Natsuhiko Kyougoku

**Natsuhiko Kyougoku** (京極(きょうごく) 夏彦(なつひこ), *Kyōgoku Natsuhiko*) is a Japanese mystery writer, a member of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan, and the current president of the Mystery Writers of Japan.

Outside of his writing career, Kyougoku is also famous for his background in graphical design and book binding, and he goes out of his way to have a hand in designing the physical appearance of his novels. Additionally, Kyougoku is an active participant in the Japanese mythology hobbyist community. He is a member of the World Youkai Association and a founding member of the "Kaidan no Kai" ghost story revival club.

## Biography

Natsuhiko Kyougoku was born on the 26 March 1963 in Otaru, Hokkaido. He was initially educated as a designer at Kuwasawa Design School, but dropped out. He then worked as a publicity agent before moving on to work in design at his own company. His business was initially successful, but the onset of the Lost Decade recession massively reduced his available workload. Therefore, in his spare time, Kyougoku decided to begin writing novels.

In early 1994, faced with a lack of money to go on holidays for Golden Week, Kyougoku submitted the manuscript for *The Summer of the Ubume* to Kodansha on a whim. He hoped that he could earn an upfront advance to fund his holiday, even if the novel was ultimately unsuccessful. He was initially disheartened by the response of Atsushi Karaki, an editor at Kodansha, who stated that it ordinarily takes several months to a year to come to a decision on a new manuscript. However, Karaki ended up accidentally reading the whole manuscript in one day after taking a quick glance at the new arrivals out of formality. As a result, Kyougoku was able to earn his debut with Kodansha after only two days.

After earning this book deal, Kyougoku temporarily retired from design work to focus on writing novels. However, he later returned to working on design on a more casual basis, and Kyougoku has continued as both an author and a graphic designer into the present day. Over time, his company oriented itself directly towards book design, and he has directly overseen the design of his own novels ever since. He has enjoyed several long running novel series as well as the prestigious position of president of the Mystery Writers of Japan since 2019.

## Style

### Tsukimono-Otoshi

While Kyougoku came to prominence during the *honkaku renaissance*, his style is very distinct from other writers of that period. While his mystery novels do involve logical reasoning and puzzles akin to *honkaku* school detective fiction, his plots are not focused on conventional investigations and crime solving. Instead, Kyougoku originated his own style of detection, called Tsukimono-Otoshi (憑(つ)き物落(ものお)とし, *Tsukimono-Otoshi, lit. "Possession"*), that he presents within his stories. In a Kyougoku novel, especially in his Hyakki Yagyou Series, the detective does not only solve the crime using logical clues, but encounters a ghost story or possession that presents a path to solving the crime through an abstract or metaphorical understanding of the case. This allows Kyougoku to simultaneously write plots about literal crime solving and also incorporate the structure of a supernatural ghost story that must be wrestled with philosophically.

## Works

### Hyakki Yagyou Series

The Summer of UbumeThe Box of MouryouThe Dream of KyoukotsuThe Cage of TessoThe Principle of JorougumoThe Banquet of Nuribotoke: Preparing for the BanquetThe Banquet of Nuribotoke: Wrapping up the BanquetThe Wound of OnmorakiThe Drop of JamiKonjaku Hyakki Shuui: Tsuki
Kodnasha Bunko:

The Summer of UbumeThe Box of MouryouThe Dream of KyoukotsuThe Cage of TessoThe Principle of JorougumoThe Banquet of Nuribotoke: Preparing for the BanquetThe Banquet of Nuribotoke: Wrapping up the BanquetThe Wound of OnmorakiThe Drop of JamiKonjaku Hyakki Shuui: OniKonjaku Hyakki Shuui: KappaKonjaku Hyakki Shuui: TenguKonjaku Hyakki Shuui: Tsuki
Kodnasha Tankobon Literature (Hardcover):

The Summer of UbumeThe Box of MouryouThe Dream of KyoukotsuThe Cage of Tesso
Kodnasha Bunko 2nd Edition:

The Summer of Ubume (Part 1)The Summer of Ubume (Part 2)The Box of Mouryou (Part 1)The Box of Mouryou (Part 2)The Box of Mouryou (Part 3)The Dream of Kyoukotsu (Part 1)The Dream of Kyoukotsu (Part 2)The Dream of Kyoukotsu (Part 3)The Cage of Tesso (Part 1)The Cage of Tesso (Part 2)The Cage of Tesso (Part 3)The Cage of Tesso (Part 4)The Principle of Jorougumo (Part 1)The Principle of Jorougumo (Part 2)The Principle of Jorougumo (Part 3)The Principle of Jorougumo (Part 4)The Banquet of Nuribotoke: Preparing for the Banquet (Part 1)The Banquet of Nuribotoke: Preparing for the Banquet (Part 2)The Banquet of Nuribotoke: Preparing for the Banquet (Part 3)The Banquet of Nuribotoke: Wrapping up the Banquet (Part 1)The Banquet of Nuribotoke: Wrapping up the Banquet (Part 2)The Banquet of Nuribotoke: Wrapping up the Banquet (Part 3)The Wound of Onmoraki (Part 1)The Wound of Onmoraki (Part 2)The Wound of Onmoraki (Part 3)The Drop of Jami (Part 1)The Drop of Jami (Part 2)The Drop of Jami (Part 3)

#### Short Story Collections

Hyakki Yagyou ー ShadowHyakki Tsurezurebukuro ー RainKonjaku Zoku Hyakki ー CloudHyakki Tsurezurebukuro ー Wind
Bungeishunju:

Hyakki Yagyou ー ShadowHyakki Yagyou ー Sun
Kodansha Bunko:

Hyakki Yagyou ー ShadowHyakki Tsurezurebukuro ー RainKonjaku Zoku Hyakki ー CloudHyakki Tsurezurebukuro ー WindHyakki Yagyou ー Sun
Bungei Bunko:

Hyakki Yagyou ー Shadow
Kodnasha Novels Reprint:

Hyakki Yagyou ー ShadowHyakki Yagyou ー Sun

### Hundred Town Stories Series

Hundred Town StoriesHundred Continuing Town StoriesHundred Past Town StoriesHundred Future Town StoriesHundred West Town StoriesHundred Far Town Stories
C★NOVELS:

Hundred Town StoriesHundred Continuing Town StoriesHundred Past Town StoriesHundred Future Town StoriesHundred West Town StoriesHundred Far Town Stories
Kadokawa Bunko:

Hundred Town StoriesHundred Continuing Town StoriesHundred Past Town StoriesHundred Future Town StoriesHundred West Town StoriesHundred Far Town Stories

### Modern Ghost Story Series

TBA

To be continued

## External Links

* Kyougoku's English Wikipedia page
* Kyougoku's Japanese Wikipedia page

## Trivia

* Natsuhiko's surname, Kyougoku, means "ten vigintillion", while his first name literally translates to "summer boy".
* Natsuhiko has a character named after him in the spin-off novel of the *shounen* manga series *Bungou Stray Dogs*, an ability user whose power is called **An Inherent Drop** (憑(つ)き物落(ものお)とし, *Tsukimono-Otoshi, lit. "Possession"*).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Summer of Ubume (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Box of Mouryou (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Dream of Kyoukotsu (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Cage of Tesso (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Principle of Jorougumo (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 The Banquet of Nuribotoke: Preparing for the Banquet (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Banquet of Nuribotoke: Wrapping up the Banquet (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The Wound of Onmoraki (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 The Drop of Jami (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Konjaku Hyakki Shuui: Oni (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Konjaku Hyakki Shuui: Kappa (in Japanese). Published by KADOKAWA.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Konjaku Hyakki Shuui: Tengu (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Hyakki Yagyou ー Shadow (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Hyakki Tsurezurebukuro ー Rain (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Konjaku Zoku Hyakki ー Cloud (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Hyakki Tsurezurebukuro ー Wind (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Hyakki Yagyou ー Sun (in Japanese). Published by Kodansha.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Hundred Town Stories (in Japanese). Published by KADOKAWA.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Hundred Continuing Town Stories (in Japanese). Published by KADOKAWA.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Hundred Past Town Stories (in Japanese). Published by KADOKAWA.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Hundred Future Town Stories (in Japanese). Published by KADOKAWA.
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Hundred West Town Stories (in Japanese). Published by KADOKAWA.
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Hundred Far Town Stories (in Japanese). Published by KADOKAWA.