Keigo Higashino
By Danielle Cochran, Volunteer
Keigo Higashino in Tokyo (Photo by JIJI Press / AFP via Getty Images) / Japan OUT
With over 100 titles to his name, Keigo Higashino was one of Japan's top mystery authors. Despite the volume of works, being an author wasn't what he first set out to do in life. Born in Osaka City in 1958, Higashino wasn't fond of reading as a child. In an interview discussing the 1970s setting of his novel Tokio, he was asked what kind of reading he did during that time and replied, "I wasn't a child who read books. I didn't read anything at all until junior high school. I started reading a little more when I got to high school" (webdoku.jp).
Even at Osaka Prefecture University, he didn't study English, literature, or any other humanities subject. With a degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering, he began working as an engineer at an auto parts company. For three years, he wrote stories in the evenings and on weekends before deciding to become a full-time writer (Joyce). In 1985, at the age of 27, he submitted his unpublished novel After School to the Edogawa Rampo Prize and won. It became his debut novel the next year.
Higashino won many awards throughout his writing career with his works mostly in the mystery genre. In The Devotion of Suspect X, the killer is identified in the early chapters so that the novel isn't a "whodunit," but rather a "how they try to get away with it" type of mystery (Joyce). This, he felt, was why his writing style appealed to his audience in Japan. Higashino explained, "Rather than explain the significance of everything at the end of the book, I wanted to describe the characters’ actions and intentions at the beginning so I could better portray their feelings of guilt and anguish.” He felt that throughout his career, his style of storytelling changed. In his acceptance speech for the Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize, he explained, "When dealing with murder cases, I used to think that motive was important. Gradually, I came to think that people don't kill because they have a motive, but because they are foolish" (book.asahi.com).
In 2023, his cumulative domestic sales surpassed 100 million copies and he received the Purple Ribbon Medal, given to those who have made outstanding achievements in inventions, improvements, and creations in academic and artistic fields, and the Kikuchi Kan Prize, which honors achievement in all aspects of Japanese culture including literature and film.
Published in 41 countries, Keigo Higashino's works have not only made him a prolific author in Japan, but internationally as well. Naoko, the title of the U.S. release of Himitsu (Secret), had a limited release in 2004, but it was The Devotion of Suspect X that served as his first major introduction to the U.S. market (Joyce). The global appeal of murder mysteries has made it easier for the genre to be adapted in different countries as well as different types of media. In an interview he stated, "Murder mysteries cross well between cultures because people have bad sides as well as good. People show their true natures in the act of committing a crime" (Joyce). Besides the adaptations into television series and films in Japan, films were also made in China, India, South Korea, and France. In his acceptance speech in 2019 for the 1st Noma Publishing Culture Award, he said:
My dream was to become an author that people would think, 'There are so many books, I don't know which one to choose, so I'll just buy one of Higashino's books for today. I'm sure I'll get my money's worth with his novels." I think this award is proof that I've achieved that goal (BOOK Watch Editorial Department).
Keigo Higashino died of colon cancer on July 23rd, 2026 at the age of 68. His final novel, Eternal Memory (Eien no Kioku), is the 11th installment of his Detective Galileo series, the same series that includes The Devotion of Suspect X. It was released posthumously on August 5th.
Works Cited
book.asahi.com. “Osawa and Higashino Speak about the ‘Double Award’ for the Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize.” ブック・アサヒ・コム, 11 Mar. 2014,
https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051744/http://book.asahi.com/booknews/update/2014031100005.html. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.
BOOK Watch Editorial Department. “東野圭吾「目標がクリアできたことの証明なのかな」 新海 誠、白石麻衣らと第1回野間出版文化賞を受賞 | Bookウォッチ.” Bookウォッチ, 19 Dec. 2019, https://books.j-cast.com/topics/2019/12/19010509.html. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.
Joyce, Andrew. “Is Keigo Higashino the Next Stieg Larsson? - Scene Asia - Scene Asia - WSJ.” Archive.Org, WSJ.com, 2026, https://web.archive.org/web/20110214065222/http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2011/02/11/is-this-guythe-next-steig-larsson/. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.
webdoku.jp. “Part 13: Keigo Higashino.” Webdoku.Jp, Sept. 2002, https://www.webdoku.jp/rensai/sakka/michi13.html. Accessed 30 Aug. 2026.
