Six Four

Six Four (ロクヨン, Rokuyon) is a crime/mystery novel written by Hideo Yokoyama in Japanese and published in 2012. It was the first of his novels to be translated into English. The novel follows a former detective, Yoshinobu Mikami, who has been moved into Administrative Affairs and placed in charge of Media Relations, as he prepares for a visit from one of the top police officials in Japan. In fulfilling his duties, Mikami is plagued by conflicts with the media, with his colleagues in Administrative Affairs, and with the detectives with whom he used to work in Criminal Investigations. The title Six Four refers to the year Shōwa 64 during which the main case took place. This is not a Gregorian calendar year but a year in the Japanese imperial era naming system, nengō. The Gregorian calendar date for Shōwa 64 is 1989, the last year of the Shōwa period (1926-1989).