He gained fame in Japan posting surreal videos of meat, veg and even ears. Then he tried writing – and soon had three bestsellers in the Top 10. As one now reaches the English-speaking world, we meet the faceless phenomenon

Hidden behind a white papier-mache mask, wearing a black bodysuit and with a voice modulated to sound something like a little girl’s, is Japan’s latest literary superstar. Almost nothing is known about Uketsu – a made-up name that means “rain hole” – who first gained fame posting surreal videos on YouTube: clips of asparagus that turns into fingers when chopped; strips of meat pegged out on a washing line; eight ears spinning on a wheel.

Then, in 2020, Uketsu posted a 21-minute mystery story based on a series of floor plans, and was told he should turn it into a novel. Since then, his books have become blockbusters in Japan: three of the country’s Top 10 fiction bestsellers last year were by him. Now the first of his novels to have been translated into English, Strange Pictures, has come out in the UK and the US, and Uketsu has agreed to speak to me about it on Zoom.