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The Summer of the Ubume
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Wikipedia article
'The Summer of the Ubume' (, 'Ubume no natsu') is a Japanese novel by Natsuhiko Kyogoku. It is Kyogokus first novel, and the first entry in his Kygkud series about atheist onmyji Akihiko "Kygokud" Chzenji. It has been turned into a live-action feature film.
Story
'The Summer of the Ubume' is told from the perspective of freelance writer Tatsumi Sekiguchi, who is investigating rumors of a woman at the Kuonji Clinic who has remained pregnant for twenty months after the disappearance of her husband. He seeks advice and help from his close friend Akihiko Chuzenji, whom Sekiguchi refers to by the name of his bookstore ("Kygokud"). Sekiguchi is further drawn to the case when he meets the pregnant woman's beautiful sister, Ryoko Kuonji, and she asks for his help in solving her brother-in-law's disappearance from a locked, sealed room. With the help of his friends - Kygokud, private eye Reijiro Enokizu, police detective Shujiro Kiba, and fellow reporter Atsuko Chuzenji (Kygokud's sister) - Sekiguchi attempts to discover the disappearing husband's fate, but he soon learns that there is much more to the Kuonji Clinic than meets the eye, and that his own involvement with Makio Kuonji's disappearance may run deeper than he thinks. Only Kygokud's knowledge of Japanese folklore - and specifically the legend of the 'ubume', often associated with death in childbirth - can make sense of the conflicting evidence, and Kygokud agrees to perform an exorcism that will solve the mystery once and for all.
Publication
The novel was first published in 1994 by Kodansha. In 2009, an English-language edition was published by Vertical.
Film adaptation
The novel was adapted into a live-action feature film in 2005.
See also
* Tozai Mystery Best 100 (The Top 100 Mystery Novels of the East and the West)
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