Keigo Higashino

Keigo Higashino studied at Osaka Prefecture University. The recorded working language is Japanese. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are crime fiction. Works named in the authority record are Galileo Series, Bunshin, Naoko, Journey Under the Midnight Sun and Ryūsei no Kizuna. Distinctions recorded are Edogawa Rampo Award, Naoki Prize, Honkaku Mystery Grand Prize and Chūōkōron Award.

Higashino was born in the Ikuno-ku ward of the city of Osaka in Osaka Prefecture. The logographic characters that make up the family name were initially read as "Tono", but Keigo's father changed the reading to "Higashino". Growing up in a working class area, Higashino's childhood was challenging because of the lower class to which his family belonged. He attended Shoji Elementary School, Higashi Ikuno Junior High School, and Hannan High School. During his high school years he started reading mystery fiction. He studied Electrical Engineering at Osaka Prefecture University, where he became captain of the archery club. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree.

Higashino started writing while in high school and university, showing his manuscripts to friends. In 1981, he began working as an engineer at Nippon Denso Co. (presently DENSO), and married a high school teacher. He continued to write in the evenings and on weekends, submitting unpublished mystery novels for consideration for the annual Edogawa Rampo Prize in 1983. In 1984, his submission, which drew on his wife's occupation, reached the final round. In 1985, at the age of 27, he won the Rampo Prize for best unpublished mystery for Hōkago (放課後; After School), drawing on experiences of the archery club at his former university. He resigned from DENSO in 1986 to start a career in Tokyo as a full-time writer. In 1998, Higashino published Himitsu (秘密; Secret), which was adapted into a feature film and won the 52nd Mystery Writers of Japan Award for feature films in 1999. Secret was later translated into English by Kerim Yasar and published as Naoko in 2004, with a limited print run. Higashino was inspired to write the story by reading a book in which a young child possessed the memories of someone who died nearby. He tried writing a short story featuring the implications of what would happen in such an instance, "but the ideas didn't fully materialize. Finally I presented it as a novel and it got picked up." A 1999 Japanese film, Himitsu, was based on the book, as was a 2007 English-language French remake,The Secret, starring David Duchovny. In 2006, Higashino won the 134th Naoki Prize for The Devotion of Suspect X (容疑者Xの献身, Yōgisha Ekkusu no Kenshin), an award for which he had been nominated five times previously. Suspect X also won the 6th Honkaku Mystery Award and was ranked the number-one novel by Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! 2006 and 2006 Honkaku Mystery Best 10, annual mystery fiction guide books published in Japan. The English edition of Suspect X, translated by Alexander O. Smith, was nominated for the 2012 Edgar Award for Best Novel and the 2012 Barry Award for Best First Novel. He received the Eiji Yoshikawa Literary Prize in 2014 for Inori no Maku ga Oriru Toki (祈りの幕が下りる時; When the Curtain of Prayer Descends), the 10th book to feature Detective Kyoichiro Kaga. He thought that the book would be the end of the Kaga series, as he had done what he wanted to do with it. Higashino was one of the most popular authors in Asia and, reportedly, the most popular novelist in China. Translation rights for his books, like Suspect X, were sold as far afield as China, Thailand, France, Russia and Spain. Both his Suspect X and Salvation of a Saint were published in 6 languages. His popularity drew the attention of Asian academics, with papers and master's theses on his work published in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan, for example, and also stimulated United States scholars. He was elected president of the Mystery Writers of Japan (MWJ) in 2009, and served until 2013. From 2002 to 2007 he served on various MWJ selection committees, and fulfilled a similar role for the Edogawa Rampo Award from 2008 to 2013. In 2014, he became a selection member for the Naoki Prize. After the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, Higashino donated the royalties of 100,000 copies of the reprint of The Wings of the Kirin (麒麟の翼, Kirin no Tsubasa), the sequel to Newcomer, to relief efforts in affected areas. Higashino reportedly avoided publicity, as he preferred people not to recognize him on the street.

Higashino died from colorectal cancer on July 23, 2026, at the age of 68. Kodansha, his publisher, announced his death via X. He had a private funeral per his family’s wishes. Condolences were paid via social media by some of the actors who played his characters.

Higashino admitted in 2015 that his content and style had changed from his earlier writings, in which he treated motivation as the most important element. In a 2011 interview, he stated that he wanted his "readers to be continually surprised by my ideas." In addition to mystery novels, Higashino wrote essays and story books for children. His style of writing the latter differed from his novels, and he did not use as many characters as in his novels. Higashino's works often included scientific elements, such as nuclear power generation and brain transplantation. Sports references, such as archery and kendo, ski jumping, and snowboarding, also occurred often. Suspect X inverts the classical whodunit structure, as the reader learns early on who the murderer is. Andrew Joyce writes in The Wall Street Journal that Higashino explores how "feelings of loyalty and the oppressive weight of human relations" are "catalysts for murder and dark pacts between neighbors or co-workers to dispose of bodies". Higashino claimed that Japanese people prefer this format, and that rather than explaining the significance of everything at the end of the book, he wanted to describe the characters' actions and intentions at the beginning so he could better portray their feelings of guilt and anguish. While Higashino admitted to liking Western writers, he felt most strongly influenced by Japanese authors such as Edogawa Rampo and Seicho Matsumoto, "and so my work naturally has that Japanese sense of old-fashioned loyalty and concern for human feeling". Regarding his Western readers, Higashino wanted them "to read my work and come to understand how Japanese people think, love and hate. I want them to be impressed that there is a Japanese person who came up with such unusual stories."

2006 – The Best Japanese Crime Fiction of the Year (Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! 2006): The Devotion of Suspect X 2010 – The Best Japanese Crime Fiction of the Year (Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! 2010): Shinzanmono (The Newcomer) 2012 – Ranked as the No. 13 novel on the Top 100 Japanese Mystery Novels of All Time: The Devotion of Suspect X 2012 – Ranked as the No. 18 novel on the Top 100 Japanese Mystery Novels of All Time: Journey under the Midnight Sun 2018 – Ranked as No. 1 novel on the Weekly Bungeishunjū Mystery Best 10: Chinmoku no Parēdo (沈黙のパレード; Silent Parade)

Tokio chichi e no dengon (2004 Aug–Sep, Original Title: Tokio, 2002) Byakuyakō (2006) Galileo (2007 and 2008, Original Title: Tantei Galileo, 1998, Yochimu, 2000, and Galileo no Kunō, 2008) Ryūsei no Kizuna (2008) Meitantei no Okite (2009) Himitsu (2010) Shinzanmono (2010) Higashino Keigo Mysteries (2012, Original Title: Hannin no Inai Satsujin no Yoru, 1990, Ayashii Hitobito, 1994, and Ano Koro no Dareka, 2011) Galileo II (2013 and SP, 2013, Original Title: Seijo no Kyūsai, 2008, Galileo no Kunō, 2008, Kyozō no Dōkeshi, 2012, and Kindan no Majutsu, 2012) Dangerous Venus (2020) The Forbidden Magic (2022)

Some of his novels have been made into TV drama series and films:

Naoko (1999, Original Title: Himitsu, 1998) g@me. (2003, Original Title: Gēmu no Na wa Yūkai, 2002) Lakeside Murder Case (2004, Original Title: Lakeside, 2002) Henshin (2005) Tegami (2006) Suspect X (2008) The Hovering Blade (2009, Original Title: Samayou Yaiba, 2004) Into the White Night (2011) Yoake no Machi de (2011) The Wings of the Kirin (2012) Platinum Data (2013) Midsummer's Equation (2013) Broken | Banghwanghaneun Kalnal (2014) The Big Bee | Tenku no Hachi (2015) Shippu Rondo (2016) Miracles of the Namiya General Store | Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki (2017) The House Where The Mermaid Sleeps | Ningyo no Nemuru Ie (2018) The Crimes That Bind | Inori no Maku ga Oriru Toki (2018) Laplace's Witch | Rapurasu no Majo (2018) Masquerade Hotel (2019) Parallel World Love Story (2019) Masquerade Night (2021) Silent Parade (2022) In an Isolated Cottage on a Snowy Mountain (2024) Black Showman (2025) The Keeper of the Camphor Tree (2026) The Swan and the Bat (2026) The Gate of Murder (2027)

White Night (2009) Perfect Number (2012) Broken (2014)

The Secret (2007, based on Himitsu; French title: Si J'etais Toi, meaning "If I Were You")

Namiya (2017, based on Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki)

Monica, O My Darling (2022, Hindi-language film based on Burutasu No Shinzou) Jaane Jaan (2023, Hindi-language film based on The Devotion of Suspect X)