Invited by the Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo, Taiwanese novelist and playwright Chi Wei-jan (紀蔚然) attended an author talk at the Kinokuniya Shinjuku main store on June 9. During the event, Chi engaged in a dialogue with Japanese author Atsukawa Tatsumi, sharing insights into his novel series “Private Eyes (私家偵探)” and discussing the unique appeal of Taiwanese detective fiction.
To promote Taiwanese books translated into Japanese, the Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo annually invites Taiwanese authors who have successfully launched their publications in Japan to participate in dialogue sessions with local authors, translators, or critics. This initiative aims to highlight Taiwanese authors and their works to Japanese readers.
“Private Eyes,” portraying the story of a former professor who becomes a private detective, received warm responses from the public after its release in 2011. It was later translated into Japanese, French, Italian, Turkish, and Korean, winning the 13th Honkaku Mystery Award in Japan. In 2021, Chi released a sequel titled “DV8: Private Eyes 2 (DV8：私家偵探2)” and the Japanese version was released last May.