Crown City is marketed as crime fiction and while there is plenty of crime in Naomi Hirahara’s book, those looking for classic crime tropes are likely to be disappointed. What Hirahara does deliver is a fascinating look at the ex-patriate Japanese population in Southern California around the turn of the century. And she deepens her story by drawing on a number of historical characters and events.
The central character of Crown City is Ryunosuke “Ryui” Wada. Ryui was trained by his father in Yokohama as a wood worker and in 1903, following his father’s death, agrees to go to America to work for a couple of traders. Ryui ends up in Pasadena living in a boarding house living with Jack, another Japanese man who is fascinated by photography. Ryui, soon dubbed Louie to make it easier for the Americans, finds himself caught up in the theft of an artwork from famous local Japanese artist Toshio Aoki and the mystery of the disappearance of the former occupant of his room.
The Crown City of the title is Pasadena, a place and time which Hirahara brings vividly to life. Many of her characters (including some of Ryui’s housemates) were historical figures and many of the places described still exist. As was the fascination at that time with all things Japanese while the Japanese people themselves had to deal with a deep vein of racism and anti-Japanese sentiment. To bring this home further, the story is bookended by letters from a World War 2 internment camp for Japanese citizens.
So long as readers don’t go into Crown City looking for classic genre crime fiction they will not be disappointed. This is high quality, engaging historical fiction which takes readers deep into a fascinating time and place.
Crown City by Naomi Hirahara
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