Pathway to Japanese Literature

Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.

Dual HeartAuthor: Yumeno Kyūsaku

Original Title	二重心臓
Author	夢野久作
Genre	Detective & Mystery
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In the shadowy world of Tokyo’s avant-garde theater, the brutal murder of Todoroki Kyūzō—a reclusive impresario and guardian of enigmatic actress Amakawa Kureha—unleashes a labyrinth of secrets. Found stabbed in his opulent study, Todoroki’s death leaves Kureha orphaned and vowing vengeance, her icy composure masking a storm of hidden motives. As detectives scramble through red herrings—a confessed bandit, cryptic threats, and a staged alibi—the truth simmers beneath layers of deception. Kureha’s chilling beauty and theatrical flair draw suspicion, while whispers of her clandestine bond with a reclusive playwright’s sister hint at forbidden desires. The Gofukubashi Theater, a crumbling monument to macabre artistry, becomes a stage for betrayal, where loyalty and ambition collide. With every clue laced with ambiguity and every witness harboring ulterior designs, the line between performance and reality blurs. Who wielded the knife? A stranger’s greed, a lover’s obsession, or a protégé’s calculated rise? In this gothic tale of ambition and illusion, the final act promises revelations darker than any scripted horror.