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Motorcycle journalist and world adventurer Tetsutaka Shibata has constructed in TENGU a novel whose ambitions are as massive as its subject matter, weaving an intricate web of history, science, reportage, and fable that redefines the boundaries of the mystery/detective novel, thus establishing himself as a new and formidable voice in the genre. Having honed his craft in the field, the 50 year-old Tokyo writer has recently turned his pen to fiction writing, which he states as the fulfillment of a lifetime dream and the logical next step in the trajectory of his carefully considered career in letters.
The year 2006 saw the author well-rewarded for his efforts; twice-awarded for The Final Testimonies in the Shimoyama Incident, for which he received the Grand Prize from the Japan Adventure Fiction Association, and the Criticism & Other Works category prize from the Mystery Writers of Japan. His other works include Reischauer: A Life; KAPPA; A Moment of Glory; and Barramundi.
Mysterious and unexplained phenomena have since the dawning of civilization inspired the human imagination towards the creation of myths that attempt impose order upon our often chaotic world of perception. Consider it, then, a reasonable supposition that no culture is without its wealth of boogiemen, goblins, ghosts, newts, and sea monsters. Indeed creatures of gargantuan proportions and unfathomable strengths have plagued dreams around the globe, formed the foundation of religious ceremonies, rites, and celebrations, and found themselves depicted in all manner of visual art, literature, and folklore. But to what degree do we grant legitimacy to claims that such beings actually exist? Herein lies the point of departure for TENGU, Shibata's novel which takes its title from the name of a supernatural, mountain-dwelling creature possessing human and avian features that is believed to exact revenge for wrongdoings committed against community members, abduct people and animals to later return them endowed with heightened senses and abilities, and play pranks on priests who have strayed from Buddhist precepts.
The novel introduces us to one Keiichi Michihira - an independent investigative reporter who in the year 2000 embarks on a journey to unearth the heavily shrouded truth behind a series of brutal murders that occurred a quarter-century earlier in Shikamata, a secluded hamlet situated in the mountains of Japan's Gunma Prefecture, whose residents are convinced that the culprit is none other than the fabled tengu. Our protagonist is wracked by the central question of how any rational mind can believe a creature known to exist only in oral tradition and the stubborn imaginations of a provincial people to be responsible for serial murder. The villagers' insistence on this belief fortifies Michihira's stance that there must be something more than myth involved; unseen forces operating behind the scenes the nature of which he must determine in order to solve the case of the Shikamata Village Murders.
That governments are not to be trusted is a sentiment that is threaded throughout the plot of TENGU, which derives its force from the assumption that beneath the veil of state diplomacy lie ulterior motives that threaten domestic tranquility and bring national credibility under question. Set against the backdrop of the global recession of the early- to mid-1970s, the novel establishes the significance of certain geopolitical developments as the driving force behind a massive cover-up campaign that begins with Japanese law enforcement and extends to the highest levels of the US government. Throughout the novel, Shibata's method is to employ his protagonist in the role of investigator-as-inquisitor with an uncensored license to delve into the quagmire of historical enigma, the result of which is that we are blessed with powerhouse of a work that reads at times as historical treatise, while at others as sci-fi detective novel infusing elements of what might be a thesis in forensic anthropology.
Factoring into his history are such events as the Watergate scandal, the OPEC-induced energy crises, Korean left-wing radicalism and the assassination of presidential candidate Chung-Hee Park, the resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka in the aftermath of a political scandal, the resignation of President Nixon, the attack by the Japanese Red Army on the French embassy in The Hague and their taking of 50 hostages at the AIA Building in Kuala Lumpur, and US involvement in the Vietnam War, for which it endured much criticism on all fronts including public opposition at home and accusations of human rights abuses by the international community.
Of particular import is the Vietnam conflict in which the US military amid much controversy employed use of the herbicide Agent Orange at the approval of the president with the stated goal of weakening and defeating the National Liberation Front. Known as Operation Ranch Hand, this campaign in biological warfare has been found to be the cause of a range of illnesses in the civilians and servicemen directly exposed to the chemicals, as well as chromosomal damage and resulting physical deformities in their offspring. The global response to the campaign resulted in its demise and increased efforts on the part of US officials to refute scientific evidence pinpointing Agent Orange as the cause of the aforementioned maladies.