Pathway to Japanese Literature

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

Mysterious Tower KingAuthor: Unno Juza

Original Title	怪塔王
Author	海野十三
Genre	Detective & Mystery
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	On a desolate stretch of Kujūkuri Beach, orphaned siblings Ichihiko and Michiko stumble upon a peculiar old man with a face like a comical festival mask. Drawn to his eerie presence, they discover a bizarre monkey-headed key in the sand—a key swiftly reclaimed by the stranger without a word. Days later, chaos erupts when Japan’s prized Battleship Awaji mysteriously runs aground offshore, its steel mast warped like melted candy. The siblings’ uncle, renowned detective-scientist Homura Sōroku, arrives to investigate, linking the disaster to a remote tower looming on the coast. Inside its shadowy walls lurks the enigmatic "Tower King," wielding uncanny technologies that defy logic—magnetic forces halting bullets mid-air, surveillance devices projecting distant scenes like magic. As Homura and Ichihiko infiltrate the tower, they confront lethal traps and chilling revelations about the Tower King’s power to manipulate metal and machinery. But with each step deeper into the labyrinthine structure, escape grows more impossible. Can Homura’s ingenuity outwit a foe who bends science itself? A pulse-pounding clash of wits unfolds, where curiosity and courage face forces beyond imagination.