| James Japp | |
|---|---|
 Philip Jackson as Japp in Agatha Christie's Poirot | |
| First appearance | The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
| Created by | Agatha Christie |
| Portrayed by | Melville Cooper John Turnbull Maurice Denham David Suchet Philip Jackson Kevin McNally |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard |
| Nationality | British |
Inspector James Japp (later Chief Inspector Japp) is a fictional character who appears in several of Agatha Christie's novels featuring Hercule Poirot. [1]
Inspector Japp was inspired by the fictional police detective Inspector Lestrade from the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. [2] Christie even modelled Japp after the "ferret-like" qualities of Lestrade. [1] In the first novel in which Japp appears, The Mysterious Affair at Styles , he is described as a "ferret-faced man", [3] which is similar to the description of Lestrade as a "ferret-like man" in Doyle's 1891 short story "The Boscombe Valley Mystery". [4]
Japp has been depicted in seven novels written by Christie, all featuring Hercule Poirot: [5]
In most of these appearances, Japp is a minor character with minimal interactions with Poirot or involvement in the plot. He also appears in the short story The Flock of Geryon (see The Labours of Hercules ).
Japp emerges however as a major character and partner to Poirot in Lord Edgware Dies. He returns in this capacity in Death in the Clouds and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, before being written out of the series. In number of appearances, Japp is comparable to Arthur Hastings who was featured in eight of the Poirot novels. [5]
Inspector Japp is also briefly mentioned in the Tommy and Tuppence book The Secret Adversary (1922); his card is brought to Julius Hersheimmer at the end of chapter five. In chapter seventeen of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), Japp is mentioned by a police superintendent to Poirot as having asked after him. Japp is mentioned by Poirot in Death on the Nile (1937), and by Colonel Weston in Evil Under the Sun (1941), the next book in the Poirot series after his final appearance. Japp is also mentioned in the novel Taken at the Flood (1948) by Superintendent Spence during a conversation with Hercule Poirot.
Japp's career in the Poirot novels extends into the 1930s but, like Hastings, he disappeared from Christie's writing thereafter. A police officer somewhat similar in character (Superintendent Spence) was introduced as a significant recurring character in the later Poirot novels.
Japp appears in Christie's stage play Black Coffee, written in 1929. He remarks to Poirot that it has been a "long time" since they last met, in connection with "that Welsh case", which is not otherwise identified. [6] Japp also appears in Charles Osborne's novelisation of Black Coffee.
Like those of Miss Lemon and Arthur Hastings, the role of Inspector Japp in Poirot's career has been exaggerated by adaptations of Christie's original novels, specifically by the TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot , where these characters are often introduced into stories that did not originally feature them.
Inspector Japp has a tendency to jump to conclusions, and to accept simple solutions to cases. [5] However, he becomes a more competent and respected police detective over time, eventually earning a promotion to Chief Inspector and demonstrating his capability in this position. [1] He respects Poirot's abilities but is sometimes rude to him, though over the years, he becomes more of a friend to Poirot and works more closely with him. Japp sometimes accuses Poirot of "making things difficult" when Poirot contradicts a solution which Japp believes is correct; however, when Japp is proved wrong, he acknowledges his mistake and makes remarks such as "you're the goods!" to Poirot. In One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, the last novel in which he appears, Japp visits Poirot at his flat to apologise after doubting him and to tell Poirot he was right. [5]
When off duty, Japp is an "ardent botanist", according to Hastings in the 1923 short story "The Market Basing Mystery". [7] Japp is described as "little, sharp, dark and ferret-faced" in the 1920 novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, [3] and as a "little ferret-faced fellow" in the 1923 short story "The Kidnapped Prime Minister". [8]
The role of Japp is played by Philip Jackson in the British TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot , where Hercule Poirot's character is played by David Suchet. Before Suchet took on the role of Poirot, he had previously played Japp himself in the 1985 film Thirteen at Dinner , where Peter Ustinov played Poirot. Philip Jackson portrays Japp as working-class and 'thoroughly British', not very intelligent but an extremely diligent, canny and active police officer with a good but rather dry sense of humour, characteristics which often serve as a perfect foil to Poirot's personality, who is intelligent, elegant, upper-class but rather slow in movements and of a very serious nature.
In the same television series, Japp is already a Chief Inspector in the first episode, [9] his full name is James Harold Japp according to the episode "The Chocolate Box", [10] and he has been promoted to Assistant Commissioner by the time he appears in the episode "The Big Four". [11]
Philip Jackson is also one of the actors who played Japp in the BBC Radio adaptations of Poirot stories, produced contemporaneously with the Suchet TV series and starring John Moffatt as Poirot. [12] In the radio dramatisations, Inspector Japp was played by Norman Jones in Lord Edgware Dies (1992), by Philip Jackson in The ABC Murders (2000), Death In The Clouds (2003), One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (2004), and The Mysterious Affair at Styles (2005), and by Bryan Pringle in Peril at End House (2000). [13]
Japp is played by Melville Cooper in the 1931 film adaptation of Christie's stage play Black Coffee.
As the inspector's name is spelled similarly and pronounced in the same way as the ethnic slur Jap, he was renamed Inspector Sharp (シャープ警部, Shaapu-kebu) in the Japanese anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple (NHK, 2004).
In the Professor Layton series of puzzle video games for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS, the fictional Scotland Yard chief inspector Chelmey appears visually and contextually as a comically incompetent caricature of Inspector Japp as played by Philip Jackson.
A retired Japp is played by Kevin McNally in The ABC Murders (2018); the series starts with Japp dying of a heart attack, and a recurring sub-plot is Inspector Crome, Japp's protege, expressing distrust of Poirot as he feels that working with Poirot ruined Japp's career.
Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays, and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975.
Agatha Christie's Poirot, or simply Poirot, is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie's famous crime fiction series, which revolves around the fictional private investigator Hercule Poirot. David Suchet stars as the title character. Initially produced by LWT, the series was later produced by ITV Studios. The series also aired on VisionTV in Canada and on PBS and A&E in the US.
Death in the Clouds is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in 1935. It features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and Chief Inspector Japp. It is a "closed circle" murder mystery: the victim is a passenger on a cross-Channel aircraft flight, and the perpetrator can only be one of eleven fellow-passengers and crew.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the first detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie, introducing her fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was written in the middle of the First World War, in 1916, and first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head on 21 January 1921.
The A.B.C. Murders is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, featuring her characters Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp, as they contend with a series of killings by a mysterious murderer known only as "A.B.C.". The book was first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 6 January 1936, sold for seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) while a US edition, published by Dodd, Mead and Company on 14 February of the same year, was priced $2.00.
Lord Edgware Dies is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1933 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Thirteen at Dinner. Before its book publication, the novel was serialised in six issues of The American Magazine as 13 For Dinner.
Captain Arthur J. M. Hastings, OBE, is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie as the companion-chronicler and best friend of the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. He is first introduced in Christie's 1920 novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles and appears as a character in seven other Poirot novels, including the final one Curtain: Poirot's Last Case (1975), along with a play and many short stories. He is also the narrator of several of them.
Peril at End House is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by the Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1932 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).
The Big Four is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons on 27 January 1927 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. It features Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings, and Inspector Japp. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
Poirot Investigates is a short story collection written by English author Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in March 1924. In the eleven stories, famed eccentric detective Hercule Poirot solves a variety of mysteries involving greed, jealousy, and revenge. The American version of this book, published by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1925, featured a further three stories. The UK first edition featured an illustration of Poirot on the dust jacket by W. Smithson Broadhead, reprinted from the 21 March 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in November 1940, and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1941 under the title of The Patriotic Murders. A paperback edition in the US by Dell books in 1953 changed the title again to An Overdose of Death. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) while the United States edition retailed at $2.00.
This page details the other fictional characters created by Agatha Christie in her stories about the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.
Superintendent Battle is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie who appeared in five of her novels.
The Alphabet Murders is a 1965 British detective film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Tony Randall, Anita Ekberg and Robert Morley. It is based on the 1936 novel The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie.
Black Coffee is a play by the British crime-fiction author Agatha Christie which was produced initially in 1930. The first piece that Christie wrote for the stage, it launched a successful second career for her as a playwright. In the play, a scientist discovers that someone in his household has stolen the formula for an explosive. The scientist calls Hercule Poirot to investigate, but is murdered just as Poirot arrives with Hastings and Inspector Japp.
Thirteen at Dinner is a 1985 British-American made-for-television mystery film featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Adapted by Rod Browning from the 1933 Agatha Christie novel Lord Edgware Dies, it was directed by Lou Antonio and starred Peter Ustinov, Faye Dunaway, Jonathan Cecil, Diane Keen, Bill Nighy and David Suchet, who was later to play Poirot in the long-running television series entitled Agatha Christie's Poirot. The film first aired on CBS Television on October 18, 1985.
Lord Edgware Dies is a 1934 British mystery film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Austin Trevor, Jane Carr, and Richard Cooper. The film was based on the 1933 Agatha Christie novel Lord Edgware Dies.
In Agatha Christie's mystery novels, several characters cross over different sagas, creating a fictional universe in which most of her stories are set. This article has one table to summarize the novels with characters who occur in other Christie novels; the table is titled Crossovers by Christie. There is brief mention of characters crossing over in adaptations of the novels. Her publications, both novels and short stories, are then listed by main detective, in order of publication. Some stories or novels authorised by the estate of Agatha Christie, using the characters she created, and written long after Agatha Christie died, are included in the lists.
Lists of adaptations of the works of Agatha Christie:
Hercule Poirot is a series of full cast BBC Radio drama adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels and short stories adapted by Michael Bakewell, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1985 and 2007. With the exception of the first two adaptations, the series stars John Moffatt as Poirot.
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