Keigo Higashino dies at 68, known for 'Secret' and 'Galileo'

2026-07-27

Keigo Higashino dies at 68, won Naoki Prize for 'The Devotion of Suspect X'

Kodansha said on the 27th that Keigo Higashino, the bestselling author known for mystery novels, died in the early hours of July 23 from colon cancer. He was 68. A farewell ceremony is planned, but the date has not been decided.

Born in Osaka, with an engineering background

Born in Osaka City, he graduated from Osaka Prefecture University, now Osaka Metropolitan University, and continued writing while working as an engineer at a company. He made his debut in 1985 after winning the Edogawa Rampo Prize for 'After School'. In 1999, he won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for 'Secret'.

Major series and awards

In 1998, he launched the 'Galileo' series, featuring a physicist, and won the Naoki Prize and the Honkaku Mystery Grand Prize in 2006 for the third volume, 'The Devotion of Suspect X'. The series was adapted for film and television starring Masaharu Fukuyama, broadening its popularity.

His works, which are centered on mysteries, number more than 100, including the 'Kyoichiro Kaga' series that began with 'Graduation' in 1986 and 'Masquerade Hotel' in 2011. He won the Chuokoron Bungei Prize for 'The Miracles of the Namiya General Store' and the Yoshikawa Eiji Literary Prize for 'When the Curtain of Prayer Falls'.

His cumulative domestic print circulation topped 100 million copies, excluding digital editions, and he also won support overseas, including in China. He served as president of the Mystery Writers of Japan from 2009 to 2013 and received the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2023.

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