With the film adaptation of The Village of Eight Graves opening in September 2026, interest in author Seishi Yokomizo is on the rise again. NHK Culture Center's Chiba and Kashiwa classrooms are opening a new course, "Why Does Seishi Yokomizo Endure? — Exploring the Power of Story and Screen Through The Village of Eight Graves," that takes the novel as a starting point to consider why Yokomizo's work has been read for generations and adapted for the screen again and again.
The course looks at both the literary and cinematic sides of Yokomizo's writing, drawing on The Village of Eight Graves to unpack the qualities that have kept his stories relevant across the decades.
Renewed interest in Seishi Yokomizo as the film approaches
The Village of Eight Graves is one of Seishi Yokomizo's best-known works and has long been loved by readers.
It stands as a landmark of postwar Japanese mystery fiction, and it is also known for the way it draws on distinctly Japanese themes such as closed communities, long-held customs, and lingering grudges.
The novel has already been adapted for film and television multiple times, and the movie opening in September 2026 is drawing fresh attention to it once again.
This course was designed to take that film release as an opportunity to look again at what makes Yokomizo's work so compelling.
The instructor is Naotaka Yamaguchi, a professor in the Faculty of Literature at Nishogakusha University and a leading researcher in modern Japanese literature and detective fiction.
Yamaguchi has studied Yokomizo's work for many years and has recently been involved in researching and transcribing Yokomizo's handwritten manuscripts of The Village of Eight Graves and 獄門島 held by Nishogakusha University. The university holds a notable collection of Yokomizo-related materials and continues to preserve and study them. Drawing on this research, the course offers an accessible look at the appeal of The Village of Eight Graves and Yokomizo's wider body of work, from both a literary and a cinematic perspective.
Exploring the power of story and screen through The Village of Eight Graves
Why do Yokomizo's stories still resonate so strongly with readers today?
Taking The Village of Eight Graves as a starting point, the course examines the background and structure behind Yokomizo's writing and considers how elements like tradition and grudges shape his storytelling.
It also looks at how those elements have been translated into film and television, and what has made those adaptations so compelling to audiences.
Beyond Yokomizo's appeal as a novelist, the course considers why his stories keep being reimagined on screen, addressing the question of why his work keeps coming back to life.
Course details
Course: Why Does Seishi Yokomizo Endure? — Exploring the Power of Story and Screen Through The Village of Eight Graves
Instructor: Naotaka Yamaguchi, Professor, Faculty of Literature, Nishogakusha University
Format: In-classroom
Chiba classroom: Friday, July 24, 2026, 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Kashiwa classroom: Friday, September 25, 2026, 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Fee: Members ¥4,004 (tax included); general public (no membership required) ¥4,576 (tax included); plus a ¥330 material fee
Organizer: NHK Culture Center Chiba Classroom / NHK Culture Center Kashiwa Classroom
Chiba classroom details: https://www.nhk-cul.co.jp/programs/program_1332719.html
Kashiwa classroom details: https://www.nhk-cul.co.jp/programs/program_1337326.html
