Sugawara Akitada (菅原 顕忠) is a fictional character and a hero in a series of historical detective/mystery short stories and novels written by I. J. Parker, set in the Heian period of ancient Japan.
It was revealed through short stories and novels that he was trained in orthodox (Confucianist) education, followed his family's tradition of entering the university, and graduated first in the final year, having specialised in law.
Finding successful 'good' match would depend on the level of prestige of the family (as reflected through social status, wealth and rank), and the dowry he could offer.
The main frustrations faced though was that his stubborn nature was not appreciated in a society, especially within the bureaucracy, which prized orthodoxy, conformity (to hierarchy), stability and unquestioning obedience to figures of authority.
"[1] The following is a list of stories, in chronological order of publication in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, that features Sugawara Akitada: In November 2011,[3] eleven of these short stories were arranged chronologically within-universe [4] and packaged in a volume titled "Akitada and the Way of Justice:" [5] The Kamo Horse was republished as part of a collection raising money for the 2011 Japan Relief Fund administered by the Japan America Society of Southern California.