The UK is enjoying a surge in the popularity of Japanese contemporary literature. Yet, one particular genre remains overlooked: crime and mystery. However, with the recent trend of Japanese works being shortlisted for the Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation, it is clear that this genre which boasts a great variety in Japan deserves more attention in the UK, the home of crime fiction.

With this in mind, the Japan Foundation is delighted to bring Akane ARAKI to the UK for the first time this October, in celebration of her newly translated debut novel, Murder at the End of the World（『此の世の果ての殺人』. ARAKI, praised by many well-known mystery novelists such as Yukito AYATSUJI and Arisu ARISUGAWA, is somebody we all should watch out for, regardless of if you are a fan of crime novels.

Murder at the End of the World:

An asteroid is hurtling towards Earth and the human race has just over two months to live. But twenty-three-year-old Haru, stargazer and chronic worrier, is still trying to pass her driving test. Then she finds a body in the boot of her car: a woman, stabbed and tortured. There’s a murderer on the loose. And it turns out that Haru’s driving instructor is an ex-cop with a manic devotion to justice. So, despite the small matter of an impending apocalypse, the two women team up to catch the culprit regardless of the danger. After all, the world’s not quite over yet…

About Akane ARAKI

Akane ARAKI was born in 1998 in Fukuoka, Japan and is a graduate of Kyushu University’s School of Letters. At 23 years old she published her debut novel, Murder at the End of the World, after her manuscript won Japan’s most prestigious award for unpublished crime writers, the Edogawa Rampo Prize.

Date:

10 October 2026 - 14 October 2026

Venue:

MANCHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL, MANCHESTER 10 October, 14:00~ Click here for details and booking   CHELTENHAM LITERATURE FESTIVAL, CHELTENHAM 11 October, 17:00~ Click here for details and booking *General booking 03 September, 10:00~   OFF THE SHELF FESTIVAL OF WORDS, SHEFFIELD 12 October, 19:00~ Click here for details and booking   JESUS COLLEGE, THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE 13 October, 18:30~ Click here for details and booking   FOYLES, CHARING CROSS ROAD, LONDON 14 October, 19:00~ Click here for details and booking