Osaka, Japan – Nigerian writer and filmmaker Onyeka Nwelue has secured a major publishing deal in Japan, with a Japanese publisher acquiring his novel Tokyo Spies for ¥85 million yen, equivalent to $600,000 USD, through his agent.
The book, the first in a six-part series set in Japan, is scheduled for release on 5 June 2026. The deal was announced from Tokyo.
Tokyo Spies is set in 1887 and follows Zenjiro Ito, a calligraphy student at Tokyo Imperial University, who receives news that his entire family has fallen ill. Too afraid to return home, he flees to China under the pretence of pursuing his craft. In Tianjin, Zenjiro becomes entangled with two women, Lin Ruo, described as warm and grounding, and Mei, disciplined and philosophical. His deception eventually unravels, costing him his home, his art, his lovers and his dignity. Reduced to living on the streets, Zenjiro begins creating calligraphy that reflects truth rather than ambition. A devastating letter eventually forces him back to Japan, where he confronts loss, guilt and the family he abandoned. Through an invented calligraphic style blending Chinese and Japanese traditions, Zenjiro seeks redemption not through perfection, but through honesty. 
Nwelue, who is currently studying calligraphy in Osaka, Japan, has an extensive academic background. He was an Academic Visitor to the University of Oxford, a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge, a Visiting Fellow at Ohio University in the United States and a Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He has published more than 40 books, including A Japanese Professor in Accra and Think Like a Japanese, works that have drawn praise from Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.
