is a fictional detective created by Japanese author Seishi Yokomizo. One of Japan's most famous fictional detectives, Kindaichi appeared in 77 novels and short stories between 1946 and 1980. The series has sold over 55 million books, and has been adapted into numerous films and TV series.
Kindaichi first appeared in the 1946 novel The Honjin Murders, which won the first Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1948. Author Seishi Yokomizo continued writing novels and short stories featuring Kindaichi up until his death in 1980.
The character is known for his distinctive scruffy hair and clothes, and has been portrayed in films and TV by many well-known Japanese actors, including Kōji Ishizaka. The character's fame in Japan has been compared to globally-recognisable fictional detectives, including Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.
Stories featuring Kosuke Kindaichi The Kosuke Kindaichi series consists of 77 stories, of which 26 are full-length novels, and 51 are short stories or novellas. +Japanese titleDirect translationOfficial English titleFirst serialisedType of storyHonjin satsujin jiken (本陣殺人事件)The Honjin Murder CaseThe Honjin Murders1946NovelGokumon IslandDeath on Gokumon Island1947NovelKo-mori to namekuji (蝙蝠と蛞蝓)The Bat and the Slug1947Short storyKuroneko-tei jiken (黒猫亭事件)The Black Cat Inn IncidentMurder at the Black Cat Cafe1947Short storySatsujinki (殺人鬼)A Killer1947Short storyKuroran-hime (黒蘭姫)Black Orchid Princess1948Short storyYoru aruku (夜歩く)Walking at NightShe Walks at Night1948NovelYatsu-haka mura (八つ墓村)Eight Graves VillageThe Village of Eight Graves1949NovelShi kamen (死仮面)Death Mask1949Short storyInugami-kei no ichizoku (犬神家の一族)The Inugami FamilyThe Inugami Curse1950NovelJokai (女怪)The Female Monster1950Short storySarusuberi no shita te (百日紅の下にて)Under the Crepe Myrtle Tree1951Short storyJo'ō-batchi (女王蜂)Queen Bee1951NovelKarasu (カラス)The Crow1951Short storyAkuma ga kitarite Fue wo fuku (悪魔が来りて笛を吹く)The Devil Comes and Plays the FluteThe Devil's Flute Murders1951NovelYūrei-za (幽霊座)The Ghost Theatre1952Short storyKodei (湖泥)Lake of Mud1953Short storyFushichō (不死蝶)The Immortal Butterfly1953NovelIkeru shi kamen (生ける死仮面)The Living Death Mask1953Short storyMeiro no hanayome (迷路の花嫁)The Bride of the Labyrinth1954NovelYūrei otoko (幽霊男)The Ghost Man1954NovelHanazono no akuma (花園の悪魔)The Devil of the Flower Garden1954Short storyOchitaru ten'nyo (堕ちたる天女)Fallen Angel1954Short storyShinkirō no jōnetsu (蜃気楼島の情熱)The Passion of Mirage Island1954Short storyNemureru hanayome (睡れる花嫁)The Sleeping Bride1954Short storyMitsukubi-tō (三つ首塔)The Three-headed Tower1955NovelKyūketsuga (吸血蛾)Vampire Moth1955NovelKurumaido wa naze kushiru (車井戸はなぜ軋る)Why Does the Well Creak?Why Does the Well Creak? (published in Murder at the Black Cat Cafe)1949, revised as a Kindaichi story in 1955Short storyKubi (首)Neck1955Short storyHaien no oni (廃園の鬼)The Demon of the Abandoned Garden1955Short storyDoku no ya (毒の矢)Poison Arrow1956Short storyRō no bijin (蝋美人)The Wax Beauty1956Short storyKuroi tsubasa (黒い翼)Black Wings1956Short storyShinigami no ya (死神の矢)The Grim Reaper's Arrow1956NovelMajō no koyomi (魔女の暦)The Witch's Calendar1956NovelKurayami no naka no neko (暗闇の中の猫)A Cat in the Darkness1947, revised as a Kindaichi story in 1956Short storyYume no naka no on'na (夢の中の女)The Woman in the Dream1956Short storyNanatsu no kamen (七つの仮面)The Seven Masks1956Short storyMeiro-sō no sangeki (迷路荘の惨劇)Tragedy at Labyrinth Manor1956NovelHanayakana yajū (華やかな野獣)The Glamorous Beast1956Short storyTrump-dai-jō no Kubi (トランプ台上の首)The Head on the Card Table1957Short storyKiri no naka no on'na (霧の中の女)The Woman in the Mist1957Short storyOn'na no kettō (女の決闘)Duel of the Women1957Short storyDoro no naka no on'na (泥の中の女)The Woman in the Mud1957Short storyKaban no naka no on'na (鞄の中の女)The Woman in the Bag1957Short storyKagami no naka no on'na (鏡の中の女)The Woman in the Mirror1957Short storyKasa no naka no on'na (傘の中の女)The Woman under the Umbrella1957Short storyOri no naka no on'na (檻の中の女)The Woman in the Cage1957Short storyKagami ga ura no satsujin (鏡が浦の殺人)Murder at Kagami Beach1957Short storyKashi-boat jūsan-gō (貸しボート十三号)Rental Boat No. 131957Short storyAkuma no temari uta (悪魔の手毬唄)The Devil's Ball SongThe Little Sparrow Murders1957NovelKochū bijin (壺中美人)The Beauty in the Jar1957NovelShina ōgi no on'na (支那扇の女)The Woman with the Chinese Fan1957Short storyTobira no kage no on'na (扉の影の女)The Woman in the Shadow of the Door1957NovelAkuma no kōtansai (悪魔の降誕祭)The Devil's Nativity1958Short storyHora no naka no on'na (洞の中の女)The Woman in the Cave1958Short storyKan no naka no on'na (柩の中の女)The Woman in the Coffin1958Short storyHi no Jūjika (火の十字架)Crucifixion of Fire1958Short storyAka no naka no on'na (赤の中の女)The Woman in the Red1958Short storyHitomi no naka no on'na (瞳の中の女)The Woman in the Eyes1958Short storySpade no Jo'ō (スペードの女王)The Queen of Spades1958NovelBara no besso (薔薇の別荘)Rose Villa1958Short storyAkuma no chōji (悪魔の寵児)The Devil's Favourite Child1958NovelKōsui no shinjū (香水心中)Perfume Lovers' Suicide1958Short storyKiri no sansō (霧の山荘)Mountain Lodge in the Fog1958Short storyJinmensō (人面瘡)Human-Faced Tumor1949, revised as a Kindaichi story in 1960Short storyMehiru (雌蛭)Female Leech1960Short storyShiro to kuro (白と黒)White and Black1960NovelAkuma no hyaku kuchibiru-fu (悪魔の百唇譜)The Devil's Hundred Lips1962NovelHidokei no naka no on'na (日時計の中の女)The Woman in the Sundial1962Short storyRyōki no shimatsusho (猟奇の始末書)Report on a Bizarre Incident1962Short storyYoru no kurubyō (夜の黒豹Black Panther of the Night1963NovelNeko yakata (猫館)The Cat House1963Short storyKawahori otoko (蝙蝠男)The Bat Man1964Short storyKamen butokai (仮面舞踏会)Masquerade ball1962, revised in 1974NovelByoinzaka no kubikukuri no ie (病院坂の首縊りの家)The House of Hanging on Hospital Slope1975NovelAkuryō-tō (悪霊島)Evil Spirit Island1978 Works in translation Until the 21st century, the Kosuke Kindaichi books had not been translated into English. However, beginning in 2019, British independent publisher Pushkin Press began translating and releasing Yokomizo's stories: The Honjin Murders, published in 2019 The Inugami Curse, published in 2020 The Village of Eight Graves, published in 2021 Death on Gokumon Island, published in 2022 The Devil's Flute Murders, published in 2023 The Little Sparrow Murders, published in 2024 Murder at the Black Cat Cafe, published in 2025 She Walks at Night, published in 2026
In other media Film Chiezō Kataoka portrayed Kindaichi in seven films between 1947 and 1956. Seizaburō Kawazu starred in the 1954 film Yurei otoko, while Ryō Ikebe appeared in 1956's Vampire Moth, and Ken Takakura in 1961's Akuma no temari-uta.
Akira Nakao starred as Kindaichi in Yoichi Takabayashi's 1975 adaptation of The Honjin Murders entitled Death at an Old Mansion, which was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival. Kiyoshi Atsumi played the detective in the 1977 film Village of the Eight Gravestones, directed by Yoshitarō Nomura.
Director Kon Ichikawa made six films about Kindaichi, starring Koji Ishizaka:
The Inugami Family (1976) Akuma no temari-uta (1977) Gokumon-to (1977) Queen Bee (1978) The House of Hanging on Hospital Slope (1979) The Inugamis (2006)
Kiyoshi Astumi played the detective in Yatsuhaka-mura (1977), while Toshiyuki Nishida appeared in Devil's Flute (1979). Director Nobuhiko Obayashi made a parody film in 1979 titled The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi, starring Ikkô Furuya in the title role. Takeshi Kaga played the character in the 1981 film Akuryoto, whilst 1996's Yatsuhaka-Mura starred Etsushi Toyokawa. Matsuya Onoe stars as Kindaichi in Takashi Shimizu's 2026 version of The Village of Eight Gravestones.
Television
There have been numerous television drama films starring various different actors as Kindaichi: Takaya Kamikawa in Kindaichi Kōsuke File - Meiro Sou no Sangeki (2002, TV Tokyo) and. Kindaichi Kōsuke File - Gokumon Tou (2003, TV Tokyo) Goro Inagaki in Inugamike no Ichizoku (2004), Yatsuhakamura (2004), Jōōbachi (2006), Aakuma ga Kitarite Fue o Fuku (2007) and Akuma no Temariuta (2009) Sosuke Ikematsu in Kindaichi Kosuke Tōjō! (2016), Kindaichi kōsuke odoru! (2020), Onna no Kettō (2022) and Akuma no Kōtansai (2025) Hiroki Hasegawa in Gokumon tō (2016) Hidetaka Yoshioka in Akuma ga Kitarite Fue wo Fuku (2018), Yattsu haka-mura (2019) and Inugami-ke no ichizoku (2023) Shigeaki Kato in Inugami-ke no ichizoku (2018) and Akuma no Temari-uta (2019)
Actor Ikkō Furuya played Kindaichi on television for nearly 30 years from 1977 to 2005. In 2013 and 2014 a pair of television films were made pairing Kindaichi with another famous fictional Japanese detective Edogawa Ranpo's Kogoro Akechi. Tomohisa Yamashita played Kindaichi, whilst Hideaki Itô was Akechi.
Manga and anime A profile of Kosuke appears at the end of the manga Case Closed Volume 6.
, the main character of The Kindaichi Case Files, is depicted as the grandson of Kosuke Kindaichi.
In episode 14 of Lupin the Third Part II, a German count invites the best private detectives from all over the world - including Kindaichi - to the maiden voyage of his blimp in order to catch Lupin III, who is after the count's jewel.
In the Lupin the Third Part IV episode "From Japan With Love", the celebrity detective Akechi Kousuke Holmes is partially named after Kosuke Kindaichi (as well as Kogoro Akechi and Sherlock Holmes).
Video Games There has been some game adaptations featuring Kosuke Kindaichi:
The Inugami Curse was adapted into a Nintendo DS visual novel by FromSoftware on January 22nd, 2009. Kindaichi Mystery Series: The Honjin Murders is a visual novel adaption of the novel with the same name on the 23rd of April, 2025 by coly Inc on Steam and the Nintendo Switch.
See also Kogoro Akechi The Kindaichi Case Files
References
External links Kindaichi Kosuke Museum - Fans Site