Haruki Murakami, (born January 12, 1949, Kyōto, Japan), the most widely translated Japanese novelist of his generation.
Murakami’s first novel, Kaze no uta o kike (1979; Hear the Wind Sing; film 1980), won a prize for best fiction by a new writer. From the start his writing was characterized by images and events that the author himself found difficult to explain but which seemed to come from the inner recesses of his memory. Some argued that this ambiguity, far from being off-putting, was one reason for his popularity with readers, especially young ones, who were bored with the self-confessions that formed the mainstream of contemporary Japanese literature. His perceived lack of a political or intellectual stance irritated “serious” authors (such as Ōe Kenzaburō), who dismissed his early writings as being no more than entertainment.
Murakami’s first major international success came with Hitsuji o meguru bōken (1982; A Wild Sheep Chase), a novel that acquires an eerie quality from the mysterious sheep that comes to possess the narrator’s friend, known as “the Rat.” The narrator and the Rat reappeared in Murakami’s next important novel, Sekai no owari to hādoboirudo wandārando (1985; Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World), a fantasy that was successful with the public and won the prestigious Tanizaki Prize. Murakami adopted a more straightforward style for the coming-of-age novel Noruwei no mori (1987; Norwegian Wood; film 2010), which sold millions of copies in Japan and firmly established him as a literary celebrity.
Disaffected by the social climate in Japan and by his growing fame, Murakami sojourned in Europe for several years in the late 1980s, and in 1991 he moved to the United States. While teaching at Princeton University (1991–93) and Tufts University (1993–95), Murakami wrote one of his most ambitious novels, Nejimaki-dori kuronikuru (1994–95; The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). The narrative represents a departure from his usual themes: it is devoted in part to depicting Japanese militarism on the Asian continent as a nightmare.
In 1995 Murakami returned to Japan, prompted by the Kōbe earthquake and by the sarin gas attack carried out by the AUM Shinrikyo religious sect on a Tokyo subway. The two deadly events subsequently served as inspiration for his work. Andāguraundo (1997; Underground) is a nonfiction account of the subway attack, and Kami no kodomo-tachi wa mina odoru (2000; After the Quake) is a collection of six short stories that explores the psychological effects of the earthquake on residents of Japan.
The novel Supūtoniku no koibito (1999; Sputnik Sweetheart) probes the nature of love as it tells the story of the disappearance of Sumire, a young novelist. Subsequent novels include Umibe no Kafuka (2002; Kafka on the Shore) and Afutā dāku (2004; After Dark). 1Q84 (2009), its title a reference to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four (1949), shifts between two characters as they navigate an alternate reality of their own making; the book’s dystopian themes range from the September 11 attacks to vigilante justice. Shikisai o motanai Tazaki Tsukuru to, kare no junrei no toshi (2013; Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage) delves into a young man’s existential quandaries, precipitated by his ejection from a circle of friends.
The short-story collections The Elephant Vanishes (1993) and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (2006) translate Murakami’s stories into English. His memoir, Hashiru koto ni tsuite kataru toki ni boku no kataru koto (2007; What I Talk About When I Talk About Running), centres on his love for marathon running. An experienced translator of American literature, Murakami also published editions in Japanese of works by Raymond Carver, Paul Theroux, Truman Capote, Ursula K. Le Guin, and J.D. Salinger.
