In Yokoku Satsujin, the 2019 TV Asahi Japanese adaptation of A Murder is Announced, Momohata Kijika (桃畑雉香 - Kijika Momohata in Western format) is the parallel of Julia Simmons in the original novel. She has the nickname "Kenken" - the sound made by a pheasant, which is the meaning of "Kijika", her given name. "Kenken" lives with Kuroiwa Reiri "Reiri" (Letitia Blacklock), her brother Momohata Hatoji and others at Komichi-no-yakata (Little Hall - "Little Paddocks").
Her backstory is slightly different from Julia Simmons. In this case she is a pottery maker while her brother is an interior decorator. More is done in this adaptation to build her up as a plausible suspect. After the death of Kurumai Kyuzo (Rudi Scherz), the "Eve" lamp which was in the at the scene of the shooting was found in a bin containing her pottery scraps. Her age also makes her a plausible candidate for Shizuho ("Pip") or Enma ("Emma"), children of Soniya (素仁愛), the sister of the late Hokkaido millionaire Gaido Randoru (外道兰毘).
Revelations[]
In this adaptation, it is finally revealed that the Kenken staying at Komichi-no-yakata is not really Momohata Kijika. The real Kijika is an actress acting in a play in Osaka. She sends a postcard to Reiri saying she will be coming down for a visit. Faced with this, Kenken is forced to admit that she is in reality Shizuho ("Pip"). In the original novel , Julia Simmons was Emma and not Pip. Also, in this adaptation, Kenken is not the one with weapons training but Tachibana Shiori (Enma). Shizuho had come to Asahi Town hoping to learn more about where her family fortune had ended up. At a bar in the town, she meets Hatoji who agrees to get her into Reiri's house under the guise of his sister.
In this adaptation also, the real Kijika actually shows up. There is a poster of the play she is acting in on the wall near her brother's work area. Her stage name is Annaka Reina (安中礼仁奈) however the police do not really follow the lead because the significance of the poster is not appreciated. Nor do the police note the discrepancy revealed when a detective does background checks by speaking with neighbours at Hatoji's hometown. They discover that Hatoji is really who he says he is, but also that his sister is in acting whereas the Kenken staying at Komichi-no-yakata is a potter.
The part of the Kenken/Shizuho is played by Yoshikawa Ai (吉川愛).
The part of the real Momohata Kijika/Annaka Reina is played by Ohno Ito (大野いと).