Discover Nikkei Logo

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/series/nikkei-detective/

Nikkei Detective


Aug. 4, 2014 - July 4, 2015

Private investigator Kevin “Kev” Shirota calls himself an OOCG, an Original Orange County Guy. The last place this Huntington Beach, California, native wants to be in is Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, but he finds himself there temporarily to operate his failing PI business. The only bonus is that his fourteen-year-old estranged daughter, Maddy, loves Little Tokyo, which can possibly bring the two closer together. But a series of vandalism and then the discovery of a dead body challenge not only Kev’s investigating skills, but maybe the relationships that are the most dear to him.

This is an original serialized story written for Discover Nikkei by award-winning mystery author Naomi Hirahara. A new chapter will be published on the fourth of every month from August 2014 through July 2015.

Read Chapter One


Stories from this series

Thumbnail for Chapter Twelve—Keep on Shining
en
ja
es
pt
Chapter Twelve—Keep on Shining

July 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara

Read Chapter Eleven >> We talk about bullying as if it’s a 21st century phenomenon. Boys bullying girls and boys who don’t fit in, the mean skinny girls bullying the dorky fat girls, and it goes on and on. But old farts like me know that unfortunately bullying is nothing new. It’s been around since the beginning of time and it was definitely part of my life in the Seventies. In Orange County, I created a persona. I was the …

Thumbnail for Chapter Eleven—True Confessions
en
ja
es
pt
Chapter Eleven—True Confessions

June 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara

Read Chapter Ten >> We’re in my LAPD pal’s black-and-white. Officer Doug Brenner makes me sit in the back seat—it’s protocol—like I’m a common criminal, and unfortunately this isn’t the first time for me. You see, I’ve been under arrest in the past, but now I’m a concerned father. My 14-year-old daughter Maddy is missing and I’m going out of my mind trying to find her. At least Doug has the siren on at full force as we speed down …

Thumbnail for Chapter Ten—Following the Doc Martens
en
ja
es
pt
Chapter Ten—Following the Doc Martens

May 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara

Read Chapter Nine >> Some people, when faced with a crisis, go ballistic. They run around, their faces red and their voices bellowing. Others get stone cold. I’m in the latter category, which I guess is a good thing because I’m a PI. And right now on one of the hottest days in summer in Los Angeles, I’m freezing as if I was dropped in the middle of Antarctica. My infuriating, Doc Martens-donning goth daughter, fourteen years old, is missing. …

Thumbnail for Chapter Nine—The Last Selfie
en
ja
es
pt
Chapter Nine—The Last Selfie

April 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara

Read Chapter Eight >> “I’m a private investigator. Kevin Shirota,” I flash my license as if it really means something to a woman sitting behind a clear desk in the lobby of Fine Bank. This place is not like any financial institution I’ve ever been in. First of all, there are no tellers perched on high stools, but men and women dressed in high-tone suits that probably cost more than the SUV I had to sell to afford my defense …

Thumbnail for Chapter Eight—She Cleans Houses, Doesn’t She?
en
ja
es
pt
Chapter Eight—She Cleans Houses, Doesn’t She?

March 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara

Read Chapter Seven >> “She was my friend. Perhaps my only friend.” Mrs. Yokoyama carefully enunciates each syllable. My fourteen-year-old daughter Maddy and I sit on a pure white fabric couch as we listen to the Japanese woman speak. Maddy, as usual, can’t stay still and I am worried that one of her muddy Doc Martens will leave a brown footprint on the bottom of Mrs. Yokoyama’s spotless couch. In a middle-class Buddhahead household, our shoes would be off and …

Thumbnail for Chapter Seven—Do You Know the Way to Hancock Park?
en
ja
es
pt
Chapter Seven—Do You Know the Way to Hancock Park?

Feb. 4, 2015 • Naomi Hirahara

Read Chapter Six >> I stare at the message a second time. It’s printed out on a regular white letter-sized paper, the standard offering of any office store. The font is Helvetica, also totally nondescript. The content, however, is not anything typical. It’s a blatant threat, telling me to stop investigating the murder of a seventy-something Japanese woman in Little Tokyo. Or else. If it’s just me, I’d wad up the paper and say, “What the hell.” But I’m a …

We’re looking for stories like yours! Submit your article, essay, fiction, or poetry to be included in our archive of global Nikkei stories. Learn More
Discover Nikkei brandmark

New Site Design

See exciting new changes to Discover Nikkei. Find out what’s new and what’s coming soon! Learn More
Author in This Series

Naomi Hirahara is an Edgar Award-winning author of multiple traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her Mas Arai mysteries, which have been published in Japanese, Korean and French, feature a Los Angeles gardener and Hiroshima survivor who solves crimes. Her first historical mystery, Clark and Division, which won a Mary Higgins Clark Award, follows a Japanese American family’s move to Chicago in 1944 after being released from a California wartime detention center. A former journalist with The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, Naomi has also written numerous non-fiction history books, including the award-winning Terminal Island: Lost Communities on America's Edge (co-written with Geraldine Knatz) and curated exhibitions. She has also written a middle-grade novel, 1001 Cranes. Her follow-up to Clark and Division, Evergreen, was released in August 2023 and was on the USA Today bestseller list for two weeks.

Updated October 2024

Discover Nikkei Updates

SUPPORT THE PROJECT
Discover Nikkei’s 20 for 20 campaign celebrates our first 20 years and jumpstarts our next 20. Learn more and donate!
SHARE YOUR MEMORIES
We are collecting our community’s reflections on the first 20 years of Discover Nikkei. Check out this month’s prompt and send us your response!
PROJECT UPDATES
New Site Design
See exciting new changes to Discover Nikkei. Find out what’s new and what’s coming soon!