Into the White Night: Book Two – Walking Through White Darkness

Author Keigo Higashino · Publisher Jaein · Published 2016-04-06 · ISBN 9788990982629

About the Book

Publisher's Review
The pinnacle of Keigo Higashino's literature, depicting the tragedy of wounded souls with a breathtaking structure and epic scale, newly born with Kim Nan-joo's translation!

Staged as a play in Japan in 2005
Aired as a TBS television drama series in Japan in 2006
Made into a film starring Son Ye-jin and Han Seok-kyu in South Korea in 2009
Filmed in Japan in 2011
Cumulative circulation of 2.3 million copies in Japan as of 2016
Keigo Higashino's masterpiece, "Byakuyakō" (all 2 volumes), is newly translated by Kim Nan-joo...
The pinnacle of Keigo Higashino's literature, depicting the tragedy of wounded souls with a breathtaking structure and epic scale, newly born with Kim Nan-joo's translation!

Staged as a play in Japan in 2005
Aired as a TBS television drama series in Japan in 2006
Made into a film starring Son Ye-jin and Han Seok-kyu in South Korea in 2009
Filmed in Japan in 2011
Cumulative circulation of 2.3 million copies in Japan as of 2016
Keigo Higashino's masterpiece, "Byakuyakō" (all 2 volumes), has been newly published with Kim Nan-joo's translation.
Translator Kim Nan-joo is the top expert in this field, having translated numerous Japanese literary works into Korean, and is particularly skilled, having completed the first full translation of Japan's proud classical literature, "The Tale of Genji," in Korea. The newly born "Byakuyakō" with her smooth translation has faithfully preserved the literary characteristics of the original, such as delicate nuances, subtle foreshadowing, and poetic allusions.
"Byakuyakō" is a full-length mystery novel that was first published in Japan in 1999 and was nominated for the Naoki Prize the following year. It surpassed 1 million copies in January 2006 and boasts a cumulative circulation of 2.3 million copies in Japan as of April 2016, making it a million-seller. In 2005, it was staged as a play in Japan, and in 2006, it was made into a TBS television drama series and aired. In 2009, it was unusually made into a film in Korea even before Japan. It was a hot topic film starring Son Ye-jin, Go Soo, and Han Seok-kyu. In Japan, it was made into a film in 2011. It is widely recognized as the pinnacle of Keigo Higashino's literature, receiving praise in the Japanese reading market as "a masterpiece mystery novel that depicts the tragedy of wounded humans with a breathtaking structure and epic scale" (Amazon Japan's work commentary).
A brief synopsis of "Byakuyakō" is as follows:
In 1973, in an abandoned building on the outskirts of Osaka, the owner of a nearby pawnshop, Yosuke Kirihara, is found murdered. A woman he met just before his death becomes a suspect, but shortly after, she also dies from gas poisoning, presumed to be suicide. Subsequently, the case falls into a labyrinth without decisive evidence and gradually fades from people's memories. The victim's son, Ryoji Kirihara, and the suspect's daughter, Yukiho Nishimoto, also seem to be living their ordinary lives. However, at some point, the shadow of horrific crimes such as murder and rape begins to loom around Ryoji and Yukiho, and clues gradually emerge showing that these two are bound together by an inescapable thread of fate. Meanwhile, Detective Sasagaki, who was in charge of the initial investigation into the pawnshop owner's murder case, persistently tracks the whereabouts of the two veiled individuals.
The novel starts as a simple mystery and gradually develops into a youth novel or a coming-of-age novel. It traces the 19 years of their growth process, broken down into several-year intervals, until they become adults. Although the story progresses breathlessly with various incidents, conversely, the two are always facing the dark past when the pawnshop owner's murder occurred. What exactly happened to these two at that time?
"Byakuyakō" is like a giant puzzle. The big picture doesn't quite emerge until the last puzzle piece is fitted. Of course, there are hints that reveal parts of the picture at each turning point, leading to moments of realization, but soon after, one is drawn back into a complex labyrinth. Moreover, the author never describes the psychology of Ryoji and Yukiho, who hold the key to the incident, even a single line until the end. In fact, the two never even meet once in the novel. The author only focuses on realistic descriptions as he follows their movements. This meticulous narrative strategy of Keigo Higashino consistently drives the novel into a tense atmosphere. And this is precisely the highlight of the novel "Byakuyakō."
Finally, when the last puzzle piece is fitted, the entire scope of the vast story gradually unfolds, astonishing readers. This is precisely why prominent Japanese literary figures have showered "Byakuyakō" with high praise, saying, "The novel's blueprint is ingenious and intricate" (Natsuhiko Kyogoku), and "A completeness that makes one think of precision machinery" (Kenzo Kitakata).
The title "Byakuyakō" encapsulates the dark and heavy emotions that dominate the entire novel. It is a title that symbolically shows the destiny of the two protagonists, who live with the painful trauma of their childhood. In the novel, a short monologue appears where a protagonist reveals his feelings. Ryoji says, "I want to walk outside in the daytime. (omitted) My life is nothing but walking in the white night." On the other hand, Yukiho murmurs, "But it wasn't dark. There was something that replaced the sun. (omitted) Thanks to that light, I could live thinking that night was day. (omitted) I never had a sun in the first place. So I have no fear of losing something." One expresses a desire to escape the white night, and the other resigns herself to a life in the white night. However, the two wounded souls are firmly bound by the common destiny of having to walk in the white night, neither day nor night.
The keyword that penetrates "Byakuyakō" is devotion. Unconditional devotion to a loved one, it is a sublime self-sacrifice that transcends the boundaries of good and evil. Devotion is one of the themes that Japanese people love. This theme is also well expressed in Keigo Higashino's other masterpiece, "The Devotion of Suspect X." What is important, transcending the rightness or wrongness of actions or good and evil, is the purity of motive. This is why the story of "Chushingura" (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), which deals with the deaths of 47 samurai who sought revenge to restore their lord's honor, is still constantly made into plays and films, and why the Japanese are so enthusiastic about this story.
Unlike Keigo Higashino's other novels, "Byakuyakō" frequently features scenes of death and sex. One of the major characteristics of Japanese literature is that its protagonists, wounded and frustrated within a corrupt adult collective, choose sex and death as a way out to preserve their childhood innocence and individual truth. This sentiment is well expressed in "Byakuyakō." Childhood trauma acts as the origin that drives the actions of the two protagonists, Ryoji and Yukiho. This structure can also be seen as a strong critique of Japan's bubble economy in the 1970s, the historical backdrop of "Byakuyakō." In this respect, "Byakuyakō" can be viewed as a work where the social critical nature, one of the characteristics of Keigo Higashino's novels, is sharply expressed.
"There was no sun above me. It was always night. But it wasn't dark. Because there was something that replaced the sun. It didn't shine as brightly as the sun, but it was enough for me. Thanks to that light, I could live thinking that night was day."
— From the main text

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13