Takagi Akimitsu

Tatoo Murder Case (Shisei satsujin jiken), by Akimitsu Takagi, 1948. Translation by Deborah Boehm, 1998.
 
This is a fairly traditional Western (and especially, British) murder mystery done, of course, in Japanese and set in Japan. The author makes numerous references to contemporary (pre- and post-WWII) Western novels, and often accuses the protagonist of thinking that life can be as interesting as those mysteries he's always reading.
 
As with many mysteries, this one focusses on a particular cultural aspect, in this case tatooing. We are told that tatooing had become illegal by the time of post-war Japan, but that it was followed avidly by a small group of adherants. Also as is customary, we learn a lot about tatooing in the course of our read.
 
Our protaginist is a young man who has survived the war (he fought in the Philippines) and is unsure of what he's going to end up doing. In the meantime, he lives with his brother, who is an established police officer. There are various other characters who populate the story, and then rather late, the "Boy Genius" is introduced. He solves the case in a matter of minutes. In the manner of these traditional mysteries, he then spends many pages telling what actually happened and how he figured it out, all completely impossible for you to have seen.
 
It's a good read, even if you prefer later fiction. Many details of Japanese life are observed. There are some details of life with the American occupiers, but not as much as I would have expected. Some aspects of the translation bothered me, and upon investigation I saw that she uses the word 'adaptation' to describe her translation, which explains my occasional discomfort. A previous read had been remarkable for the Japanese-ness of the English, while this one tends to mask some Japanese qualities.
 
This was Takagi's first novel, and it would be interesting to read something from much later in his life.