The new title of ¡°Tokyo Express¡± doesn¡¯t quite do Seicho Matsumoto¡¯s original justice. Though undoubtedly noir ¡ª evocative of films such as ¡°The 39 Steps,¡± ¡°Murder on the Orient Express,¡± even the 1963 James Bond movie ¡°From Russia With Love,¡± among other train-featuring thrillers ¡ª its new English title doesn¡¯t particularly mean anything within the context of the book.
The Japanese title, ¡°Ten to Sen¡± (literally, ¡°Points and Lines¡±), is more accurate in terms of the action, or rather the meticulously planned lack of action, within its pages. Nor does ¡°Tokyo Express¡± quite express the sheer magnitude of the story. I say lack of action, but that¡¯s not to say the book is dull or slow-moving. Far from it. Often cited as Matsumoto¡¯s masterpiece ¡ª quite a feat considering the 1958 book was his first published novel (and at the age of 40, too) ¡ª it¡¯s a twisting tale of obsessively planned details and the logic, not to mention perseverance, it takes to unravel the truth.
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