Japanese author inspired by external environs

Ko Shinjo is behind the novel that inspired Netflix hit Tokyo Swindlers

- Walter Sim

TOKYO - The sequel to Tokyo Swindlers, the thrilling Japanese crime novel that was adapted into the Netflix hit of the same name, picks up where it left off - in Singapore.

It was the city-state where the charismatic yet sadistic ringleader Harrison Yamanaka fled to, after defrauding a major real estate developer of 10.3 billion yen (S$89 million) in a high-stakes, high-returns scam.

Ko Shinjo, 41, the self-professed accidental author who says he stumbled into writing, tells The Sunday Times that he chose Singapore as the backdrop because of its reputation among the Japanese.

"There are casinos and, yet, there is the perception that it is impossibly clean and incorruptible. The preferential tax policies also mean a lot of wealthy Japanese have been going to Singapore for tax benefits," Shinjo says.

It is in Singapore where Yamanaka hatches an even more audacious real estate scam back in Japan, as he reels in and hooks a despairing compatriot whom he meets at a casino into his band of jimenshi (land swindlers).

The sequel, titled Tokyo Swindlers: Final Bets, was first serialized from May 2022 to January 2024 and published in novel form in July.

It will likely take years for the book to be dramatized or translated into English - Shinjo and his publisher Shueisha were adamant that nothing has been decided yet.

But it is clear that global interest in Shinjo's works has soared after Tokyo Swindlers was adapted into the 2024 Netflix sensation - a seven-parter that stars A-listers such as Go Ayano and Lily Franky and has led to an exclusive five-year deal with director Hitoshi Ohne.

With the drama's success comes the English translation of the source material, out in bookstores in November.