Yukito Ayatsuji

Yukito Ayatsuji is the pen name of Naoyuki Uchida, a Japanese mystery and horror author. Ayatsuji is one of the founders of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan and one of the representative writers of the new traditionalist movement in Japanese mystery writing.

Yukito Ayatsuji was born in Kyoto. After graduating from Kyoto Prefectural Katsura High School in 1979, he joined the Faculty of Education at Kyoto University. In 1984, he entered the Graduate School of Education at the same university, majoring in deviant behavior theory.

While still in school, he debuted as a writer with the story Jukkakukan no Satsujin. The editorial department of Kodansha Novels named it a "New Authentic Mystery."

He completed his master's degree in two years and went on to study for a doctorate for three years, but then took a leave of absence for three years and withdrew with credits without writing a doctoral thesis. In 1992, he became a full-time writer.

His first novel, The Decagon House Murders (1987), was ranked as the No. 8 novel on the Top 100 Japanese Mystery Novels of All Time. As of February 2012, the total number of copies of his representative works, the Kan series, has exceeded 4.09 million.

In 2018, a minor planet (2001 RG46) has been named in his honor.

His wife is Fuyumi Ono, a Japanese fantasy and horror writer. She is known for her fantasy series, The Twelve Kingdoms.

Yukito Ayatsuji lives in Fukadooka.

Photo credit: Twitter @ayatsujiyukito