―You Are the One Fixed Point in a Changing Age‖: the Immorality of Sherlock Holmes in Japan
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―YOU ARE THE ONE FIXED POINT IN A CHANGING AGE‖: THE IMMORTALITY OF SHERLOCK HOLMES IN JAPAN by Amanda Chick A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Wilkes Honors College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences with a Concentration in English Literature Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University Jupiter, Florida May 2010 ―YOU ARE THE ONE FIXED POINT IN A CHANGING AGE‖: THE IMMORALITY OF SHERLOCK HOLMES IN JAPAN by Amanda Chick This thesis was prepared under the direction under the direction of the candidate‘s thesis advisor, Hilary Edwards, and has been approved by the members of her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the Faculty of the Honors College and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE _____________________________ Dr. Hilary Edwards _____________________________ Dr. Christopher Ely ______________________________ Dr. Jeffrey Buller ______________________________ Dr. Jeffrey Buller Dean, Wilkes Honors College ___________ Date ii First off, I thank my family and friends. They dealt with my mini meltdowns, my frustration, and my random disappearances with amazing finesse and helped me stand back up and keep going. Also, I thank all the professors who helped me with the research, writing, and just putting up with me, especially Professor Edwards. I would not have written my thesis as well as I did without her and Heather. Without all of them I would have lost it a long time ago. Secondly there are the Anime-niacs of FAU Jupiter who helped come up with the thesis and who share my love of Japanese culture, and randomness. There are my coworkers both at the bookstore and library who let me have my mini meltdowns during work but always encouraged me to keep writing. Everyone at the Honors College has helped me grow and I would not be who I am today without them. The support and knowledge I have received here will last a lifetime and a thousand thanks would never be enough to show how grateful I am. I cannot thank my parents, roommates, friends and those that essentially lived in our room anyway, enough. You have helped me keep going when I did not know what to do and encouraged me to move forward in every part of my life. I take my hat off to you and offer an infinite amount of gratitude. I especially appreciate my friends for putting up with listening to Vic Mignogna for hours on end whenever I needed to calm down. Whenever I was too stressed or frustrated, his music restored my sanity. Mom and Dad, Katie, Alex, Grandma Pat, Heather, Jessica, Raquel, Jennifer, Ericka, Amanda 2, Gina, Brandon, Tabitha, Joy, Megan, Jedi, Bill, the circulation staff of the Boca Raton Library, especially at Spanish River, Jenny, Professor Edwards, Professor Riordan, Dean Buller, Professor Ely, Suzyn Elayne, and others thank you. iii ABSTRACT Author: Amanda Chick Title: ―YOU ARE THE ONE FIXED POINT IN A CHANGING WORLD‖: THE IMMORTALITY OF SHERLOCK HOLMES IN JAPAN Institution: Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Hilary Edwards Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Concentration: English Literature Year: 2010 Sherlock Holmes has been popular in Japan since the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912), but no critic has yet connected Holmes and the protagonist of the recent graphic novel Death Note (2003-2006). While American detective fiction has defined itself somewhat in opposition to Arthur Conan Doyle, Japan embraced Sherlock Holmes and created a series of detectives modeled on the English icon. These characters live and work in Japan, but they are never more than Japanese versions of an English original. Although Japan has a long history of adaptations and translations of Doyle‘s writings, no Japanese character has exemplified Holmes as fully as L, the protagonist of Death Note. While L is clearly similar to Holmes, he also blends English and Japanese characteristics in a way that no Japanese detective figure before him managed to do, and thus becomes the first quintessentially Japanese Sherlock Holmes. iv To my family and friends v Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: DETECTIVE WORK: THE DETECTIVE AND FICTION .................................................... 4 History of Detective Fiction ............................................................................................ 4 About Holmes ................................................................................................................. 6 Critics .............................................................................................................................. 8 Why is he famous? ........................................................................................................ 12 Detective Fiction’s Enduring Fame ............................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 2: SHERLOCK HOLMES IN JAPAN ............................................................................... 17 The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi, 1917-1937 .......................................... 21 Sherlock Hound, 1984-1985.......................................................................................... 23 Case Closed, 1994-present ........................................................................................... 25 .CHAPTER 3: IT’S “L”EMENTARY ................................................................................................ 28 Appearance ................................................................................................................... 28 Personality and Methods .............................................................................................. 31 The Triad ....................................................................................................................... 43 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................ 52 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................... 56 vi Introduction ―[T]he detective is […] the one capable of making sense out of a world of mysteries.‖ Peter Hühn Sherlock Holmes is often described as aloof, clever, and logical. His methods are legendary, as is his ego and his record of solving crimes. His constant companion, Dr. John Watson, is never far away and the two collaborate constantly in Arthur Conan Doyle‘s famous short stories and novels. Through Holmes, Doyle established on a world-wide basis the figure of the detective as central to crime fiction. However many successful detectives there have been before Sherlock Holmes, their successes were subsumed into and superseded by that archetypal representation of the somewhat aloof, infinitely clever, quite active, but always reliable hero who helped a baffled and threatened populace symbolized by Dr. Watson. (Knight, 67) Although he is not the original detective, Holmes is the most well known fictional detective in the world and an international icon. The original fictional detective was Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin, created by Edgar Allen Poe in the short story ―Murder of Rue Morgue‖ published in 1841. Conan Doyle did not introduce Holmes until the novel A Study in Scarlet over forty years later in 1887. Holmes‘s popularity, however, did not pick up until the short stories The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes were printed in Strand Magazine beginning in 1891. From 1891 and continuing today, the character of Holmes has been summoned to solve any number of baffling crimes, which have changed as he is adapted in different times and places. What does not change, however, is the essence of who Holmes is, as defined by his profession and attitude. He is never improved upon but is constantly reborn. 1 Holmes‘s methods of deduction and other traits are unique: he is also a gentleman who needs a companion and archenemy to prove his humanness and the depth of his skills. To create a truly Holmesian figure, a triad including the detective Holmes, his companion Watson, and his archenemy Moriarty is necessary. To create a detective that matches the depth of Holmes‘s character, these two types of characters are necessary to stand alongside him. Watson reveals that Holmes cares about people other than himself. Detective fiction will often blur the line between detective and deviant because the detective will work in the shadowy world and may work by his own laws. Moriarty proves that Holmes is not the criminal. Holmes is a man that fights for justice, not against it. There are many other facets to Holmes‘s personality than the ones listed above. Holmes‘s popularity transcends cultural boundaries, as evidenced by his fame in Japan, which dates back to the Meiji Restoration in 1862, and today Japan is the site of the world‘s largest Sherlock Holmes fan club. At present, the graphic novel Death Note blends Japanese myth and popular culture with Sherlock Holmes. In Death Note, Light Yagami, a high school student, discovers a notebook dubbed a Death Note. The Death Note originally belonged to a Shinigami, or Japanese Death God, named Ryuk, and is designed to kill anyone whose name is written inside. Light takes it upon himself to purge the world of criminals and evildoers by using the Death