In Kobunsha’s revised Japanese edition of Dean R. Koontz’s The Eyes of Darkness, the biological weapon is called “Wuhan-400,” yet its place of development is identified as Gorki rather than Wuhan.
Was this merely a typographical error, or an intentional alteration?
This article examines the puzzling discrepancy and questions Kobunsha’s explanation and good faith.

July 1, 2020
Could the setting possibly have been quietly altered amid the confusion because of pressure from China or some similar reason?
Let us pay close attention to Kobunsha’s “good faith.”
The following is a continuation of the preceding chapter.
Was It an Intentional Alteration?
The Japanese edition of The Eyes of Darkness was “republished” by Kobunsha Bunko on May 15.
An introduction written by the editor in charge appeared in the online edition of Josei Jishin on May 18.
It stated, “The original work was published in 1981 and was issued by Kobunsha Bunko in 1990. In that edition, the virus was described as having come from the Soviet Union to the United States. However, in the 1996 revised edition, it was changed to a virus brought out of Wuhan, China,” and, “For this republication, the translation was completely revised on the basis of that revised original edition.”
I also checked the press release, and it contained similar wording.
However, in the “republished revised Japanese edition,” although the biological weapon is named “Wuhan-400,” it was developed not in Wuhan but in Gorki….
An acquaintance who owns a copy from the sixth printing telephoned the editorial department to ask about this matter and was reportedly told, “It is a typographical error. We apologize.”
The supposed error remained even in the sixth printing.
Moreover, the use of the name “Gorki” in the revised Japanese edition, despite the fact that it has not appeared in the original English text since the 1996 revision, can only be regarded as an intentional alteration.
Could the setting possibly have been quietly altered amid the confusion because of pressure from China or some similar reason?
Let us pay close attention to Kobunsha’s “good faith.”
Dean R. Koontz, renowned for his horror and suspense novels, is a major author who has published more than one hundred novels, including numerous bestsellers and hit works, several of which have been adapted into films.
However, the original 1981 edition of The Eyes of Darkness was written under the name Leigh Nichols.
He also appears to have used several other pen names, including David Axton, Deanna Dwyer, and Brian Coffey.
Why was it necessary for him to use so many different pen names?
Alongside this book, End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies About the End of the World, published in 2008 by Sylvia Browne, has also attracted attention.
The author, who died in 2013, described herself as a psychic—comparable to what is known in Japan as an itako—and claimed that she could predict the future.
In the book, she wrote that “around 2020, a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the world, attacking the lungs and bronchial tubes, with no known treatment…” and that “it will suddenly disappear, return again ten years later, and then disappear completely.”
To be continued.