Seichō Matsumoto’s Tokyo Express is a slim mystery novel from 1958 whose crime is largely dependent on train schedules. Although two apparent victims of suicide appear to have traveled together to a lonely seaside town, were they in fact being pursued…?
The officer assigned to the case, a young detective named Mihara, suspects the involvement of the president of an industrial manufacturer with close ties to the government. Mihara assumes that his prime suspect, an affable middle-aged gentleman named Yasuda, was attempting to cover up an illegal collusion.
As Mihara pursues various train schedules across the Japanese archipelago, he learns that Yasuda’s elaborate system of alibis checks out. But, if Yasuda didn’t murder the two victims, who could have been helping him?
For me, there were far too many timetables in Tokyo Express, and I found myself skimming to avoid getting bogged down in the numbers. No one in the story has much of a personality, and Mihara is mostly a cipher for the reader. Despite the plot’s emphasis on travel, the locations that Mihara visits don’t really have a sense of place or setting.
I’m given to understand that there are many mystery fans who appreciate this style of writing, namely, just the facts with little by way of atmospheric description. If you’re looking for a puzzle box in book form, Tokyo Express has a lot of fun moving parts to play with. If you read mysteries more for the story, however, it might be better to take a pass on this particular ride.
Contemporary Japanese Literature 
Despite all the rave reviews, I’ve always been reluctant to try any of Matsumoto’s books, probably with good reason judging by your take on this one 😉
After reading Tokyo Express myself, I have to admit that I’m surprised by the positivity of the reviews I’ve encountered. Japanese mystery novels tend to be unusually hit-or-miss for me, and I sometimes find myself wondering what interest certain classic titles hold for people who didn’t grow up reading them. I know it’s a cliché to say this, but I suppose different people have different tastes.
To be honest, I’m a lot more wary about trying the J-Lit making its way into English at the moment as there’s a lot of stuff that’s there for the mass market, but doesn’t really appeal to me (such as most of the books with cats on the cover…).
My hope is that the success of these books will help maintain the market space necessary for the mainstream publication of more interesting and substantial translations… but you’re not wrong.