Confessions

Confessions by Kanae Minato is a psychological thriller novel with horror elements. More specifically, it is an “iyamisu” or “ew mystery,” a subgenre of Japanese mystery stories that delves into dark—sometimes grotesque—elements of human nature. An international bestseller, Confessions unfolds in multiple narrative formats from several characters’ perspectives as it details the murder of middle school homeroom/science teacher Yūko Moriguchi’s four-year-old daughter, Manami, by two of Moriguchi’s students. Unimpressed with Japanese laws regarding juvenile crimes, Moriguchi decides to exact vengeance before she retires. The novel explores themes surrounding blame and revenge, the pitfalls of perception, the nature of motherhood, and facing the consequences of one’s actions.

Minato was a homemaker and home economics teacher prior to becoming an author. Confessions, her debut novel, was adapted into an Oscar shortlisted film of the same name in 2010. The novel sold three million copies in Japan and won numerous awards, including the Radio Drama Award, Detective Novel Prize for New Writers, and Japan’s National Booksellers’ Award. While popular in Japan, Minato’s only other novel translated into English is Penance (2009).

This guide references the Mulholland Book/Little, Brown and Company (2008) edition translated by Stephen Snyder.