A Deviation from the Detective Stories Context of Colonial Taiwan : A Study of Takeo Kanaseki's Old Mr. So at Ryuzan-Temple

Abstract

This paper describes the uniqueness of the series of detective stories written by Takeo Kanaseki during the 1940s in Taiwan. Kanaseki, a professor at Taibei University in the 1940s, wrote detective stories during his leisure, Old Mr. So at Ryuzan-Temple published in Taiwan being his most well-known detective story. In the context of Taiwanese literary works during the colonial period, Old Mr. So at Ryuzan-Temple differs from the detective stories written by other Japanese writers, which reflected racial hierarchy as a dominant force. Detective stories by other Japanese writers, for instance Jokaisen -kitan by Haruo Sato and the series of works by Masao Fukuda, all contain a hidden racial hierarchy. Yet this racial consciousness is conspicuously absent from the works of Kanaseki. In other words, his works were free from racial consciousness between the ruler and his subjects—the Japanese and Taiwanese, respectively. Such an approach is likely due to Kanaseki’s background in archaeology, anthropology, and ethnology, and Kanaseki’s attitude is another example of Japanese intellectuals during the war.

Keywords

• Takeo Kanaseki
• Old Mr.So at Ryuzan-Temple
• detective Story
• colonial Taiwan