is a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Miyuki Miyabe is a Japanese writer of genre fiction. She has won numerous Japanese literary awards, including the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature, the Shiba Ryotaro Prize, the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, and the Na ...

. The novel, published in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, and was published in English by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

America in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. The English version was translated by Deborah Stuhr Iwabuchi and Anna Husson Isozaki.

Plot introduction

The novel is about a girl named Junko Aoki (青木淳子 ''Aoki Junko''), who has the

psychokinetic Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

power of

pyrokinesis Pyrokinesis is a List of psychic abilities, psychic ability allowing a person to create and control fire with the mind. As with other parapsychological phenomena, there is no conclusive evidence in support of the actual existence of pyrokinesis. ...

. She decides to kill criminals in order to make her world better. When Junko sets off to rescue a woman kidnapped by juvenile delinquents, the

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

division of the

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Metropolitan Police and a secretive

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

group that wants to recruit her, pursue her. Chikako Ishizu (石津ちか子 ''Ishizu Chikako''), a policewoman, is astounded by Junko Aoki's case as she digs deeper into it.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

There is a 2000 film version of ''Crossfire'' entitled ''

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

'' (''Pyrokinesis'' in English). A mobile phone

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

version of the novel has been produced by

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

. In addition, featured in Konami's

beatmania IIDX (IIDX) is a series of rhythm video games, that was first released by Konami in Japan on 26 February 1999. ''Beatmania IIDX'' has since spawned 32 arcade releases and 14 console releases on the Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to the '' b ...

16 EMPRESS is a song titled NΦ CRIME, featuring a video made up of panels from the manga. The lyrics of the English version are based loosely on the premise of the novel.

External links

"Crossfire" review
''Japanzine'' By Zack Davisson

* 1998 Japanese novels Japanese crime novels Novels by Miyuki Miyabe Japanese novels adapted into films Novels set in Tokyo {{1990s-crime-novel-stub