Japanese mystery novelist Keigo Higashino, whose intricate plots and bestselling crime novels earned him worldwide acclaim, has died at the age of 68.
According to The Japan Times, Higashino died of colorectal cancer early on Thursday. His official X account announced the news on Monday, saying his funeral had already been held privately. “We hereby respectfully express our condolences and inform you of this,” the statement said.
The announcement prompted an outpouring of tributes across Japan. Bookstores quickly created special displays celebrating the author’s work. At Kinokuniya bookstore in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, foreign books merchandising manager Tsuyoshi Sonoda described the display as “a thank you to him for his splendid titles.”
A longtime admirer of Higashino’s writing, Sonoda praised the author’s storytelling and intricate plots for their broad appeal. He said the novels contained a kind of “poison” that set them apart from cosy fiction, describing it as an unexpected, curious and dangerous quality found in great art. Sonoda also said Higashino’s early death had deprived readers of many more stories.
During his lifetime, Higashino wrote 106 books. He became best known internationally for The Devotion of Suspect X, the story of a gifted mathematics teacher who devises what he believes is the perfect crime before facing an equally brilliant physicist. The novel won the prestigious Naoki Prize in 2006 and also received the Honkaku Mystery Award, adding to the many honours he earned throughout his career.
Writers, actors and readers from around the world paid tribute following the announcement. Actor Masaharu Fukuyama, who portrayed Manabu Yukawa in both the 2008 film Suspect X and the television adaptation Galileo, wrote on X that he could not bring himself to say goodbye to the author.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow described Higashino as one of her favourite writers. “The shock is overwhelming, and I find myself at a loss for words … you’ve given me so much emotion, courage,” she wrote on X.
Fellow mystery novelist Yumehito Inoue also shared a photograph of the pair together, saying the author’s death had left “a huge ache” in his heart.
Born in Osaka in 1958, Higashino developed a love of mystery fiction as a child and continued writing throughout his life. He began his professional career as an engineer at automotive components manufacturer Denso while writing in his spare time.
In 1985, at the age of 27, he won the Edogawa Rampo Prize with his unpublished novel After School, which was published the same year as his debut work. He later received the Yoshikawa Eiji Literature Prize in 2014 for The Final Curtain. Many of his bestselling novels were translated into multiple languages and adapted for film and television.
Higashino served as president of the Mystery Writers of Japan from 2009 to 2013, although he largely stayed out of the public spotlight.
During a rare interview with The Wall Street Journal in 2011, he explained his approach to writing: “Some writers aim to move their readers, others want to write beautiful sentences. I want readers to be continually surprised by my ideas.”
By 2023, Higashino had sold more than 100 million books in Japan, according to his publishers. He also built a vast international readership, particularly in China, where his translated works regularly topped bestseller lists. Fans across Chinese social media and state media mourned his death, praising his storytelling and memorable characters.
His novel Eternal Memory is scheduled to be published next month.
