Do you know the famous detective Kosuke Kindaichi?
Kosuke Kindaichi is the name of a famous character created by Seishi Yokomizo, a mystery novelist from Hyogo Prefecture.
The Kosuke Kindaichi series is a popular work that has been adapted for film and television many times.
Mabi, Kurashiki City, is where Seishi Yokomizo evacuated during the war, and where “the famous detective Kosuke Kindaichi” was created.
Every year since 2009, an event has been held in which participants dress up as characters from Kosuke Kindaichi and Seishi Yokomizo’s works and walk around Mabi, the hometown of the famous detective.
The 2019 cosplay event, 1000 Kindaichi Kosuke, drew attention as it might mark the 1,000th person to portray Kosuke Kindaichi.
Fans of Seishi Yokomizo from across Japan gathered in Mabi, 1 year and 4 months after the torrential rains of July 2018.
We’ll introduce the warm exchange between Seishi Yokomizo fans and the people of Mabi, as well as the lively event!
The information presented here was current when this article was published in November 2019. Please note that it may differ from current information.
Mystery novelist Seishi Yokomizo
Seishi Yokomizo was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1902.
From April 1945, he evacuated for about three years to the Okada district of Mabi, near what is now Funao, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, his father’s hometown.
Yokomizo had grown up in the city and was not good at interacting with people, but his exchanges with the easygoing country folk who spoke to him in dialect, and the legends and rumors he heard from them, are said to have had a profound influence on his later writing career.
The Kosuke Kindaichi stories were born through exchanges with the people of Mabi.
The first work to feature the famous detective Kosuke Kindaichi, The Honjin Murders, is set in Mabi.
About the cosplay event 1000 Kindaichi Kosuke
The “Cosplay Event: 1000 Kindaichi Kosuke” has been held every year since 2009.
Participants dress up as characters associated with Kosuke Kindaichi and Seishi Yokomizo’s works and walk around Mabi, a place connected to them.
There were reportedly only a few participants when the event first began.
Gradually, it became known to Seishi Yokomizo fans across Japan, and the number of participants grew.
Although the July 2018 torrential rains spared Yokomizo Seishi's Wartime Residence and the Furusato History Museum, floodwaters inundated the Okada Branch of Mabi Community Center, where costumes and props for the event were stored.
The event’s 2018 edition was in jeopardy, but a member from outside the Okada Community Development Council began soliciting donations on Twitter on July 20, 2018, under the name “Hometown of the Famous Detective Fund” (commonly known as the Kindaichi Fund).
People were told that donations could be made anonymously or under a pseudonym. Donations reportedly came in under the names of famous detectives such as “Kosuke Kindaichi” and “Edogawa Ranpo,” as well as characters and famous lines from Seishi Yokomizo’s works.
Thanks to the generous support from across Japan, costumes and props for the skits could be purchased, and the 10th “Cosplay Event: 1000 Kindaichi Kosuke” was successfully held in November 2018.
About three times as many people as at the event’s start participated, with around 120 attendees.
Incidentally, Kosuke Kindaichi first appeared in a novel on November 27, at Kiyone Station.
In keeping with this, the event is held on the Saturday closest to November 27 each year.
The 11th “Cosplay Event: 1000 Kindaichi Kosuke”
The 11th “Cosplay Event: 1000 Kindaichi Kosuke” was held on November 23, 2019.
Under a cloudless blue sky, many Seishi Yokomizo fans gathered at Kiyone Station in Soja City, where Kosuke Kindaichi first appeared.
The meeting point was Kiyone Station East Exchange Plaza.
A changing room in a simple tent was also provided, and participants changed into their costumes.
“It’s been a while!” and “So this is your cosplay this time!” could be heard as participants chatted happily with one another.
▼The schedule for the 11th “Cosplay Event: 1000 Kindaichi Kosuke” was as follows.
| Time | Schedule |
|---|---|
| 12:00 | Registration begins (Kiyone Station East Exchange Plaza) |
| 12:30 | Opening ceremony (Kiyone Station East Exchange Plaza) |
| 12:45 | Departure |
| 16:30 | Dismissal (Kurashiki City Mabi Furusato History Museum) |
▼The route after departure was as follows.
- Kiyone Station
- Kawabe Bridge
- Kawabe Honjin and Wakihonjin ruins
- Ushitora Misaki Shrine
- Kawabe Post Office
- Okada Shindo
- Okada Village Office ruins
- Kawadaya (one-dish meal shop)
- Kocha Shrine
- Yokomizo Seishi's Wartime Residence (statue of Seishi Yokomizo)
- Senkoji Temple
- Okada Oike Pond (Orin statue)
- Kurashiki City Mabi Furusato History Museum (Kosuke Kindaichi statue)
Kiyone Station East Exchange Plaza: From gathering to opening ceremony
Many participants of all ages gathered, from women in their 20s to older male fans.
The event’s navigator was Yoshimitsu Amimoto, known as the Kindaichi expert of Okayama Prefecture.
“This time, we have a record 143 participants! The number of participants has been increasing every year,” said Amimoto.
At Amimoto’s invitation—“Since we’re here, everyone dressed as Kosuke Kindaichi, please gather around!”—people wearing Kosuke Kindaichi costumes came together.
Did you notice that their costumes and outfits were all different? Different actors have played the role in TV dramas and films, so there are variations.
One person in a Kindaichi costume had brought a handmade fan reading “I love Mabi” and had come all the way from Nagasaki Prefecture.
Fans had gathered from many places, including Tokyo, Nagoya City in Aichi Prefecture, and Osaka Prefecture, and the opening ceremony began in a friendly atmosphere.
Event committee chair Hiroshi Moriya also appeared in a Kosuke Kindaichi costume.
“Welcome to Mabi from far away! Along the way, people from the Okada district will welcome you with skits, dressed as characters from the stories. We’ll do our best to help Mabi recover as soon as possible, so we hope you’ll continue to support us.”
he said in his greeting.
Afterward, the participants split into two groups—the “Kosuke Kindaichi and The Village of Eight Graves team” and the “Other Works team”—and took commemorative photos in front of Kiyone Station.
First, they took a commemorative photo with characters from Kosuke Kindaichi and The Village of Eight Graves.
The group’s call when taking the photo was “Kindaichi!”
Next was the team of characters from works other than Kosuke Kindaichi and The Village of Eight Graves.
The striking group included Sukekiyo, wearing a white mask!
Even people who happened to be using Kiyone Station were surprised.
An event exploring places associated with Kindaichi Kosuke gets underway
The journey of about five kilometers from Kiyone Station to the final destination, the “Kurashiki City Mabi Furusato History Museum,” began.
They headed for “Kawabe Bridge,” which connects Soja City and Mabi, Kurashiki City.
On the day of the event, the temperature was so high it hardly felt like autumn, and they walked while sweating.
The Takahashi River, visible from Kawabe Bridge, sparkled. Walking while breathing in the autumn air felt wonderful, and some participants said, “I’m glad I came.”
The sight of people walking along in costume was a special scene unique to this day.
A skit by residents of Mabi’s Okada district welcomes visitors
They entered the old Sanyo Road in Mabi and came to a scene from “The Honjin Murder,” a work set in Mabi.
The skit, in which local Mabi residents acted out scenes from the story, faithfully recreated part of “The Honjin Murder”!
They even got laughs with ad-libbed lines, keeping the atmosphere cheerful throughout.
“At the first event, the skit actually started as a surprise,” Amimoto told us.
At one point, a Mabi resident called out to the participants, “Thank you for coming to Mabi. We’ll keep doing our best, too.”
Kawabe Post Office was demolished and the site cleared after it was flooded in the heavy rains of July 2018.
▲ At Ushitorazaki Shrine, the yellow and red autumn leaves create a beautiful fall scene.
▲ “The Man with Three Fingers,” a character who holds the key to “The Honjin Murder,” played by an Okada district resident, taking a break.
Along the way, it was striking to see residents of the Kawabe and Okada districts waving to participants from in front of their homes and calling out, “Keep going!”
Then they went along Okada Shindo and arrived at the site of the former Okada Village Office.
They were just 500 meters from their destination, “Yokomizo Seishi's Wartime Residence.”
At last, the 1,000th Kindaichi Kosuke
The skit at the eatery “Kawadaya” began.
When the event began in 2009, they were apparently still inexperienced and their acting had a long way to go, but with each event they improved so much that they seemed like professional actors.
Next, someone dressed as Kindaichi Kosuke appeared.
With his halting speech and habit of scratching his head faithfully portrayed, he had become Kindaichi Kosuke through and through.
Wait, haven’t I heard that voice before?
It was Kurashiki City Mayor Kaori Ito, dressed as Kindaichi Kosuke!
The proprietress of Kawadaya said:
“The water came up to around here in Mabi during last year’s heavy rains in July 2018.
But, you know, we can’t keep saying how hard things are forever.
So many people have come to visit, so we have to keep doing our best.”
Her encouraging words were met with warm applause.
Then Mayor Ito announced, “And this time, among you is the 1,000th Kindaichi Kosuke in total!”
A woman who had come from Hyogo Prefecture was called forward as the 1,000th Kindaichi Kosuke.
When she pulled the ball hanging from a bell-shaped decoration modeled after the bell in “Gokumon Island”...
“Congratulations to the 1,000th Kindaichi Kosuke!” appeared on a banner hanging from the bell!
▲ A commemorative photo with event committee chair Hiroshi Moriya and the 1,000th Kindaichi Kosuke.
We also took a commemorative photo with the participants and residents of the Okada district who performed the skit.
Everyone has such wonderful smiles!
Don't miss the famous line, “It's a curse!”: the Koicha Shrine
About 30 meters south of Yokomizo Seishi's Wartime Residence is a shrine known as “the old woman of dark tea.”
This shrine appears in “The Village of Eight Gravestones,” and is said to be the origin of the name “Koicha no Ama,” who cries out, “It's a curse!”
Shouting, “It's a curse! Outsiders, go home, go home!” “Koicha no Ama” came running toward us, brandishing a sickle!
Everyone was delighted by the warm welcome from the local residents.
To Yokomizo Seishi's Wartime Residence, where the great detective Kindaichi Kosuke was born
We arrived at Yokomizo Seishi's Wartime Residence, where neighbors were waiting to greet us.
Warm amazake was served, bringing the venue to life.
As I gazed at the garden and listened to the melody of the koto, I felt soothed.
Looking out over the garden, which retains its appearance from that time, I imagined myself transported back about 70 years, when Yokomizo Seishi also gazed at this garden as he wrote his works.
The temple whose name inspired Senkoji in The Gokumon Island
Take the narrow path to the right of Yokomizo Seishi's Wartime Residence, and you will see a cemetery.
Senkoji Temple is up the slope.
The temple's head priest also welcomed us with a “Welcome.”
To the Orin statue near Okada Oike Pond
Okada Oike Pond is near the wartime residence.
It is said that when Yokomizo Seishi got stuck while writing a novel, he would take walks around Okada Oike Pond.
Yokomizo is said to have walked along, ruffling his long hair and muttering to himself.
Nearby is a statue of Orin, a key character in “The Devil's Ballad.”
Local residents performed a skit about Orin, and everyone enjoyed a three-shot photo with a person dressed as Orin and the Orin statue.
On to the final destination: Kurashiki City Mabi Furusato History Museum (Kindaichi Kosuke statue)
Onigiri, zenzai, and hot tea were served in front of Kurashiki City Mabi Furusato History Museum.
Local residents gave everyone a warm welcome.
Boiled bamboo shoots, a specialty of Mabi, were also on sale, and some participants bought them.
Original merchandise, including Kindaichi masking tape and tote bags, was also on sale.
At the end, people from the Okada district also gathered and gave their greetings.
“I was so happy to see so many people gather here today that I could have cried.”
They said they were greatly encouraged by the Yokomizo Seishi fans who had come from all over Japan.
The event, filled with the passion of fans who love the works of Yokomizo Seishi, came to a close after a great success in Mabi as autumn deepened.
From the Writer
Held in 2019, the “11th Cosplay Event: 1000 Kindaichi Kosuke” welcomed Yokomizo Seishi fans, whose hearts were warmed and soothed by the hospitality of the people of Mabi.
The writer felt that it was full of charm, making it a second hometown for participants and a place they would want to visit every year.
This event once again conveyed the warmth of the people of Mabi and the participants’ love for the works of Yokomizo Seishi.
Forgetting about the reporting, the writer ended up thoroughly enjoying it too.
I hope more people will learn about the appeal of this event and be inspired to visit Mabi.
Why not visit Mabi, the hometown of Kindaichi Kosuke?
Cosplay Event: 1000 Kindaichi Kosuke Information
| Name | Cosplay Event: 1000 Kindaichi Kosuke |
|---|---|
| Date | November 23, 2019 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Location | Okada District, Mabi |
| Participation fee (tax included) | 500 yen |
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