Passed away on the 23rd due to a chronic illness… Received overwhelming love in Korea with works such as 'The Miracles of the Namiya General Store'
An engineer by training, he boasted meticulous plotting for 42 years and swept prestigious literary awards
Leaving behind the philosophy, "My entire life lived is an idea"… His posthumous work 'Eternal Memory' scheduled for publication next month
Keigo Higashino, Japan's representative mystery fiction master and the author most beloved by Korean readers, passed away on the 23rd due to a chronic illness. He was 68 years old. Condolences are pouring in from literary circles at home and abroad over the passing of an author who, starting as an engineer, crossed meticulous logic with warm humanity and relentlessly demonstrated his writing prowess for 42 years.
According to the publishing industry on the 28th, Keigo Higashino recently passed away from a chronic illness. Born in Osaka, Japan in 1958, he graduated from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Osaka Prefectural University (now Osaka Metropolitan University) and worked as an engineer before making his literary debut in 1985 by winning the Edogawa Rampo Prize for 'After School'.
Later, he gained attention by winning the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1999 for 'Naoko', and joined the ranks of world-class masters by winning the 134th Naoki Prize in 2006 for 'The Devotion of Suspect X'. In addition, he produced numerous bestsellers such as 'Journey Under the Midnight Sun', the 'Detective Galileo' series, and the 'Detective Kaga' series, sweeping prestigious literary awards including the Eiji Yoshikawa Prize for Literature and the Japan Booksellers' Award.
His presence in the Korean literature market was overwhelming. 'The Miracles of the Namiya General Store', translated and published domestically in 2012, surpassed 2 million copies in cumulative sales. Furthermore, he received absolute support from Korean readers, ranking first in cumulative novel sales compiled by Kyobo Book Centre over a 10-year period starting in 2009 with approximately 1.27 million copies sold.
He was also famous for his fierce writing activities during his lifetime. In a written interview with Newsis in 2023, he revealed, "Ever since my debut, my goal was to publish 100 books." Even after achieving this goal, he expressed his unstoppable passion for writing, stating, "Novels are living creatures. My entire life lived up to now is an idea, and stories are born from there."
Recently, 'Masquerade Life' and 'Transparent Spiral' were translated and published in Korea, and with his new work 'Eternal Memory' scheduled for publication in Japan next month, fans are feeling an even greater sense of sorrow.