Six Four: A Novel

Don't let the negative reviews dissuade you from reading this remarkable novel -- especially if you are looking for a more complex and nuanced understanding of police work in another country. While not a traditional crime / detective novel (this is one of the key reasons some are giving such harsh reviews), Six Four offers up lots of mystery and a cold kidnapping/murder case that is at the heart of the narrative. However, instead of focusing on a detective who is trying to solve the cold case, Hideo Yokoyama's protagonist is a former detective who once tried to solve the case but who is now working in the police department's media relations office. Throughout the novel, he is torn between his loyalty to his fellow detectives and his new administrative colleagues. While at times this "inside baseball" of office politics can feel a bit overwrought, I still found it fascinating. The depiction of office politics is also key to fleshing out the author's many multi-dimensional characters. And by "many" I mean "many". Rarely have I read a contemporary novel with such interesting and well-rounded characters. I will definitely be reading the next of Hideo Yokoyama's novels to be translated into English.

This book was a sensation when it was first published in Japan in 2011. Published in English in the UK last year, it also garnered respectable sales. Now the U.S. edition is out, published by Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, and it will be interesting to see how it is received in the long term here.For this is a very different crime fiction/thriller/police procedural to what American readers are used to. For one thing the protagonist is not a detective, although he has been a police detective in the past and for most of his professional career. But at the time that we meet Yoshinobu Mikami, he has for several months been the press director for the police department, charged with liaising with journalists and getting out the story which the police want to get out to the public. It's a role that he finds something like a strait jacket and he does not embrace it. He spends much of his time longing to be transferred back into the Criminal Investigation Division.Moreover, when we meet Mikami, he and his wife have suffered their own tragedy. Their teenage daughter has run away from home and even though the thousands of police across the country are on the lookout for her, no one has seen her. Periodically, Mikami and his wife are called to various morgues to look at the bodies of teenage girls to determine if this one is in fact their daughter. They have just completed such a sad journey at the beginning of the novel. But the latest body was not their daughter and so hope still lives.Meanwhile, on the job, Mikami is looking at the fourteenth anniversary of the kidnapping of a seven-year-old girl named Shoko who was held for ransom but was subsequently killed even though the ransom was delivered as instructed. We are told that this is the only kidnapping or murder in all those years that the police department of this Prefecture has not solved(!), and it is viewed as an indelible stain upon the entire department. For fourteen years they have continued to work the case but are no nearer to solving it and now the statute of limitations will run out in just a year.Now, on the anniversary of the kidnapping, the police commissioner is planning to come from Tokyo for a visit to the crime scene and to pay his respects to (and have a photo op with) Shoko's family. It is up to Mikami as press director to arrange all this.For much of this very, very long (almost 600 pages) book, we follow Mikami as he works to accomplish this task. In so doing, he runs into incredible bureaucratic tangles, something like office politics to the nth degree. At the same time, he must wrestle with the press and try to keep them in line and happy. It seems impossible. Mikami's mental and physical health seem at risk in all of this.The fourteen-year-old kidnapping case is referred to as Six Four for reasons having to do with the year of the emperor's reign in which it occurred. So much of this novel is like a tour of the culture of Japan. We see the police, on the way to interview a witness, stopping to buy a "home-visiting gift" of rice crackers. Visits to Shoko's family's home involve the ritual burning of incense at the household shrine. Much of the plot and much of the press' irritation with the press director's office turns on the Japanese practice of granting widespread anonymity to those involved in crime cases. And throughout, there are repeated references to the cops' concerns with "losing face" in the community. Indeed, some of those involved in the unsuccessful investigation of the crime have had their lives ruined by their failure.Yes, this is a very different sort of crime fiction. Passionate as they are about their cases, I can't imagine John Rebus or Harry Bosch worrying about losing face, or spending fourteen years locked in a room because they feel responsible for errors made in the original investigation, as one of the technicians here does.Reviewing the old case, Mikami begins to see some anomalies and finally gets a chance, near the end, to act as a detective as well as a press director.I was captivated by this plot from the first, but as the novel went on, seemingly endlessly, I lost a bit of my enthusiasm for it. By the end, I was leaning toward a three-star review, but on balance, I decided to go with four stars. It is a very well-plotted story and the writer plays fair throughout. The clues are there if we are smart enough to pick them up. The story is seen entirely through the eyes of Mikami and told from his point of view, and the reader is left hoping by the end that this conflicted man will finally find some peace.

Hideo Yokoyama obviously put his heart and soul into this book. In terms of realism, I honestly felt like Mikami, a former detective turned Press Director type for the police, was about as layered and as specific as you can get in a fiction novel. I felt like I knew him very well by the end of the book. And in terms of investigation procedures, the police and media relations, and local police forces dealing with the larger spectre of Tokyo's bigger authoritative individuals constantly threatening to take over at any minute, you simply will not find a better book about police handling cases in Japan. I mean, it's overwhelming, and that's not because of the 600 plus page count. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of research that Hideo put into writing this epic story, and for this reason, I have no choice as an author myself but to truly bow down in awe of this author's meticulous and astutely detailed Japanese police procedural.But there are some pretty big issues with this book that made me go from thinking it might be the greatest book I've ever read to just an okay book that could've been so, so much more. I'll try to talk about these issues without spoiling anything. And don't worry, I won't say a word about the ending, in terms of who or what or how or why.For starters, the book's ending just wasn't enough of a payoff for me to have invested so much time reading over 600 pages of story. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty sure you'll never see it coming (I certainly didn't), and in terms of what happens, the twist is genius and definitely exciting once it finally comes out, but the entire time I was reading the story, I kept asking myself if I was reading more about daily life working as a police officer in Japan, or if I was reading a mystery story about an old kidnapping and murder case that suddenly had meaning and bearing to the present time that the book was written. So, in other words, if I took all the pages the actual six four kidnapping story and murder was being discussed, it would amount to maybe 100 pages? Maybe less? The other 500 plus pages are dealing with the internal politics of many police officers who were surrounding the case and what it was doing to them and for them. It just didn't have the creepy, murder mystery vibe that I enjoy with murder mystery novels. It felt more like I was reading tv scripts for episodes of the Japanese version of Law and Order, or something like that. I mean, for a huge majority of the beginning part of the book, six four is pushed way to the very back and there is a gigantic back and forth about police covering up doing bad things in favor of anonymous reporting, which truly (and to some degree, justifiably so) upsets reporters who deal with the police on a daily basis.Yet here's the catch about what I just wrote: the ending doesn't work without all of the internal politics being discussed at length. It just wouldn't have any impact at all, or even matter, if the large cast of characters and their motives and actions weren't discussed at length in preparation for what was the last few pages of the book. I noticed that the story was woven extremely tightly together, and as I wondered if I was an editor and could cut stuff from the story, what would I cut? The answer is nothing. Every word is in its right place, weird as that may sound. The problem though was the meat and fun stuff that I like to read about when it comes to kidnappings and murder mysteries wasn't enough there to satisfy my hunger.Another problem was that the ending was.... well, lets just say rather underwhelming. I wanted to be swept away by emotional tides when the ending came to this book, but I didn't feel really anything too intense. I literally said out loud when I was done reading, "That's it?" I mean, that's never a good thing to say when you're done with a 600 plus page novel, you know? The biggest issue I had wasn't really so much what I just wrote but the fact that Mikami's own daughter, Ayumi, is missing (this is right at the beginning of the story, so no spoiler there), and the entire book just seems to toss this aside. As a father of a daughter, it would be my absolute worst nightmare if she left the house one day and never came back. I couldn't go to work anymore, or stay at home. I would be out there hunting for her. And that's where I have the biggest problem here: Mikami is a veteran detective, yet he throws himself into his job more than about worrying to find his daughter. You would think after working the six four kidnapping case many years ago that he would be truly haunted and terrified of the same thing possibly happening to his own child, but it's like Mikami doesn't seem to think much about Ayumi until it's convenient to advance the plot or to end a chapter with an ominous thought about Ayumi. I mean, this girl is Mikami's only child too. Why wouldn't he be using his detective pedigree to be out there chasing after her every single day? I know it mentions that he certainly did try to do this, but to me, it's not enough. And still... and still, this wouldn't even be so bad if the book had given us a heaven or hell resolution to Ayumi's story. Instead all I got was.....limbo?I would recommend reading this book if you have nothing else to read and want a great book that showcases Japanese police and what it's like to be a Japanese police officer. I'm assuming it's based a lot on truth and Hideo's own experiences with police in Japan. However, if you are looking for a story that resolves anything it starts, has huge consequences for its characters that justify the long narrative page count, and inserts just enough fantasy into the reality of the story to make it truly a work of fiction instead of a huge attempt at writing a non-fiction documentary, this isn't that book. Still a good read, and an impressive look into the Japanese psyche and mindset as well as the workplace in Japan and also police in Japan and their lack of apparent humanity or true empathy for not one but two families who are or have been suffering from a horrible crime.

Impressive and lengthy account of detectives haunted by a cold case of kidnapping and murder, which seems to be surfacing or imitated in a recent disappearance. As much about the operations and conflicts between different departments in the region's police force as it is a mystery. I found it fascinating, knowing little of Japanese police culture, but it may prove tedious for those who prefer straightforward crime solving and dramatic scenes. Reminded me a bit of the detail Le Carre inserts in his spy novels.

Amazing book

This is one of the most surprising books I've read in a long time. I've lived in Japan for several years and like to think I have a pretty good working knowledge of the place but, based on the assumption that this is depicting realistic police practices and attitudes (which from what I do know seems reasonable), I was really shocked. It's not that it's violent or sexual or anything like that; it's just so unfamiliar.For Japanese readers I can imagine this is a quite interesting take on the police thriller because of the main character Mikami's position in the Media Relations department, rather than as a detective, but the cultural gap for non-Japanese readers is really quite a chasm. Some say that a detective story is a really good way to examine society, and I agree; but this is one very extreme case. This book really needs either a good working knowledge of Japanese society, attitudes and organisational culture, or a deep curiosity about those things and a willingness to take things as you find them, as a baseline in order for it to make much sense. The apparently random internal transfers that are a fact of life in Japanese workplaces, the attitudes to superiors and subordinates, the intensely private interpersonal dynamics are all very different, as are innumerable other minor details.Even then, as a British person I have preconcieved notions about what police are, what they do, how they work as an organisation and what their principles are. Every one of these was seriously challenged by this book. If this book is to be believed, the Japanese police force is a truly unrecogniseable institution in comparison. That is perhaps the book's key strength, as the sheer difference of it all prompts you to learn more about this utterly weird, deeply factional organisation that appears to think of catching criminals as a secondary and rather background affair compared to its own interior political struggles and institutional structural integrity.At the same time it's a weakness, as it's very hard to simply take the characters and their actions and thought processes seriously as real people, given how far removed they are from what you might expect of a police force (or family, come to that - family dynamics are also very different, in ways one might not expect). Their values, motivation and drive is very hard to comprehend for me, and I already have many years of experience dealing with Japanese people, so for someone without any particular knowledge of Japan I can see this book being nearly impossible to read or understand. That's not to say the characters are actually badly-fashioned, though; they're very well fleshed out, just in ways that are hard to empathise with in a lot of cases, including the protagonist, who it was hard not to call an idiot for his attitudes at times, despite his intelligence, aims and sensitivity.As an example, a central part of the story is the ideological principle behind releasing the personal details of victims or suspects to the media. To me, the basic idea of the press simply being given names by the police is incomprehensible; people have a basic human right to privacy that should never be violated by protectors of the citizenry in such a way, and if journalists do eventually get names it's because they've investigated, or because police decide releasing a name is going to help an investigation. But the press in this book are very upset not to be simply handed these details at press conferences as a matter of routine; I had no idea such a subject would ever be up for debate, and the solution that is ultimately reached, even though it deals with a universal theme, seems like something that would only ever happen in Japan.It's also treading a fine line between making something interesting because it's unfamiliar, in particular the complicated relationship between the police and the media, and just being too enormously complicated or just plain *out there* to actually become engaging at all. The cast of characters is huge and convoluted, and for an important reason many of them have similar-sounding names as well, and a weakness of the author or possibly translator's style is the lack of any sort of introductory preamble to help the reader understand anything about the massive and complex organisation into the middle of whose political wiles they are about to be unceremoniously dumped, and who belongs to what part within it. Even people who work in a company need an org chart sometimes.It's hard to recommend, despite how unusual it is. This breath of fresh air is too fresh for a lot of English-language readers. If you know Japan, or like me you think you do, you might find it interesting and enlightening, but unless you're willing to work hard for what is ultimately not that satisfying a story, it may not be for you.

The best mystery/thriller I've read in ages. Impossible to predict the ending. The plot is very unique and the amount of detail/thought put into its construction and execution is incredibly admirable.

However this book has become a bestseller I fail to understand. It even got very good writeups in the top newspapers.The main character works for the police department which handles relations with the press. He doesn't get on well with his superiors or with the criminal branch. His own daughter has gone missing and he recalls how a girl (Case number 64) was kidnapped and then murdered because someone in his department leaked information to the press.Promising enough but if you were to ask what happens in the book I would have to answer, "Precious little". The criminal branch don't seem to be looking for the missing girl. She barely gets a mention and what we get is a blow-by-blow, word-by-word account of the hero's discussions with his colleagues as he tries to find out who sneaked to the press in Case 64. At least it is original, perhaps even unique.The pace of events is that of an ageing snail. By way of compensation, the actual rhythm of the writing is fairly brisk, sentences and chapters being relatively short. It was not until I reached page 400 and the content became less impersonal that I became "hooked" - up to a point. However, I would only recommend this book to someone either very patient or who reads in short bursts, for example in bed before going to sleep. At least I managed to finish it, which is more than I can say of certain books bought on the recommendation of other readers.

Situada en el 2002 en el cuartel general regional de la policía, la novela "Six Four" ("64" - año del reinado del emperador) sigue a Mikami, el director reacio del departamento de relaciones públicas de la policía, la hija del cual ha desaparecido, pero que se encuentra atrapado entre las exigencias contradictorias de los burócratas, de los policías investigadores y de los periodistas de la Prefectura D en el momento en que el estatuto de limitaciones en la persecución de un secuestro-asesinato está a punto de vencer y en que se desarrolla un caso nuevo.Uno de los logros de "Six Four" ofrecido a los lectores es la increíble mirada dentro del funcionamiento a diario y de la estructura de la policía del Japón, sus maquinaciones políticas y sus rivalidades, a nivel interno, local y nacional, y su relación con la prensa/los medios de la comunicación.Empieza despacio, pero después gana velocidad y se convierte en una novela negra larga con buen ritmo y interesantes detalles sobre la vida cotidiana japonesa. Me gustaría leer más novelas del mismo autor, por algunos llamado el Stieg Larsson japonés.