# The best Japanese mystery novels of all time: Shūkan Bunshun's Tōzai Mystery Best 100 (2012), top 30

In 2012 the magazine Shūkan Bunshun repeated, 27 years later, its all-time mystery poll, answered by crime writers, university mystery clubs and fans. This is the top 30 of the Japanese section; Seishi Yokomizo's Gokumon Island came first again, as in 1985.

- 42 votes · 30 items
- Feb 25, 2021 · 浩二
- https://even.best/en/l/5222/the-best-japanese-mystery-novels-of-all-time-shukan-bunshun-s-tozai-mystery-best

## Top 30

1. **Gokumon Island – Seishi Yokomizo** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 1947. No. 1 in 1985.
2. **All She Was Worth (Kasha) – Miyuki Miyabe** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 1992. Not in the 1985 list.
3. **Offerings to Nothingness (Kyomu e no Kumotsu) – Hideo Nakai** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — 1964. No. 2 in 1985.
4. **The Great Kidnapping (Dai Yūkai) – Shin Tendō** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — 1978. No. 12 in 1985.
5. **Dogra Magra – Kyūsaku Yumeno** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1935. No. 6 in 1985.
6. **Modorigawa Shinjū – Mikihiko Renjō** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1980. No. 9 in 1985.
7. **The Devotion of Suspect X – Keigo Higashino** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2005. Not in the 1985 list.
8. **A Ichirō no Rōbai – Tsumao Awasaka** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1978. No. 17 in 1985.
9. **Murder in the Crooked House – Soji Shimada** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1982. No. 42 in 1985.
10. **The Tokyo Zodiac Murders – Soji Shimada** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1981. No. 21 in 1985.
11. **The Box of Goblins (Mōryō no Hako) – Natsuhiko Kyōgoku** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1995. Not in the 1985 list.
12. **Death of the Living Dead (Ikeru Shikabane no Shi) – Masaya Yamaguchi** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1989. Not in the 1985 list.
13. **Journey Under the Midnight Sun – Keigo Higashino** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1999. Not in the 1985 list.
14. **The Clock House Murders (Tokeikan no Satsujin) – Yukito Ayatsuji** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1991. Not in the 1985 list.
15. **The Double-Headed Devil (Sōtō no Akuma) – Alice Arisugawa** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1992. Not in the 1985 list.
16. **The Summer of the Ubume – Natsuhiko Kyōgoku** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1994. Not in the 1985 list.
17. **The Two-Sen Copper Coin – Edogawa Ranpo** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1923. No. 13 in 1985.
18. **Demon of the Lonely Isle – Edogawa Ranpo** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1929. No. 37 in 1985.
19. **Lady Joker – Kaoru Takamura** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1997. Not in the 1985 list.
20. **The Decagon House Murders – Yukito Ayatsuji** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 1987. Not in the 1985 list.
21. **Inspector Imanishi Investigates (Suna no Utsuwa) – Seichō Matsumoto** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 1960. No. 53 in 1985.
22. **Watashi ga Koroshita Shōjo (The Girl I Killed) – Ryō Hara** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 1989. Not in the 1985 list.
23. **Points and Lines – Seichō Matsumoto** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1957. No. 3 in 1985.
24. **The Honjin Murders – Seishi Yokomizo** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1946. No. 7 in 1985.
25. **The Black Trunk (Kuroi Toranku) – Tetsuya Ayukawa** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1956. No. 8 in 1985.
26. **The Black Death Mansion Murders (Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken) – Mushitarō Oguri** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1934. No. 5 in 1985.
27. **The Flying Horse (Soratobu Uma) – Kaoru Kitamura** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1989. Not in the 1985 list.
28. **The Discontinuous Murders (Furenzoku Satsujin Jiken) – Ango Sakaguchi** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1947. No. 4 in 1985.
29. **Why Are the Dolls Killed? (Ningyō wa Naze Korosareru) – Akimitsu Takagi** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1955. No. 32 in 1985.
30. **Yōi Kinpeibai – Fūtarō Yamada** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1954. Not in the 1985 list.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.