By Ayami Kanazawa

The Da Vinci Code is the third novel written by American author Dan Brown. Before he became a novelist he was an English teacher. His novels are based on careful research. The Da Vinci Code created a great sensation throughout the world, especially among Christian groups and theologians, because he said, "All descriptions of art, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate."

The Da Vinci Code was published in 2003. At present, it has been translated into 44 languages. The book has become a runaway best seller, with 4 million copies sold in Japan and 60 million copies all over the world. In addition, The Da Vinci Code became a movie and was released worldwide by Colombia Pictures on May 20, 2006.

The story opens with an odd murder case at the Louvre in Paris. First, the hero and heroine decode a message from the victim whose body lies positioned within a circle in imitation of Leonard Da Vinci's famous "The Vitruvian Man" (Leonard's drawing of the proportions of the human body). Then they break secret codes hidden in Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," "The Virgin of Rocks" and "The Last Supper." In the course of time they learn an important secret about Christianity that victim in the Louvre was guarding. A member of "Opus Dei," a pious sect of the Catholic Church, murdered the victim and other secret guardians intending to steal the secret from them, and now he begins to chase the hero and heroine.

The popularity of The Da Vinci Code is a good opportunity for people who don't know about ancient Christianity, secret societies and art to learn about them, whether the story is true or not. The Da Vinci Code explains these things in some detail. Commentaries on The Da Vinci Code were published in Japan. More than 20 books, some affirmative and some negative, have been published. Tours to visit the scenes from The Da Vinci Code ―the Louvre, Westminster Abby, and so on― are also popular now.

Another attraction of the story is that it contains elements of mystery and suspense as the hero and heroine break codes one after another, and as they are chased by both the police and the assassin in their escape from France to Britain. Although, the hardcover edition runs 652 pages and the paperback edition runs 858 pages, the last page of the book is soon reached because various incidents happen as if on a roller coaster ride.

By the way, the keywords in The Da Vinci Code are "The Holy Grail" and "Mary Magdalene." Mary Magdalene is a follower of Christ and she also witnessed Christﾕs execution and resurrection. She was considered a prostitute and a sinful woman throughout most of Christianity's history. However, the Church redeemed her honor in the late 20th century. Recently, one opinion is that Mary was the wife of Christ and that they had a child. Research on Christianity progressed through the discovery of secular Gospels in the last century. The Gospels were banned when the Roman Emperor Constantine I accepted Christianity.

The Holy Grail is the cup Christ drank from at the Last Supper. Christ poured wine into the grail saying it is his blood. It was also used to catch his blood when Christ was stabbed during his execution. In The Da Vinci Code, The Holy Grail is not a cup, but proof of his marriage to Mary Magdalene and the existence of their child.

Christian religious leaders condemned this description just before the release of the movie. The Catholic Church commented that the movie damaged the historical image of the church. They appealed to Christians everywhere to boycott the movie and SONY products because SONY is the distributing agency of this movie. Opus Dei also demanded that the director of the movie add a clause stating that the movie is fiction, but the director rejected their demand.

Is there any reason that the novel or the movie should indicate it is fictional? It isn't necessary. Though the story is based on some fact, it isn't a book about Christianity. The Da Vinci Code fascinated the world by these fictional characters and events. It is a first-class novel.

Dan brown is writing a sequel to The Da Vinci Code now. The reading public throughout world is looking forward to this new book, which will surely entertain and satisfy their curiosity with many things that they are unfamiliar with.