The Master Key (Togawa novel)



The Master Key (大いなる幻影, Ōinaru gen'ei) is a 1962 novel by the Japanese novelist Masako Togawa which received the Edogawa Rampo Prize upon publication. The English translation by Simon Grove was first published by Dodd, Mead & Co in 1985.

It is a mystery story set in the 1950's postwar Ikebukuro, Japan with the setting of K Apartment for Ladies, reserved only for women. Many of the aging residents have their own secrets bound to the master key, which opens all of the 150 rooms in the K Apartment. All the secrets start to unravel when the building is slated for construction work to be moved four meters with the residents inside.

Characters
Major Characters: Minor Characters:
 * Katsuko Tojo/Haru Santo - older receptionist with a limp/white haired mysterious resident.
 * Kaneko Tamura - younger receptionist.
 * Chikako Ueda - previous school teacher who waits for her dead husband.
 * Toyoto Munekata - professor guarding her dead husband's manuscripts.
 * Noriko Ishiyama - eccentric woman known to other residents as Ms. Bladderwrack who forages for fishbones at night.
 * Suwa Yatabe - violinist who previously stole a Guarnerius violin from her teacher.
 * Yoneko Kimura - retired school teacher who writes letters to her previous students.
 * Yasuyo Aoki - mysterious guest of Chikako Ueda.
 * Keiko Kawauchi (Mrs. Kraft) - divorced from Major Kraft after disappearance of their son.
 * Major D. Kraft - U.S. Army major who returned to the U.S. after divorce from Keiko Kawauchi.
 * George Kraft - son of Major Kraft, reported kidnapped and missing.
 * Priest - leader of the Three Spirit Faith cult, performs seemingly miraculous revelations.
 * Thumbelina the Vestal - small statured woman who is the medium of the séance.

Translation

 * Togawa, Masako. The Master Key. Translated by Grove, Simon. Dodd, Mead & Co. ISBN 9781782273639