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Haruki Murakami

むらかみ はるき

Murakami Haruki

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1949-01-12 （Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Ashiya, Hyōgo, Japan → Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan → Tokyo, Japan → Oiso, Kanagawa, Japan

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Short story writer, Essayist, Translator
Active Years
1979-
Influenced By
Raymond Chandler, Kurt Vonnegut, Richard Brautigan, Franz Kafka
Influenced
Numerous contemporary international writers

Education

Waseda University
Drama
Degree: BA
Period: 1970s
Year of Graduation: 1975
Country: Japan
Studied drama at Waseda University. After graduation worked at a record store and ran a jazz bar.

Awards

Gunzo Prize for New Writers
1979
Work: Hear the Wind Sing
Category: 最優秀新人
Organization: Gunzo (Magazine)
Result: 受賞
Noma Literary Prize (newcomer)
1982
Work: A Wild Sheep Chase
Category: 新人賞
Organization: Noma Cultural Foundation
Result: 受賞
Tanizaki Prize
1985
Work: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Organization: Tanizaki Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Yomiuri Prize for Literature
1995
Work: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Category: 小説部門
Organization: Yomiuri Shimbun
Result: 受賞
World Fantasy Award (Best Novel)
2006
Work: Kafka on the Shore
Category: Best Novel
Organization: World Fantasy Convention
Result: 受賞
Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award
2006
Work: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Category: 短編傑作集
Organization: Frank O'Connor Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Franz Kafka Prize
2006
Organization: Franz Kafka Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Jerusalem Prize
2009
Organization: Jerusalem Prize Committee
Result: 受賞（授賞式出席・スピーチあり）
Princess of Asturias Award for Literature
2023
Category: 文学
Organization: Princess of Asturias Foundation
Result: 受賞
Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award
2016
Category: 生涯貢献
Organization: Hans Christian Andersen Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Premio Ignotus
2012
Work: 1Q84
Organization: Spanish Association of Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror
Result: 受賞
America Award in Literature
2018
Category: 生涯業績
Organization: America Award Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Norwegian Wood

1987 Coming-of-age / Literary fiction 296 pages

A nostalgic novel set in 1960s Tokyo about love, loss and coming-of-age as experienced by a young man and those around him.

losslonelinesscoming-of-age
Adaptations
  • [Film] Norwegian Wood (film) / トラン・アン・ユン (Tran Anh Hung) (2010)
Translations
  • English translation (Jay Rubin et al.)

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

1994 Magical realism / Social novel 607 pages

A novel blending reality and fantasy in which the protagonist confronts memories, family history and the aftermath of wartime trauma.

memorywar and its impactintersection of reality and fantasy

Kafka on the Shore

2002 Magical realism / Literary fiction 467 pages

A novel of intertwining, symbolic narratives in which mysterious events and motifs link two parallel storylines.

fateidentitysupernatural elements

1Q84

2009 Novel / Magical realism 925 pages

A complex narrative exploring a parallel world (1Q84) in which characters' fates intersect amid subtle divergences from reality.

slippage of realityfreedom and solitudefate

Hear the Wind Sing

1979 Coming-of-age / Early work 130 pages

Murakami's debut: a short, reflective story later regarded as part of the 'Trilogy of the Rat'.

youthfragments of everyday life
Adaptations
  • [Film] Hear the Wind Sing (film) / 大森一樹 (Kazuki Ōmori) (1981)

Bibliography

  • Hear the Wind Sing
  • Pinball, 1973
  • A Wild Sheep Chase
  • Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
  • Norwegian Wood
  • Dance Dance Dance
  • South of the Border, West of the Sun
  • The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
  • Sputnik Sweetheart
  • Kafka on the Shore
  • After Dark
  • 1Q84
  • Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
  • Killing Commendatore
  • The City and Its Uncertain Walls

Adaptations

  • Norwegian Wood (film)
  • Drive My Car (film)
  • Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (animated film)

Translations by Author

  • Works by F. Scott Fitzgerald (translated)
  • Works by Raymond Carver (translated)
  • Works by Truman Capote (translated)

Translations of Works

  • Norwegian Wood (English translation: Jay Rubin et al.)
  • Kafka on the Shore (English translation)
  • 1Q84 (English translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
primarily first-person narrationplain, rhythmic prosecinematic imagery
Recurring Motifs
music (jazz and classical)wells / underground spacesloneliness and alienationparallel worlds / boundary between dream and reality

Legacy

Haruki Murakami is a highly popular contemporary writer whose distinctive blend of magical realism and everyday depiction has had international influence. His legacy includes extensive translations, film adaptations and scholarly attention.

Museums

  • Waseda International House of Literature (Haruki Murakami Library) Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan Opened in 2021

Academic Societies

  • Murakami Haruki study groups and academic circles

Archives

  • Manuscripts and materials archived at Waseda University

In Popular Culture

  • Numerous film, stage and animation adaptations; links with music projects

Quotes

  • Each of us possesses a tangible living soul. We must not allow the system to exploit us.
    Source: Jerusalem Prize acceptance speech, 2009 (2009)

Trivia

  • Ran a jazz bar called 'Peter Cat' in Tokyo in his twenties.
  • Took up running in his 30s and is an avid marathon and triathlon enthusiast.
  • His works have been translated into over 50 languages.