19-05-2025
Japan mystery author Edogawa Rampo's renovated Tokyo home reopens to public
The former Tokyo home of the late Japanese author Edogawa Rampo has been reopened to the public after renovations.
Edogawa is best known for his mystery novels, such as "Kaijin Nijumenso," or "The Fiend with Twenty Faces." He wrote most of his works in the early to mid-20th century. His pen name was inspired by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe.
He lived for about 30 years in the house in Nishi-Ikebukuro until his death in 1965. The residence was donated to nearby Rikkyo University. It was reopened on Monday after being closed for renovations since last year.
About 50 items, including a chronology of the writer's life and handwritten notes on plots for novels, can be viewed in a new exhibition room.
Novels and specialist books referred to in his works are kept in a storage room that he used as his library.
Items of furniture, including blue sofas used by the writer, are on display in a recreated guestroom.
Visitors looked carefully at the items on display and took photographs.
A Tokyo man in his 60s said the exhibits helped him to understand various aspects of the author, such as how he diligently collected materials. He said he wants to reread his books.
Assistant Professor Sugimoto Kana of Rikkyo University's Edogawa Rampo Memorial Center for Popular Culture Studies says she hopes many people will visit the place to learn more about him and how he lived.
The renovated house will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, except for national holidays.
