"Fingerprints Left Behind – Seicho Matsumoto and Taiwan Mystery Novels (遺留下的指紋─松本清張與臺灣推理小說特展)," a special exhibition commemorating the 30th anniversary of the death of famed Japanese author Seicho Matsumoto (松本清張), is open to the public at three venues in Taiwan and Japan simultaneously from July 29.
According to Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo (TCCT), Seicho is a household name in Japan. In Taiwan, Japanese mystery novels have always been popular, and in the 1980s, Taiwan set off a trend of reading Seicho's novels. The exhibition features the history of exchanges between Taiwanese and Japanese mystery literacy works and the influence of Seicho on Taiwanese mystery literature. Through this, the Japanese people will deepen their understanding of the history of Taiwanese literature and literary works.
On July 30, TCCT invited well-known Japanese novelist Natsuhiko Kyougoku (京極夏彥) to speak about the charm of Taiwanese literature. He mentioned that recently, there is an increasing number of interesting mystery novels from Taiwan that are published in Japan and recommended to Japanese readers. He also expressed his hope that more Taiwanese works could be translated and published in Japan in the future to benefit Japanese readers. In addition, he pointed out that the exchanges of mystery literature between Taiwan and Japan are unprecedented. He encourages Japanese audiences to visit the National Museum of Taiwan Literature in Taiwan in the future, thereby learning more about Taiwanese literature.
The "Fingerprints Left Behind – Seicho Matsumoto and Taiwan Mystery Novels" exhibition will be held at the Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo, Japan until Aug. 19, the Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum in Japan until Oct. 23, and the Taiwan Literature Museum until Oct. 30.