Murder at the End of the World – Akane Arake

in conversation with Nozomi Uematsu
Mon 12 October, 2026 at 7:00 pm

 An asteroid is hurtling towards Earth and the human race has just over two months to live. But 23 year old Haru, stargazer and chronic worrier, is still trying to pass her driving test. Then she finds a body in the boot of her car.  And it happens that her driving instructor is an ex-cop with a manic devotion to justice. So, despite the impending apocalypse, the pair team up to catch the culprit, no matter where it takes them. After all, the world’s not quite over yet… 

Quirky, funny and with a charming detective duo, hear Akane talk about her enthralling Japanese whodunit. 

Akane Araki was born in 1998 in Fukuoka, Japan. She is a graduate of Kyushu University’s School of Letters. Murder at the End of the World is her first novel, and it won the prestigious Edogawa Rampo Prize.

Dr Nozomi Uematsu is a Lecturer in Japanese Studies in the School of Languages, Arts and Societies at the University of Sheffield.

This event will have a Japanese language translator

Presented with the Japan Foundation

   Akane Araki c Kiyoshi Mori  Kodansha Ltd