Social mystery tends to contrast with the classical whodunit (本格派推理小説, honkakuha suiri shōsetsu), which focuses on solving puzzles and breaking alibi.
In 1935, Edogawa Ranpo referred to works by Hayashi Fusao, Hirabayashi Taiko, and proletarian writer Hayama Yoshiki as “social detective fiction (社会的探偵小説, shakaiteki tantei shōsetsu)”.
[1] And in 1961, Seichō Matsumoto used the phrase “a group of works called so-called ‘social school’ or something like that,”[2] suggesting that by this time it had already become a common term.
In 1961, Tsutomu Mizukami published The Tusk of the Sea (海の牙, umi no kiba), and won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award.
Miyuki Miyabe, who claims to be the spiritual eldest daughter of Seichō Matsumoto, made her debut in 1987 and has continued to publish social mystery novels, most notably All She Was Worth (火車, kasha) and Reason (理由, riyū), winner of the Naoki Prize.