Edogawa Ranpo
Tarō Hirai (平井 太郎, Hirai Tarō, October 21, 1894 – July 28, 1965), better known by the pen name Edogawa Ranpo (江戸川 乱歩), was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery and thriller fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogoro Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the "Boy Detectives Club" (少年探偵団, Shōnen tantei dan).
Edogawa Ranpo | |
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Hirai in 1947 | |
| Born | Tarō Hirai October 21, 1894 Mie, Empire of Japan |
| Died | July 28, 1965 (aged 70) |
| Occupation | Novelist, literary critic |
| Language | Japanese |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Alma mater | Waseda University |
| Genre | Mystery, weird fiction, thriller |
| Pen name | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kyūjitai | 江戶川 亂步 | ||||
| Shinjitai | 江戸川 乱歩 | ||||
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| Real name | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 平井 太郎 | ||||
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Ranpo was an admirer of Western mystery writers, and especially of Edgar Allan Poe. His pen name is a rendering of Poe's name. Other authors who were special influences on him were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whom he attempted to translate into Japanese during his days as a student at Waseda University, and the Japanese mystery writer Ruikō Kuroiwa.