Shinjuku Shark

Shinjuku Shark #1

by Arimasa Osawa, Andrew Clare (Translator), 大沢在昌

A serial cop-killer is running rampant in Tokyo's Shinjuku ward and only one man has the connections and the courage to find and stop him -- The Shark. Filled with volatile characters, each wiht his own unique ties, Shinjuku Shark is a masterpiece of nonstop tension.

Arimasa Osawa is one of Japan's leading hardboiled novelists, influenced by American authors such as Elmore Leonard. His famous work, Shinjuku Shark (the first installment in a series) won the Eiji Yoshikawa Award for fiction and the Naoki Prize.

Genres: Japan, Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Noir, Japanese Literature, Thriller

285 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

The 12th president of the Mystery Writers of Japan (2005-2009)

Arimasa Osawa has received the Eiji Yoshikawa New Writer Award, the Japan Myster Writers Association Award, and the Naoki Prize for his Shinjuku Shark novels. Many of his other hardboiled works have also been awarded prizes and adapted to the screen.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Japan, this mystery novel was a thrill to read from start to finish. It felt like a typical mystery novel but the foreign feel made it feel different as well. I want to read the rest of the series but I hope it doesn't become too cliché

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shinjuku Shark is the first novel in the bestselling Japanese crime series and winner of the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award. Over his career Arimasa Osawa has won numerous prizes and his writing has been adapted for the big and small screen. The back of the book blurb states, “Prepare for a relentless journey of suspenseful twists and turns that will leave you breathless.” Given all the plaudits I was expecting a terrific read. Unfortunately the book did not leave me in a state of suspense or breathless. The story is relatively straightforward, Samejima is a simulacrum of every maverick cop on the planet, and the writing is mostly flat and lifeless. Clearly there is something going on here. My suspicion is that Japanese probably has a different narrative and sentence structure, as well as diction, which makes translation that captures the subtleties and sophistication of writing quite difficult. As a result, perhaps the work is not necessarily shown in its best light and it’s a passable read at best.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was candy, but suffered from a very dry translation and the fact that it was pretty predictable as far as a mystery goes. Our protagonist is supposed to be gruff and gritty, but that persona seems to fall flat throughout. I love a good yakuza story but this missed the mark for me.

A compliment I will give though is Shinjuku and Kabukicho are one of my favourite places in Tokyo, and reading this book and being to able visualize my visit to Shinkuku just really made me miss Japan. :(

[Lisabet Sarai · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tokyo Police Department is all about hierarchy, bureaucracy and saving face. Unspoken but well understood rules govern the officers' interactions with one another, and with the different Yakuza gangs who carve up the turf of the city and terrorize the ordinary citizens.

Detective Samejima isn't willing to set aside justice for convenience or for power. Because of this, he's a loner, a social outcast, within the department. He knows too many secrets about too many people to be fired, but no one wants to work with him. He variously inspires scorn, fear, hatred or admiration in his colleagues. Relegated to the gritty, violent entertainment district of Shinjuku, Samejima - the "Shinjuku Shark" of the title - pursues his own agenda with a single-minded ferocity that matches his sobriquet.

I had a lot of difficulty with the first half of this novel. I believe this may be due to problems with the translation. I found myself confused by descriptions with unclear pronouns and bored by long digressions about the structure and rules of different divisions within the police. On the other hand, Samejima is a riveting character, right from the start. Indeed, all the characters are sharply drawn, including the gun-master Kizu and Samejima's rock singer girlfriend Sho.

The book improved markedly in the second half, possibly because the action heated up after the more discursive introduction. There are some great scenes, most notably the chilling confrontation between Samejima and Kizu, which has some creepy sexual overtones. The wandering plot strands in the first half almost all knit together in the second, yet not in an implausible way.

This book won many awards. It's probably not fair to judge it based on what I believe was an inexpert translation. Fans of detective fiction will very likely be willing to overlook these defects, given the powerful characterizations and gripping action.

[Alibiserver · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the first, the first thing that you'd glamour about Shinjuku shark is its slick cover. I had no doubt that this is prolly one of the best covers I graced upon- a snapshot of a streetscene in Tokyo. The prose however, leaves a lot of room for improvement.

I have to admit that the first one may contain a lot of screwups but also, the first one in a series must supposed to contain the initial spark to jumpstart a series. Shinjuku shark deals with a lot of responsibilities and I have to admit Andrew Clare had a lot of translation duties to meet that doesn't seem to make it. They would've given it to more seasoned translators like Deborah Iwabuchi, whose translation of Translucent Tree flirts with near masturbatory, if I may put it.

SS is a novel about Samejima, a police officer with a tough guy aura; he doesn't deal with partners, he gets down the business, an enfant terrible of Tokyo Police. While his misdemeanors scare most of his superiors and the Yakuza as well, his importance is a buzzword amongst fellow police officers.

He's a force by itself that MUST not be provoked at.

whatever it was, perhaps it will be read in subsequent novels (that us pitiful non-japanese have to contend with.) The premise adds a deal of homosexuality, the illegal guns trade, hard rock and roll, and playing cops and robbers but this time, its real.

There was a bit of promise in Osawa's writing, if not for the shoddy translation. The viewpoint seems to gallop from one view to another without prior warning, and that sometimes irritates me a lot. It's not much of a detective novel as a critique at the '90s Japanese Police Force and the lost generation in general. I would've given it a 1 if not for the slick cover.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read dozens of foreign police procedural-type mystery novels - here by "foreign" I mean written by foreign authors writing primarily for an audience in their home country that are later translated (if necessary) and also published in the U.S.

Shinjuku Shark is a Japanese police detective novel, the first in a series, set in Tokyo. Samejima, the main character, is a loner who doesn't follow the rules and as a result can't even find a partner.

Samejima is such a loner that he is the only character developed much. The organizational structure and (organizationally or otherwise imposed) behavior of Japanese police are described in detail - by the end of the novel my main conclusion was that a detective such as Samejima was completely implausible.

Foreign detective novels as a genre often offer good stories and characters plus insights of different types into the country where the novel is set. In Shinjuku Shark, the main insights into Japanese society are concerned with the Japanese police and its bureaucracy and while I think this somehow relates to broader Japanese society, it was too arcane to be engaging.

[Tenma · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Shinjuku Shark" is the first novel of a series that talk about the career of a detective in the shinjuku prescient of Japan. These novels represent, what I find, a rare genre in Japanese fiction. While billed as crime thrillers, they are action packed ... With lots of non gory violence typical of hardboiled police action novels. I did not find this novel dated as some of the reviews pointed out (except for the fact the the novel was published at a time when cellphones were not common) ...

"Shinjuku Shark" being the first novel in the series introduces the reader to the detective, the "Shinjuku Shark". It talks about past events that led to his current status and about his love affair and acquaintances who become a mainstay in the book series. This novel was an entertaining and an enjoyable read ...

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me forever to get into this book - it seemed to take forever for the plot and action to kick into gear, but it was pretty compelling once it did. There was a lot of explanation of police structure in Japan, which I found kind-of boring, but others might actually enjoy. There were some elements which made the plot rather confusing until you got closer to the end - you were just as confused as the police detective about who was who and who was doing what, even though you, the reader, had more information.

This is book one of a large series, but only 2 of the books have been translated into English so far.

[Ad · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Japan, the land of the police procedural, hard-boiled thrillers are rare, but Osawa Arimasa (1956) forms an exception. Detective Samejima works in the seedy Shinjuku district of Tokyo and for the gangsters of the area he is "the shark" because of his relentless pursuit of justice regardless of the cost. Within the police force he is a loner and a thorn in the flesh, but he can't be dismissed as he knows certain secrets. Then a serial killer starts hunting police officers and Samejima goes after the killer who uses a mysterious firearm.

I prefer slow-moving "really Japanese" mysteries to this imitation of American hardboiled...

[Ben Brackett · Rating 1 out of 5]

At first I thought it just translated poorly to English, but the story telling in it is so god awful it can't just be that.

[L'atelier de Litote · Rating 4 out of 5]

L’action se passe à Tokyo quartier Shinjuku, dans les années 90. Le requin de Shinjuku est le premier volet d’une série policière à succès et lauréat du prix Eiji Yoshikawa. J’ai bien accroché au mystère de ce tueur de flic en série et de Samejima, le seul enquêteur non conformiste s’il en est, qui osera l’affronter. On trouve beaucoup d’action, de rebondissement et un certain suspense à la japonaise. On en apprend plus sur les événements passés qui ont entraîné le statut peu confortable du talentueux capitaine Samejima ainsi que sur son histoire d’amour avec la jeune chanteuse de rock Shô. C’est aussi agréable de découvrir le Japon des années 90, sa culture, son urbanisme et oui les descriptions des lieux sont tellement bien amenées que l’image venait facilement. J’avoue que j’ai eu un peu de mal à comprendre les raisons sociétales du rejet de Samejima, en revanche j’ai trouvé ce personnage bien dans sa tête même s’il est finalement une victime de sa hiérarchie. Les intimidations voir les humiliations qu’il subit m’ont fait réagir même si je sais après avec lu « Stupeur et tremblements » qu’au Japon ce genre de chose est pratique courante. Il ne fait pas bon contester une institution telle que la police. J’ai beaucoup aimé sa comparaison des structures quasi similaires entre Yakuzas et policiers, concernant les ordres venant d’en haut. Quand les chapitres traitaient des crimes, il y avait une vraie tension et c’est ce que j’aime trouver dans un polar. L’auteur donne beaucoup d’informations sur la culture japonaise et sur des sujets dont je ne connais pratiquement rien, ce qui permet d’ajouter une couche de crédibilité au héros. Notamment lorsqu’il s’agit de discussions sur la balistique et les caractéristiques des armes utilisées sur la scène de crime. Un scénario policier réussit qui donne à réfléchir sur la conformité, la soumission et l’identité. J’espère avoir l’occasion de lire le prochain titre de la série. Bonne lecture.

[_Readwithroses · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I really didn't know what to expect with this book.

Shinjuku Shark pleasantly surprised me by immersing me into the culture of Japan and environment in the 80's, showing that translated words can still leave a mark. The main character actually had a healthy romance (I can't stress enough on how many books I read have borderline abusive relationships that are passed off as cute) and even though he was a loner it didn't come off as edgy or forced. He very much came off as a victim of the police structure and society in Japan which was fascinating to read about.

Also, wow...the tension was REAL. During scenes dealing with suspects and criminals I was on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next which I live for in mystery/thriller books.
Not to mention how the lack of glory in being a police officer or killing people was a breath of fresh air because of how many books shrug it off as "oh, he was bad so he needed to die" and move on. It felt real and genuine to me like they were people that I could meet on the street.

The pacing was natural and dialogue felt real though some passages did not make sense because of translations. For example the reason he is called "Shark" is because the "Same" part of Samejima's name means shark. This is never really explained but doesn't really effect the story that much.
I will say the constant bullying he went through got on my nerves but I know that in Japan stuff like that is rampant and I can't really criticize what I don't know about.

Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a mystery/thriller that will keep the reader on their toes through every chapter and immerse them in a different time period and culture.

[Damon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The grittiness of Shinjuku, the complexity of Japanese hierarchies, and some hard-boiled sleuthing as experienced through the lens of an awkward translation.

The first entry into the Shinjuku Shark series is not a bad story, but the awkwardness of the translation will distract any reader who is unfamiliar with Japanese. What shines through in this book is Shinjuku itself, the gritty area of Tokyo is captured at a moment of economic uncertainty, technological change, and rapidly changing social structures.

In contrast, the characters are unevenly developed, the detective and his boss being notable exceptions. Still, the book shows a series that has promise, if for no other reason than it shows that Shinjuku has near limitless hardboiled potential.

[Glen U · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part Mickey Spillane, part Ed McBain, and part Elmore Leonard, "Shinjuku Shark" is a Japanese police procedural, hard-boiled style especially for a Japanese crime novel and action packed but still intelligently written with bits of wry humor. The translation is a little stilted and dry, but for the most part, quite well done. Osawa's Shinjuki Shark series is immensely popular in Japan and has won numerous awards throughout its duration. Unfortunately, only the first and second installments have been translated to English. I'l read the second in the series, "The Poison Ape" and hope that someday the rest of his books makes it to the United States. A very good writer and a very good read.

[Auggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some weird word and syntax choices in translation along with a mostly dry but occasionally crass writing style made this book one I needed to concentrate on to get the full impact. I found the plot well-crafted with a gritty, noir kind of feel. The view into the crime and gay subcultures was also really interesting. However things just didn’t really click for me so I will have to pass on the rest of this series.

[A.B. Lissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shinjuku Shark had a great gritty vibe—I liked the dark, moody feel and the main character really pulls you in. It definitely scratched that noir itch.

That said, the point-of-view switches were kinda jarring. Sometimes they came out of nowhere and messed with the flow. Still, if you're into crime thrillers with a broody edge, it's worth checking out.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

my only criticism is that it has a pretty slow build up, but other than that it is a very well written and an entertaining story. I like that none of the character's are in any way heroes, they all feel very human, and real. It really is a very entertaining story and would be an even better movie.

[Valentona · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was going to be 5 stars but then in the last few pages the sentence "hundreds of pairs of eyes drawn magnetically to those rocket tits as they threatened at any moment to pop out from under her braless costume" happened.

[Erik Tanouye · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this in the laundry room of my building, on the book giveaway shelf.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Average at best.

[Sandra Rahimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dated.

[Fredrik August Madsen-Malmo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite shallow story, and the relationship with Sho is just a bit unsettling given her description, age and lack of personality.

[sadie · Rating 2 out of 5]

so boring and so god damn predictable

[Planet of the Books www.planetofthebooks.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like books that are fast paced, thrilling and still thought provoking? Shinjuku Shark by Arimasa Osawa is a great book recently released by Vertical Publishing that has it all. The title of the book refers to the story's main character, a Tokyo cop in the Shinjuku district who doesn't play by the rules. When a serial killer targeting cops is on the loose, Shinjuku must negotiate between his own way of getting the job done and dictates from Headquarters. This is the first book of a widely anticipated series now available for first time to English speaking audiences.

This book is great at many levels. It is, first and foremost, a great detective story with all the thrills and twists mystery readers crave. Arimasa Osawa establishes his narrator’s credibility by giving readers background information on topics that they may not know much about. For example, at one part in the book, two characters are talking about the type of gun used in a crime. The conversation describes various types of cartridge ejection. This background information makes it more enjoyable to a reader with no prior knowledge of ballistic testing. For those people that do know a thing or two about cartridge ejection or other forensic practices, the information is given within engaging dialogue that entertains.

This book can also be read as commentary on the difficulties surrounding the need to conform to an institution. Many readers will be able to identify with the main character, Shinjuku’s inability to conform to his department, with its top-down, ask-no-questions approach to the everyday running of the Shinjuku Police Station. This strain is illustrated in the following excerpt from the book, “the similarity of the values shared by the police and the yakuza manifested itself in the completely vertical structure of their respective organizations. An order from above was absolute, and transgression was not permitted. As a result, those further down the chain of command developed a like-minded predisposition.” In modern societies we all find ourselves locked within the mechanisms of bureaucratic machines and it is here that we emotionally connect the most with Shinjuku.

This book is a real treat. It is a hard to put down, thrilling, detective story that offers stimulating questions about identity and conformity. The next installment of the series, titled Shinjuku Shark 2: The Poison Ape will be released by Vertical in August 2008. I am really looking forward to its release.

See more reviews at www.planetofthebooks.com

Ben
Planet of the Books

[Candiebarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I both liked and disliked this book. As mentioned above, there’s gayness. whole first chapter was. Although I didn’t realize it until near the end of the chapter. But I’ve got no complaints about that. Especially when Semejima and Kizu were together. So, the reason I didn’t like it? It seemed to start out slow. It may have just been me, but it just felt like it was slow. As for the characters, I got more of a personality from “Ed” than I did the main characters. They all just seemed very cookie cutter and most was pretty predictable. Aside from “Eds” age and who the killer was (I had completely forgotten about him by time they figured out it was him). But it was interesting enough and the story picked up somewhere around the last 100 pages or so. Will I read it again? Probably not. Will I read the sequel? Probably. If I can find it. The library here doesn’t have it so I’ll have to find out if they can buy it or get it from another library if I remember when I return the book. But anyway, based on the end of the book, I get the feeling the next will be ok. But I sure wouldn’t complain if we got to know more about the characters and less about guns. I really don’t care about the weight of the gun, bullet sizes, barrel length, etc. If I wanted to learn more about guns, I’d take out a book about guns. Not a work of fiction.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shinjuku Shark is the first installment of a best-selling series in Japan which might have lost something in translation. Most notably, it was originally written in 1990, but not available in English until 2007. Thus the dated references to clunky cell phones and heightened concerns of leftist extremist groups as lone-wolf Inspector Samejima (aka the Shinjuku Shark for his unorthodox ways of pursuing justice) goes about his investigations. Meanwhile, the rest of the Shinjuku police station is caught up in a case of a serial killer targeting uniformed police officers. Although the criss-crossing timelines in the beginning are slightly confusing and the British English translation is at time strange (i.e. referring to Asians as if Japanese were not Asians), I enjoyed the characterizations and the pace of the action. The internal departmental politics and ballistics analysis of the case were interesting to me. I'd probably read the next installment of the Shinjuku Shark's adventures when I'm next in the mood for an international mystery-thriller.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had higher hopes for this one. I'd seen that it won all sorts of awards for detective fiction, but frankly I found nothing very ground-breaking here, nor much in the way of intriquing language.

Also---it muchly falls into cliche. The cop killer turns out to be a guy who's mad at the police stemming from one specific incident, and our hero actually witnessed that event, and could have done more to help, but was in a hurry, so he did bare minimum. Gosh, so is the bad guy a Monster of My Own Making? Worse, the climax comes when the bad fella, wanting to make one last big impression, decides to try and murder a female pop singer during her concert. And, golly, that female pop singer just happens to be---ta da---Our Heroes Girlfriend!!! Gee whillikers, what a coincidence.

If this is the best the Japanese can do at detective fiction, then our "detective book" exchange rate must truly rock.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I only stayed in Shinjuku on one trip to Japan, most of the high-density sections of the city evoke a similar sensation. The book brought home for me the rhythm and and flavor of the city and its nightlife.

I think the average rating does not do the author, translator, and book justice. I can see how it began a line of popular crime novels that (apparently) continues strong today, more than a decade later. Granted the novel is rough around the edges, but I suspect it intends to shock the reader as well as weave a good and interesting yarn.

I plan on finding further books in this series, assuming they have made it to the translator's desk. My Japanese is entirely verbal and regrettably, quite limited.

[Ad_blankestijn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not many Japanese crime novels make it to English translations. This one, a hunt for a master gun maker responsible for police killings, is decent but not earth-shattering. The most interesting aspect is the relation between maverick detective Samejima, the "lonely shark," and his colleagues from the police department, who in conformist group society Japan (at least 17 years ago when the book was written) employ ostracism and even open hostility to get rid of the "nail that sticks out." See my review of publisher Vertical on my website Japan Navigator.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Osawa is a popular crime writer in Japan. Shinjuku Shark is the first of his books with detective Samejima, and he's trying to find a rampant cop killer in Shinjuku, a bad area of Tokyo. There are familiar elements to all the detective and crime stories (as Osawa's series is said to have been influenced e.g. by Elmore Leonard), but it's still refreshingly different. The location, from how the people act and do to how everything smells to all the small little customs of Japanese (and Shinjuku.. and underworld) customs comes strong. Interesting characters and a neat, pressuring atmosphere.
I'll definitely try the next books of the series if I run to them later...