Takahashi Hidehiro says in “The Appeal of Ningyo Sashichi”, “In contrast with The Crime Files of Zenigata Heiji, we find an interesting fact when we compare Heiji and his wife Oshizu and Sashichi and his wife Okume. Heiji is a serious strong character and Oshizu is obedient. On the contrary, Sashichi is a handsome flighty man and Okume is a jealous person. The flightiness of Sashichi who is handsome like an actor was developed in contract to challenge the serious, strong Heiji. This was what Yokomizo Seishi wanted to say. The jealous character of Okume describes her vivid character, and also stands out in contract to Sashichi.”
The next boom of “Torimonocho” came after the war, when restrictions on publications were relaxed. In 1949, the year when Nomura Kodo wrote the 200th episode of Heiji, The Torimonocho Writers Club was founded. The first president was Nomura Kodo. It was also the year when “Heiji Happyakuyacho”, the first Heiji movie with Hasegawa Kazuo appeared. In 1950, Kodo wrote 31 Heiji episodes. This is the best record of “The Crime Files of Zenigata Heiji”.
After the appearance of realistic mystery stories as represented by Matsumoto Seicho, Torimonocho and detective stories became old-fashioned. The Torimonocho Writers Club was absorbed in The Japan Mystery Writers Association. The time of the Torimonocho has gone, though some writers still provide Torimonocho stories.
There are excellent Torimonocho writers even now. Ikenami Shotaro writes Onihei Hankacho, and Tsuzuki Michio’s Namekuji Nagaya Torimono Sawagi is considered the best modern Torimonocho. The descendants of Hanshichi, Heiji and Holmes are still alive today.
(The Nezire Zanmai vol.1, 1991)
Some Problems in Lestrade and the Hallowed House
For anyone, it is difficult to understand the cultures of other countries. We may misunderstand foreigners as being strange or undeveloped. There is no absolute truth in the world. Five hundred years ago, when we first met western people who ate beef and pork, our ancestors thought they were “Nan ban-Jin”, savages from the south because they sailed from the Philippines. Now, western people think the Japanese and Icelanders are savage because of their whale catching.
Understanding life styles of other countries is very hard, too. Even now, there are many misunderstandings about Japan in movies made in U.S.A. and Britain. I could not find any sign of Japan in Karate Kid 2, and in The Blade Runner, there are many funny neon signs in Japanese. We Japanese enjoy 007’s You Only Live Twice as a comedy. Tiger Tanaka’s secret weapon is a subway of Tokyo! I could not stop laughing when I saw 007’s disguise to become Japanese. In The Man with the Golden Gun, Sumo wrestlers attack 007. I wonder what they were doing in Hong-Kong.
If one wishes to create movies or books concerning a foreign country, one must investigate its culture and life style. It is very unfortunate that some Western people’s understanding of Japan and the Japanese is still at the level of Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan. Three years ago, a Sherlockian pastiche was translated into Japanese. I was so surprised by it. There are too many mistakes about Japan for a detective story. It cannot be a detective story, if readers cannot believe the author. The name of this pastiche is Lestrade and the Hallowed House, by M.J. Throw. I bought the original edition and found that some of worst mistakes were corrected by the translator.
As you know, Japan is one of the largest Sherlockian countries, so it is sad that you get wrong information about it from Sherlockiana. I would like Sherlockians of the West to know the real history and life styles of Japan.
In this book, the murderer used a Japanese sword as a murder weapon. Constable Dickens, who was called “our walking encyclopedia” said “(a) tachi, sir, is the shorter of the two swords carried by the Samurai or warrior class of Japan.”(page 159) His encyclopedia had a misprint. “Tachi” is not the shorter sword, but the longer one. (“Elementary, my dear Watson, elementary.”)
Inspector Lestrade and Sergeant Dew visited the Strand Palace Hotel to see the Japanese embassy. The year of this case must be 1901. Mycroft Holmes mentioned that the embassy had come to London to discuss the Anglo-Japan alliance, which was formed in 1902. It is natural for a special embassy to have visited London, but the Japanese legation already existed at 4 Grosvenor Gardens, London. I cannot understand why they did not visit that instead.
“It opened to reveal a wizened little man in saffron colored robes who bowed almost double to Lestrade.”(page 159) I wonder who he was. Visiting Europe at that time cost so much that only selected people could go. I cannot understand this man’s mission. Also, in Japan, bowing “almost double” is only for the Emperor, not for an inspector.
“From nowhere two men in armor had rushed the length of the room to the little old man’s rescue.”(page 160) Our modern army never used armor like they did in the good old days. The Meiji revolution in the middle of nineteenth century was the last war samurai participated in, but most of them did not put on armor, because of the development of rifles. The modern army followed after the German army in all aspects. You may remember that Japan won the war over Russia in 1904-1905.
“Ishiro Yamomoto, Charterhouse and Sandhurst,” (page 160) is not a name of a Japanese man. The translator changed his name into the acceptable name, “Ichiro Yamamoto”. It is unnatural for a Japanese army officer to have studied in Britain. As I mentioned, the Japanese army followed that of Germany, so promising officers were allowed to study in Germany in those days. One of the most famous novelists in Japan, Mori Ougai, who was also an army doctor, studied in Berlin and Dresden. On the other hand, navy officers studied in Britain. Admiral Togo, who won the Battle of Tsushima, studied at Cambridge and Plymouth. Many Japanese battle ships used in the Japan-Russia War were made in Newcastle.
“‘Ordinarily my man would have urinated on his back, but...’” (page 160) Never is this ordinary in Japan. That is not the behavior of samurai.
“‘Actually, it’s Mr. Ishiro,’ the officer explained. ‘In Japan we reverse the order of names. Another archaic practice.’” This practice is true, but “Ishiro” doesn’t sound like a family name. “Yamomoto” is strange as a personal name, too, but the latter is better as a family name than the other. Mr. Trow reversed the name twice. The translator corrected this point too.
“The only furniture here was a series of wooden blocks on the floor and the carpets were missing. He sat cross legged on the polished board and invited Lestrade and Dew to do the same.
‘I’m sorry about this, gentlemen. Personally, I should have thought “when in London...” but the wheels of progress grind slow.’” (page 161)
The Japanese army’s style was completely westernized but only for food, underwear and words. All the soldiers studied with desks and chairs, and slept in beds.
“Saki or Darjeeling?”(page 161) is a spelling mistake. Not “saki” but “sake,” Japanese rice wine.
“...When our business is concluded, Inspector Lestrade, would you like to have this girl?’
‘Have...?’ Lestrade nearly dropped his cup. He glanced at Dew, whose smile vanished at once.
‘She is a geisha, Inspector. A lady of pleasure. It is her sole purpose in life to please honoured guests.’”(page 161)
“...the geisha, naked now and sitting demurely beside a bath of hot fragrance.”(page 164)
I had the same feeling as Inspector Lestrade. A geisha is not a prostitute. Some of them might act disrespectfully, but first of all, they must be treated as women in show business. Prostitutes were called “yujo”. “Yujo” lived in restricted places and belonged to houses of prostitution. It is impossible that a yujo came to London with the Japanese embassy.
“‘In the days of the Shogunate you’d probably have lost your testicles or at least had your tongue split.”(page 161) Such punishments were never done in Japan. They are those of China. I believe that the embassy was a fake.
“‘It will mean that your subordinate will accept favours.’”(page 162) This is the first time one hears of a
prostitute being forced on guests. In Japan, high ranking prostitutes could deny a customer. It was the gentlemen’s pleasure to win her heart. They played a love game.
“‘...we don’t let them wear their swords in public. Well, they’re such a nuisance getting on and off the bus.’
‘But you let them wear them in London, Colonel Ishiro,’ Lestrade commented.
‘Oh, the natives love it. No offense, Lestrade.’”(page 162)
It was 1876 when wearing swords was prohibited. A quarter of a century had passed, and neither Ninjas nor samurais wearing swords existed in 1901.
“‘This one,’ he pointed to the longer of the two swords thrust through each man’s waist sash, ‘is the katana. The other, I fancy, is the one you’re interested in, the tachi.”(page 162)
Again, “tachi” is not the shorter sword, but the longer one. “Katana” means sword, including both the shorter one and the longer one. The longer one was called “tachi” or “daitou.”
“‘One word from me now and they would kill each other or themselves.’”(page 163)
Never.
“‘What you have there is a pillow,’ Ishiro explained. ‘You probably lose yours in the Chinese laundry. We slice some of ours for sword practice.”(page 163)
We never use wood blocks for sword practice. It damages the sword. Usually, bound straw is used for this purpose. But a master of sword can cut apart even a steel helmet.
“‘Is the point of the sword ever used?’ he asked.
“‘By a samurai, never. You see, we Japanese don’t have the problem you English have; this extraordinary inability among your cavalry officers to decide whether the edge or the point of a sword is more effective. I suppose,’ he scanned the middle distance while draining his second cup, ‘I suppose it could be used that way, but if that was how your murderer struck, Inspector, he is not from Japan.’”(page 163-164)
Kendo, the Japanese fencing as a sport, has several winning tricks, such as cutting the face, hand, or body with a sword’s edge, and stabbing. One of the most famous injury cases under the Shogunate is the Matsu-no-rouka case in Edo castle. A feudal lord named Asano Takuminokami struck at Kira Kouzukenosuke, who was a master of court ceremonies. Asano injured Kira’s forehead and his back, but could not kill him. After that, Asano was blamed for his lack of knowledge of fencing. It was said that if Asano wanted to kill Kira, he should have stabbed him with the point of the sword, instead of cutting with its edge. I suppose if stabbing was the way Inspector Lestrade’s murderer struck, he is from Japan.
I conclude this article with a quotation from this book.
“‘Nonsense,’ Lestrade slapping his shoulder.” (page 164)
Bibliography
1 Trow M.J., Lestrade and the Hallowed House, London: Macmillan, 1987
2 Trow M.J, Resutoredokeibu to sannin no houmuzu, Tokyo: Shinchosha, 1989 (Japanese edition)
3 Henna Nippon, Tokyo: JICC, 1990
4 Kiyoyuki Higuchi, Edo seifuzoku yowa, Tokyo: Kawaideshoboshinsya, 1988
5 Brinkley Capt. F., A History of the Japanese People, New York: The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1915
(The Nezire Zanmai vol.2, 1992)
Another Solution of “The Lion’s Mane”
By Hirayama Yuichi and Mizuochi Masako
At one of the meetings of “The Red Circle of Niigata”, on July 9th 1989, we discussed many aspects of “The Lion’s Mane”, one of the stories that causes so many arguments. At this meeting we had been reexamining all the adventures of The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, and we had an animated discussion about this story on that day.
It is believed that this is one of the records which the Master himself wrote. There are some arguments about the author, but Dr. Narita will explain this in detail. There are also so many other questionable issues in “The Lion’s Mane.”
Of all the questions, the most knotty problem was why Holmes did not recognize the fact that the body of Fitzroy McPherson was wet from sea water. According to Holmes’s statement, “I was slow at the outset -- culpably slow. Had the body been found in the water I could hardly have missed it. It was the towel which misled me. The poor fellow had never thought to dry himself, and so I in turn was led to believe that he had never been in the water. Why, then, should the attack of any water creature suggest itself to me? That was where I went astray. Well, well, Inspector, I often ventured to chaff you gentlemen of the police force, but Cyanea capillata very nearly avenged Scotland Yard.”
If “the poor fellow had never thought to dry himself,” he must have been wet. The eminent Sherlockian Nathan Bengis wrote in his article “Sherlock Stays After School,” “You should have known from the very first that McPherson had been in the water, and could not have been out of it by more than a very few minutes. How? By the very simplest of deductions. McPherson’s body must still have been wet when you examined it. The lining of this Burberry overcoat must have been moist, as would also his hair. His canvas shoes, unlaced because he had not had time in his mortal agony. That you should have failed to notice all this water, merely from the dryness of his towel should have passed belief.”
If McPherson was attacked by Cyanea capillata, he must have been in a “considerable lagoon.” At least, his back should have been in water to be attacked with the feelers of Cyanea capillata.
However his towel was “folded and dry.” If he got into water and did not use his towel, his body must have been wet with sea water.
Bengis considered that the Master overlooked this point. It is, however, too elementary to miss for Sherlock Holmes. We cannot accept such behavior in the Master’s investigations. Even if he did make a mistake, there must have been some trick we do not understand.
If McPherson’s body was wet, it is unlikely that Holmes did not recognize this fact. There is only one solution. Holmes was right when he told us, “The poor fellow had never thought to dry himself, and so I in turn was led to believe that he had never been in the water.”
When Ian Murdoch was attacked by Cyanea capillata, “his clothes (were) in wild disorder.” Stackhurst “threw some clothes about him” when he found Murdoch in an “infernal agony.” Murdoch could not put on his clothes by himself nor walk to the school. He said, when he was attacked, that “it had taken all his fortitude to reach the bank.” His heart was not as weak as that of McPherson, but McPherson could put on “his Burberry overcoat, his trousers, and an unlaced pair of canvas shoes.” It is doubtful that a man who is “obviously dying” could dress himself even if he was a Victorian gentleman. Holmes thought that “he had suddenly huddled on his clothes again - they were all disheveled and unfastened.” It must have been difficult for a man with great pain to put on trousers.
According to Holmes’ statement, it is clear that McPherson was taking off his clothes when he was attacked by Cyanea capillata. He took off his Burberry overcoat and shirts, and sat down on his heels to unlace his canvas shoes. Cyanea capillata made an attack on his bare back,. He was taken aback, and threw it away into the lagoon. He stood up with his overcoat to protect his back from the next attack. He ran away from his enemy at seaside to his school.
There is one problem with this theory. Cyanea capillata cannot fly.
We found a unique opinion in The Annotated Sherlock Holmes which solves that contradiction. Hedgpeth wrote in an annotation, “The possibility never seemed to have occurred to Holmes that this disarming young man . . . had secured a Cyanea in some manner and placed it in the tide pool with diabolical malice aforethought . . .beyond all doubt this dark, brooding, ‘ferocious tempered’ young man, disappointed in love and capable of throwing innocent dogs through windows, had conceived a most ingenious crime and to allay suspicion had caressed his own monstrous pet.”
We agree with Hedgpeth that Ian Murdoch was the criminal. We also believe that he developed the murder plan, and another man committed
it. Hedgpeth thought Murdoch placed Cyanea capillata in the tide pool with diabolical malice aforethought. There is a problem with this crime. If Cyanea capillata did not attack McPherson, what would Murdoch have done? Would he continue “some algebraic demonstration before breakfast” every day until it attacked McPherson? If McPherson found and killed Cyanea capillata before he swam, did Murdoch intend to put another one in the pool? This is a crime of possibility. Murdoch might be safe from the hands of law, but he needed so much luck.
McPherson and Maud Bellamy were engaged. They kept it secret because “Fitzroy’s uncle, who is very old and said to be dying, might have disinherited him if he had married against his wish.” Murdoch must have known that because “for a year or more Murdoch has been as near to McPherson as he ever could be to anyone.” He had no time to waste.
We think another man threw Cyanea capillata on McPherson’s back when he sat down on his heels to unlace his canvas shoes. The flying jellyfish hurt him, but not as serious as it would have in the sea. He shook himself free, and it dropped into the tide pool. McPherson took his overcoat, and ran away.
Who was the other man/men? We believe they were Tom Bellamy and his son William. They did not want Maud Bellamy married to McPherson. Tom Bellamy said “I object to my girl picking up with men outside her own station.” Clearly it means McPherson. He “who owns all the boats and bathing-cots at Fulworth”, did not want a poor teacher as his son in law. He was a fisherman. It was easy for him to find a poisonous jellyfish. But as a teacher of Mathematics, Murdoch must have had no knowledge of fish. Tom Bellamy angrily told his daughter “I tell you, Maud, not to mix yourself up in the matter”. His attitude showed he knew about the case.
On the other hand, it seemed Tom Bellamy liked Ian Murdoch. Murdoch visited the Bellamys soon after the case to tell about it. Tom Bellamy said, “This other gentleman of yours let us know the news.” He treated Murdoch as a gentleman, but according to his daughter, he had “prejudice against” McPherson. Maud wanted to marry McPherson, but her father and brother wanted Murdoch as their son/brother in law.
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