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This is a reprint from Fiction Hunter Press (3/2/2021). The original publication date was 1962 from Berkeley Books. These books have long been unavailable so thanks to Fiction Hunter Press for bringing them back. As I described in an earlier review, I first read these books while in Viet Nam with the US Army and I have a sentimental attachment to them.
Earl Norman is the pseudonym of Norman Thomson who came to Japan after WWII and ultimately spent 30 years in Tokyo. On the Thrilling Detective blog, Geoffrey Krauss (apparently a long time student of karate) is quoted saying that Thomson was the first author to his knowledge to make karate a plot device. It was the karate action that appealed to us young GIs — well, that and Burns Bannion's lush descriptions of Japanese women.
These books, starting with Kill Me in Tokyo in 1958, are not PC to a very uncomfortable and cringe worthy degree by today's standards. I can also say that having been in Southeast Asia in the early 70s, it didn't register at that time. We wanted to read about deadly karate fights and women and the books delivered on both.
Links to my reviews of the first five books in the series are at the bottom.
Here's a quick summary of Burns Bannion. He was part of the 6th Ranger Battalion, fighting in the Pacific. After the war, the 6th Rangers were sent to Japan on occupation duty. After watching one of his buddies get demolished by an unassuming little Japanese man, Bannion decided that he had to master karate. After his discharge he managed to remain in Japan ostensibly to go to college on the GI Bill but his actual intention was to pursue karate and Japanese women, pretty much in that order. He was mistaken for a private detective by a drunk American and he got his first case. Since the Japanese authorities were not about to give a foreigner a PI license, he operates unofficially though tolerated by the police since is frequently useful to stir things up.
I think Norman was having fun subverting the PI trope. In the early books, Bannion patterns himself after Philip Marlowe down to charging Marlowe's daily rates — $25 a day plus expenses. He decides he needs to look the part of a private detective and adopts the trench coat. Throughout the books he pokes fun at himself as a detective sometimes referring to himself as the boy detective.
Despite the racial stereotypes that abound in these novels, they have pretty good stories. Norman often finds a way to work in interesting descriptions of Japanese culture into his story. He finds aspects that he is certain will fascinate Americans because they are so foreign. In Kill Me on the Ginza, does this a couple of times. He has an elderly Japanese gentleman educate Bannion on his study of Japanese gods focusing on the toilet god. This is a real household deity though Norman calls it benjo no Kamisami whereas the Wikipedia article names the deity kawaya kami. Besides spelling, the author exaggerates a bit since almost nothing he says about Oshira (actually Osharisama) matches what I've been able to find. The Japanese gentleman is also a student of ninjutsu and amazes Bannion with his ability to seemingly disappear before his eyes. To further intrigue American readers, Norman has Bannion visiting oppai jinja, The Shrine of the Breast, which, with some liberties, matches the actual description.
So what is the plot of Kill Me on the Ginza? Burns' friend Hedges (supposedly a foreign correspondent but never files a story) hires Bannion to find out what happened to a freelance journalist friend. Before Bannion can get started, the friend is found dismembered. Burns, on the scene of the police investigation, observes curious markings on the body which later turn out to be important. Hedges changes the assignment for Bannion to find out who killed his friend. Coincidently (not really), Bannion happens upon an elderly Japanese gentleman being attacked by two thugs. After helping to dispose of the thugs, the gentleman hires Bannion to locate the secret Oshira shrine so that he can photograph it for his research. It turns out that the symbol for the cult matches the markings on the body. Along the way, Bannion gets involved with two Japanese sex workers (nude photography model and bargirl) who prove crucial to the story.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention there is an arch villain with a James Bond worthy name, House Charnel who appears to be connected to the cult.
And if you've read any of the other Burns Bannion books you'll be happy to know that Norman does a good job describing the deadly karate fights in which Bannion finds himself. Let's say he adds to his body count and even has to take on someone with a different martial arts skill.
This book brings in something we haven't see before, technology. Hedges gives Bannion a Polaroid camera to use to get to the nude mode, G.N. Noriko. She calls it a "minutes camera" and is offended when she later finds out that Bannion didn't have film in the camera. Later Bannion gets an advanced model Polaroid camera and Hedges educates him about electric eyes, shutter speed, and not needing a flash. With today's digital cameras, it's easy to forget when the technology was new a cameras needed film.
Kill Me on the Ginza is another fun hardboiled detective thriller. A bit dated but with a good story and you might even learn a few things.
Keywords: hardboiled detectives, Japanese cults, crime fiction, Japan, karate, thrilling adventure
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