohemia?” are relics of the past. It was Dr Kobayashi who advocated it first. He was a psychiatrist and translated Sam Rosenberg’s Naked is the Best Disguise in 1982. I think his tastes lay in such psychiatric or psychological works, literary studies and studies of Victorian era.

  But I think this is not true. There are such books as You Know my Method by Sebeok, and The Sign of Three by Eco & Sebeok. On the other hand, there are also much more “classic” studies published. It is clear Eco and Sebeok’s works are not Sherlockiana. They used Holmes as material for their study. Japanese Sherlockians need Victorian era studies because of our lack of knowledge. These two are not Sherlockiana at all.

  As we have only ten or fifteen years history of Sherlockiana excepting the late Dr. Naganuma, several interesting books which are out of print in the West are now sold in Japan.

  It was Sherlock Holmes; a Biography of the World’s First Consulting Detective by W. S. Baring-Gould which Dr. and Mrs. Kobayashi translated and used to call together Japanese Sherlockians. This book is available as a paperback edition now.

  After that, many good books were translated into Japanese.

  1962 THE LIFE OF SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE by John Dickson Carr

  1973 PROFILE BY GASLIGHT by Edgar W. Smith

  1975 THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION by Nicholas Meyer

  1978 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SHERLOCKIANA by Jack Tracy

  1980 SEVENTEEN STEPS TO 221B by James Edward Holroyd (paperback now available)

  1982 THE SHERLOCK HOLMES COOKBOOK by Fanny Cradock

  1982-83 THE ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES (available in 21 volumes)

  1983 CONAN DOYLE by Ronald Pearsall (paperback now available)

  1984 CONAN DOYLE by Julian Symons

  1987 THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Vincent Starrett

  1989 THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by M. H. Greenberg (paperback now available)

  These are only a sample.

  The most incredible translation is THE MISADVENTURES OF SHERLICK HOLMES edited by Ellery Queen. It is not a joke. It was published in 1983-84 in two volume paperbacks by Hayakawa Shobo Co. I do not know why Hayakawa could publish it. But Japan is the only country where this book is available now.

  In addition, original books are also published. Most of them are written by Dr. and Mrs. Kobayashi. Another member of The Baker Street Irregulars, Mr. Tanaka Kiyoshi published a book for beginners. Two other books are anthologies by members of JSHC.

  You might wonder why there are so many Sherlockians in these tiny islands in the Far East. Some British Sherlockians asked me this question when I visited their home country. Always, I told them two answers.

  One is, as I wrote in this article, in Sherlock’s time our country changed very much to be a modern nation. Our teacher was Germany and Britain. We learned their languages, industries and their ways of life. The Canon reminds us our old school days.

  The other is that there are many points which resemble modern Japan. Now Japan, like Victorian Britain, is one of the most developed countries which many people visit. The Emperor of the time’s reign was over sixty years. We can find ourselves in the Canon.

  Fifty years ago, when the Baker Street Irregulars gathered, America resembled Victorian London. And now Japan does. Fifty years later, there might be millions of Sherlockians in China!

  If you are interested in Sherlockiana in Japan, I am pleased. If you want to know a new world of Sherlockiana, that is not German, nor French, you need to study Japanese. Holmes says, “What one man can invent another can discover”.

  (The Nezire Zanmai vol.1, 1991)

  “The More Deeply Sunk Impression”

  “No, no, my dear Watson. The more deeply sunk impression is, of course, the hind wheel, upon which the weight rests. You perceive several places where it has passed across and obliterated the more shallow mark of the front one. It was undoubtedly heading away from the school. It may or may not be connected with our inquiry, but we will follow it backwards before we go any farther.”

  These are the words of Sherlock Holmes in “The Priory School” which have led to many arguments. Every Sherlockian and even the literary agent agree that it is impossible to know the direction of a bicycle from impressions which have “ passed across and obliterated the more shallow mark of the front one”.

  According to The Adventures of Conan Doyle by Charles Higham,

  Conan Doyle waited for a wet day and then took his bicycle out to the Devil’s Punchbowl, a valley near Hindhead, rode it, and examined the track. He was alarmed to discover that his correspondents were right. He had imagined that the track of the hind wheel overlaying the track of the front wheel when the machine was weaving in mud would indicate the direction.

  But it is the fact the Master found the right direction. Perhaps he knew some other facts Watson did not write?

  The eminent Sherlockian T. S. Blakeney says in Sherlock Holmes: Fact or Fiction?, p106-107,

  In any case, Holmes probably had a dozen other small indications to guide him ; though he might mention only one factor, he usually had others in reserve, as evidenced in the twenty-three additional points of difference in the joint letter of the Cunninghams.

  If so, there is another question. What did Holmes know?

  Blakeney also says,

  It is there pointed out that the depth of the mark of the rear wheel, when the bicycle was going uphill, would indicate the direction of travel, for on the down slope it is very markedly less.

  Other students consider several things which may be what Holmes knew. But my impression is they are too feeble and non-systematic to be a deduction of the Master.

  Some years ago, I happened to find a book concern
ing techniques of detection. Its name is Hanzai Sousa Gijutsuron (The Techniques of Crime Detection) and it was written by Hourai Masayoshi and published by Souzou-sha in 1940. The author is a Japanese man who lived in Manchuria. He might be a member of The Police of Manchuria. In this book, I found an interesting part concerning the problem that we are discussing now. I wonder if Mr. Hourai studied with “a textbook which shall focus the whole art of detection into one volume.”(ABBE)

  Hourai says in his book (p355-358),

  How to know the direction from wheel impressions

  It often occurs that we must know the direction from wheel impressions in detecting crime.

  It is very difficult to judge direction from wheel impressions only, because they are only prints of two or one continuous lines on the ground. If it is a horse or cattle carriage, or a cart pulled by a man, we can deduce it from foot prints. But we must not forget this might be false evidence. Wheel impressions of motorcars and bicycles are much more difficult because of the absence of foot prints.

  But it is easy to judge direction from deductions based on observations upon these principles and on general circumstantial evidence.

  As a wheel advances, the edges of both impressions make layers and incline towards the direction of progress.

  At the bottom and edges, there are surface fissures towards the direction of progress.

  Stones and other solids in the impressions are pushed toward the direction of progress, and we can find the marks of where they were.

  If there is a flat big stone in the way of a cart, even though there is an impression on that side, we can find no prints about 10cm from the edge of the other side of the stone.

  When a cart turns around a corner at more than 15km/hour, a wheel kicks out soil from an impression towards the inside, namely the right hand side if it turns right, left hand side if it turns left. And the soil kicked out is scattered like the spokes of a wheel in the opposite direction of the direction of progress, namely backwards. In addition, the impression on the side of the turn is deeper, and appears to lean into the ground.