Haruki Murakami: As I Know Him
Major novels include Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and 1Q84. Numerous short stories and essays. Translations of authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Raymond Chandler. Known for these and his many other works, Haruki Murakami is a novelist whose name frequently appears as a contender for the Nobel Prize. A look at his career and stories.
- January 12: Born in Fushimi, Kyoto, as the eldest son of Chiaki and Miyuki Murakami, both Japanese teachers. His father was from a temple family in Kyoto, and his mother was from a merchant family in Semba, Osaka.
- Enrolled at Koroen Elementary School in Nishinomiya, Hyogo, where “matsutake udon” noodles with rather large mushrooms were served for school lunch in autumn. Raised in a household of educators, his upbringing was relatively strict.
- Moved to Ashiya and enrolled at Seido Junior High School. Stendhal’s The Red and the Black moved him during his first year. Russian literature, such as the works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, also began to hold a particular interest for him.
- January: Saw Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers live in Kobe and became hooked on jazz.
- Discovered the music of the Beach Boys. Heard “Surfin' U.S.A.” playing from a Sony transistor radio.
- Enrolled at Kobe High School in Hyogo.
- Appointed editor-in-chief of the school newspaper during his second year. Read through American novels with a dictionary in hand. Read Ross Macdonald’s My Name Is Archer as his first paperback. Encountered Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, thinking simply, “Wow!” Other favorites included works by Ed McBain and Raymond Chandler.
- Read F. Scott Fitzgerald for the first time, though without being particularly impressed.
- Discovered the music of Jim Morrison and heard “Light My Fire” by The Doors.
- Traveled by ferry from Kobe to Beppu, then crossed Mt. Aso by bus to reach Kumamoto. Watched the Sam Peckinpah-penned The Glory Guys at a cinema and found it “actually quite interesting.”
- In a year spent fascinated by Ernest Hemingway, read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby for the first time, only to see him as a “first-rate but faded writer of manners, weathered by time.”
- Enrolled in the Department of Theater at the School of Letters, Waseda University, after an extra year of study. Mastered standard Japanese perfectly within just three days of moving to Tokyo.
- Left Wakei-juku, a private dormitory in Mejiro, Tokyo, after about six months. (The place was run by a notorious right-winger, and its director was a “creepy middle-aged guy” who had graduated from the Imperial Army’s Nakano School.)
- Joined a screenwriting club with aspirations of becoming a screenwriter, but quit soon after. Instead, began frequenting the university’s Theater Museum, immersing himself in reading screenplays and watching over 200 films a year.
- Took an interest in campus protests on his own terms, occasionally throwing stones or joining in fights, but refused to join barricades or demonstrations, viewing such collectives as “impure.” In an era when reading Kenzaburō Ōe or Takaaki Yoshimoto in the darker corners of jazz cafes was the orthodox choice, he took an unconventional path: listening to jazz at Pit Inn in Shinjuku, visiting repertory theaters, and playing pinball.
- January 12: His twentieth birthday. A bitter, gray winter day spent working as a waiter, with no one to cover his shift. Not a single pleasant thing happened from beginning to end, leaving him with a sense that the day foreshadowed his entire life to come.
- Lent a match to saxophonist Sadao Watanabe at Pit Inn.
- Traveling through the countryside of the Noto Peninsula while the intense Koshien baseball finals between Misawa and Matsuyama Commercial were taking place. En route, a farmer working in the fields called out, “These are delicious, take some,” and gave him three or four large, red ones.
- Married Yoko (born October 3, Libra)—one of his two closest friends in university—while still a student. He married because he disliked cohabitation, which they had begun in their third year, and wanted to shift from his dependent role as an only child to a world of their own. Upon marrying, he moved into her family’s bedding shop in Sengoku, Bunkyo, living with her parents.
- Worked part-time at a record store by day and a coffee shop by night, saving 2.5 million yen together with Yoko starting from around 1972. Borrowed an additional 2.5 million yen from the bank and opened the long-awaited jazz bar “Peter Cat,” a cozy 19-tsubo space in Kokubunji. (As implied in The Night Spider Monkey (Yoru no Kumozaru), the collection lacked Keith Jarrett and featured little John Coltrane, but offered a full set of Claude Williamson and plenty of Stan Getz.)
With Spanish-style white walls and tastefully arranged wooden tables and chairs, the interior evoked the atmosphere of “J’s Bar.”
- Graduated from Waseda University. The graduation thesis was titled “The Philosophy of Travel in American Cinema,” arguing that the development and themes of American film—from Stagecoach to 2001: A Space Odyssey—center on the movement of people and objects. Out of an intense dislike for the task, whipped it together in just three days and received an “A+” grade.
- Relocated “Peter Cat” to Sendagaya.
- April 1: Around 1:30 p.m., watched a game between the Yakult Swallows and the Hiroshima Carp, lying on the grass and drinking beer at Jingu Stadium. Leadoff hitter Dave Hilton hit a double down the left-field line. At that exact moment, a sudden realization struck him: “That’s it, I’ll try writing a novel (regardless of whether I have the talent or ability, I just want to write something for myself).” After the game, stopped by Kinokuniya in Shinjuku to buy an inexpensive fountain pen and manuscript paper, and began writing.
- Wrote his debut novel, Hear the Wind Sing, while running “Peter Cat,” occasionally finding encouragement in the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Named the title after a passage from a Truman Capote short story: “Think of nothing things, think of wind.”
Initially wrote in a realistic style but found it completely unexciting to read, prompting a shift to the style of the finished novel.
Finished the manuscript around the time the baseball league title was decided, and brought the manuscript to the Jingumae Post Office to enter the award. - Visited Korakuen Stadium to cheer on the Yakult Swallows in the Japan Series.
- Received a call from the editorial department of the literary magazine Gunzo, telling him, “Your work has made it to the final selection.”
- April: Saw Bob Marley in concert in Shinjuku, and headed home moving to the “ncha, ncha” reggae rhythm.
- Received the 22nd Gunzo Prize for New Writers for Hear the Wind Sing, influenced by his college heroes Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan. (Selection committee: Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, Saiichi Maruya, Toshio Shimao, Kiichi Sasaki, and Ineko Sata.)
Attended the ceremony in an olive cotton suit from a VAN sale in Aoyama and faded white Converse sneakers, realizing, “Something new is about to begin in my life.” Bought a cat with the prize money.
Book design by Maki Sasaki, whom he had admired since Sasaki’s days at the manga magazine Garo. (Murakami: “To me, Maki Sasaki is the eternal boy genius.”)
Filmed by director Kazuki Omori, a Seido Junior High School junior by three years.
- Wrote Pinball, 1973 at a kitchen table late at night, while cursing under his breath, “damn it” and “shit,” feeling the need for a follow-up story after Hear the Wind Sing.
- Annoyed by the bothersome fuss when Pinball, 1973, just like Hear the Wind Sing, was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize, spent the day of the selection meeting playing mahjong for money with someone from Kodansha at the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building, ending up losing 15,000 yen.
- Prompted by the Akutagawa Prize nomination for Pinball, 1973, wrote The City and Its Uncertain Walls at the urging of others, which was published in the September issue of Bungakukai. However, because this clearly differed from the style of “writing only when he wanted to write,” later assessed the work as “failure,” “regret,” “self-loathing,” and “never letting it see the light of day again.”
- Talked with Yoko one day:
Haruki: “Just give me two years to do it my way. If it doesn't work out, we can always open another small shop somewhere. We’re still young—we can start over.”
Yoko: “All right.” - Traveled to Hokkaido for about a week for research on the next novel, A Wild Sheep Chase.
- Met with Shigesato Itoi at Serina in Roppongi on February 22.
- Had two talks with Ryū Murakami—once before and after the writing of the novel Coin Locker Babies—and after reading the book, closed the profitable jazz bar where days had been spent crafting on-the-rocks with the belief that “there is a philosophy behind every on-the-rocks” and making stuffed cabbage rolls day after day, then moved to Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.
Wrote A Wild Sheep Chase as a full-time writer, at times drawing strong motivation from rival Ryū Murakami. When starting, held only three ideas: “Open with the death of Yukio Mishima,” “introduce a sheep,” and “end on the coast, an idea inspired by looking at the reclaimed sea of the hometown.” - Received the 4th Noma Literary New Face Prize for A Wild Sheep Chase.
After finishing the novel, quit smoking—arranging a month off to avoid work—and began running instead. Until then, had smoked about 60 cigarettes a day.
- Competed in a first-ever road race (5K category).
- May: Competed in a road race at Lake Yamanaka (15K category).
- June: Ran seven laps around the Imperial Palace (35 km total) at a moderate pace.
- July 18: Completed a first-ever full marathon (of sorts) solo in Greece, the birthplace of the marathon, with a time of 3:51.
- December: Finished the Honolulu Marathon with a decent time.
- Jogged through Central Park in New York with John Irving, author of Setting Free the Bears, for an interview.
- In the summer, visited Princeton University solely to see the alma mater of F. Scott Fitzgerald in person. Was shown Fitzgerald’s handwritten manuscripts in the library’s special collections room.
- Visited Raymond Carver and Tess Gallagher in Port Angeles, Washington.
- August: Began writing Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, expanding on the earlier work, The City and Its Uncertain Walls.
- Had a talk with Kenji Nakagami, discussing mutual friend Ryū Murakami, American fiction, and culture.
- January 12: Finished the first draft of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World on his 36th birthday, but after Yoko read it and said, “Terrible. Rewrite it,” spent a week pulling all-nighters to make revisions. Completed the final manuscript in March.
- Received the 21st Tanizaki Prize for Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. (Selection committee: Kenzaburō Ōe, Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, Saiichi Maruya, and Fumio Niwa.)
- October 5: In Ermioni, Greece, wrote a sort of introduction (Reminiscences of Maki Sasaki) for The Sheep Man’s Christmas (Hitsujiotoko no Kurisumasu).
- April 21: Wrote the translator's afterword for Setting Free the Bears by John Irving.
- Listened to Brahms' Symphony No. 1 with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
- September: Contributed an essay titled “The Rise of Ramo Nakajima and the New West” to Ramo Nakajima's book, The Enlightenment Fishcake Newspaper (Keimo Kamaboko Shinbun).
- Received the Special Prize at the 9th Picture Book Nippon Awards for the translation of Chris Van Allsburg’s The Wreck of the Zephyr.
- “Why don’t you expand ‘Fireflies’? I love that story and want to read more of it. I want to know what happens next.”
Sparked by this single remark from Kodansha editor Kinoshita at the time, began writing Norwegian Wood on the Greek island of Mykonos, developing the short story into a full-length novel. Training himself in writing realism through the stories in Dead Heat on the Carousel (Kaitenmokuma no Deddo Hiito) had a major impact on the creation of Norwegian Wood. Additionally, the confidence gained from writing the short story “A Family Affair” enabled the development of Midori Kobayashi, one of the main characters.
- Spring: Finished Norwegian Wood in Rome. The title was finalized at the very last minute when, in response to being asked for ideas, Yoko replied, “Why not Norwegian Wood?” (At the time, she had never actually heard the Beatles' “Norwegian Wood”). The novel was released with the iconic tagline “A 100% Love Story” printed on the book band.
- May 30: Wrote the translator's afterword for World's End by Paul Theroux.
- August 21: Wrote the essay “Why I’m Not Good at Writing Magazine Serials” for the magazine High Fashion. The piece was included in the collection Murakami Asahido Haiho!
- December 17: Began writing Dance Dance Dance.
- March 24: Completed Dance Dance Dance in only about 100 days—an exceptionally short interval for his novel-writing pace. Cited several reasons for this: a return to his signature storytelling style after the realism of Norwegian Wood, an intention to complete another substantial work before turning 40, and above all, a simple desire to write this novel (about the Sheep Man).
“In a sense, the Sheep Man had always lived in my heart. Even after I finished A Wild Sheep Chase, I often thought of him—still living quietly, all alone, in a dark room at the Dolphin Hotel. I wondered what he was doing there now, and what he meant to me.”
- Published “TV People,” translated by Alfred Birnbaum, in the September 10 issue of The New Yorker. Followed by a second story, “The Windup Bird and Tuesday’s Women,” in the November 26 issue.
- End of October: Embarked on a three-day, all-out udon reporting trip with High Fashion editor Ms. Matsuo (originally from Kagawa Prefecture) and illustrator Mizumaru Anzai (*JA). During the trip, visited Konpirasan and ran up the shrine’s stone steps.
- Competed in the Boston Marathon for the first time.
- Became a visiting scholar in the Department of East Asian Studies at Princeton University.
- Began writing The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle amid the rise of American nationalism following the Gulf War. The novel opens with “The Wind-Up Bird and Tuesday’s Women.”
Reading through books on the Nomonhan Incident at the university library, decided to make the war one of the novel’s central pillars.
A portion was later spun off and reimagined as South of the Border, West of the Sun.
From The Windup Bird Chronicle onward, began writing on an Apple computer. - Published “The Elephant Vanishes” in the November 18 issue of The New Yorker.
- April 20: Competed in the Boston Marathon for the second time.
- Published “Sleep” in the March 30 issue of The New Yorker.
- Published “Barn Burning” in the November 2 issue of The New Yorker.
- Saw Dizzy Gillespie live at the Blue Note in New York.
- Signed a first-reading contract with The New Yorker.
- Held a book signing at the Princeton University Co-op, but sold only 15 copies.
- April 18: Competed in the Boston Marathon for the third time, wearing bib 6784.
- April 20–25: Delivered a lecture at the University of Texas at Austin, held a book signing at a local bookstore, and attended a reception.
- April 26: Attended a Boston Symphony Orchestra concert, guest-conducted by Bernard Haitink, including Brahms' Symphony No. 1.
- April 29: Saw Sonny Rollins' quite overwhelming performance at a jazz club in Cambridge.
- May 5: Held a public conversation with Hayao Kawai before an audience of about 100 at Jones Hall, Princeton University, moderated by Assistant Professor Hosea Hirata.
- Attended a gathering for The New Yorker’s special “New Yorker Writers” issue, taking commemorative photos with renowned authors (*Subscription required) including John Updike, Nicholson Baker, Alice Munro, Bobbie Ann Mason, Ann Beattie, Jamaica Kincaid, and Thom Jones. Later, while sharing less-than-stellar cocktails at the Algonquin Bar, John Updike offered praise, saying, “I always read your work. It’s all wonderful.”
- April 1: Wrote the afterword for The Night Spider Monkey (Yoru no Kumozaru), to be published about two months later.
- April 16: Ran on the running track at Tufts University.
- Received the 47th Yomiuri Prize for Literature for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
- June 23: Completed the Lake Saroma 100 km Ultramarathon with a time of 11:42.
- One day in August: Trained on the Edogawa Cycling Road in preparation for the bike segment of a triathlon.
- September 28: Competed in the Murakami International Triathlon in Niigata Prefecture with a Panasonic titanium bike named “18 'til i die.”
- Served as a guide runner for a visually impaired runner in a marathon organized by the Japan Blind Marathon Association at the U.S. Military's Atsugi Base.
- July 9: Ran in Ala Moana Park in preparation for the upcoming Tinman Triathlon.
- July 12: Competed in the Tinman Triathlon on Oahu, Hawaii, wearing bib 1647.
- Received the 2nd Takeo Kuwabara Prize for Underground 2: The Promised Place (Yakusoku Sareta Basho De).
- Competed in the Murakami International Triathlon but withdrew after suddenly becoming unable to swim.
- The last day of the 20th century: Drove along Kauai’s North Shore to watch the sunset while Brian Wilson's “Caroline, No” played on the car radio.
- Re-entered the Murakami International Triathlon after four years.
- June: Logged 260 km (60 km per week).
- July: Logged 310 km (70 km per week).
- Late July: Moved from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Kauai, Hawaii.
- Started writing What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
- August 5: Ran along Kauai’s North Shore while listening to two albums by The Lovin' Spoonful: Daydream and Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful.
- August 14: Ran while listening to Carla Thomas and Otis Redding.
- August 25: Had a photo shoot for the magazine Runner's World.
- August: Logged 350 km (80 km per week).
- September 10: Returned to Japan from Hawaii.
- September: Logged 300 km (70 km per week).
- October 6: Held a reading at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). The event drew an overflow crowd of about 1,700 to a 450-seat lecture hall.
Opened with: “Thank you for coming to hear me read. If I’d known so many of you would show up, I would have booked Fenway Park.” - October 9: Competed in a half marathon hosted by the Boston Marathon organizers as a warm-up for the New York City Marathon.
- October 17: His knees “gave way” on starting down the stairs of the apartment.
- October 20: Ran for the first time in three days. Felt no issues with his knees.
- October 27: Felt no discomfort with his knees.
- October 29: Received an email from Liz, a Random House editor running the New York City Marathon for the first time, and replied, “Have a good time!”
- November 6: Competed in the New York City Marathon.
- April: Competed in the Boston Marathon in an unusual move—typically limiting full marathons to one per year—after a disappointing performance in the previous year's New York City Marathon.
- Received the Czech literary award, the Franz Kafka Prize.
- Received the Irish literary award, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award.
- July 23: Wrote a sort of afterword (The Place Where Frog Is) for My First Literature (Hajimete no bungaku), to be published at the end of the year.
- August 1: Trained on a bike for a triathlon to be held in two months.
- October 1: Competed in the Murakami International Triathlon. The race began at 9:56 a.m. with the sound of a siren.
- Fall: Finished writing What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
- May: Competed in the Honolulu Triathlon.
- One day in August: Wrote the preface to What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, titled “Suffering as an Option.”
- One day in August: Wrote the afterword for What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, titled “On Roads Around the World.”
- November: Wrote the foreword for Murakami Songs.
- Received the Israeli literary award, the Jerusalem Prize. Heading there like Gary Cooper in the film High Noon to deliver the speech, “Of Walls and Eggs.”
- August: Sales of Norwegian Wood surpassed 10 million copies in Japan.
- September: Wrote the afterword for Winter Dreams by F. Scott Fitzgerald, titled “Toward The Great Gatsby.”
- July: Wrote the afterword for I Wake Up Every Morning to Dream (Yume wo miru tameni maiasa boku wa mezameru no desu).
- August: Attended a literary festival on the Danish island of Møn, organized by a local woman named Marianne.
- September 24: Wrote the afterword for the illustrated short story Sleep (Nemuri), to be published in two months.
- November 16: Had the first talk with Seiji Ozawa at home.
- January 13: Had the second talk with Seiji Ozawa at a Tokyo office.
- February 10: Had the third talk with Seiji Ozawa at a Tokyo office.
- February 22: Had the fourth talk with Seiji Ozawa at a Tokyo office.
- March 29: Had the fifth talk with Seiji Ozawa in Honolulu, Hawaii, 18 days after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
- June: Received the Catalonia International Prize in Spain. Addressed the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear disaster in his speech.
- June 27–July 6: Accompanied the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland.
- May 12: Received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
- Received the 11th Hideo Kobayashi Prize for Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa.
- November 8: Saw jazz pianist Junko Onishi live at the small jazz club “Cabin” in Atsugi, Kanagawa with Seiji Ozawa and his daughter Seira. (*After the show, when Onishi announced her retirement, Ozawa called out, “I object!”)
- Wrote the afterword for the illustrated short story The Bakery Attack (Panya wo osou), to be published the following spring.
- Wrote the liner notes for the compilation CD Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa.
- May 6: Gave a public interview at Kyoto University for the establishment of the Hayao Kawai Story and Academic Prizes. Began with an imitation of Hayao Kawai from his time as Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, delivering Kawai’s pun—“I’m sorry, I’m sorry” (I’m Sōri/Prime Minister)—in an unfamiliar Kansai dialect, which instantly broke the ice.
- August 6: Wrote the afterword for Koishikute: Ten Selected Love Stories.
- Appointed an honorary member of “Swallows CREW,” (*JA) the official fan club of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, after consistently supporting the team since moving to Tokyo for college. Became only the second person to receive this honor, following the famous reaction comedian Tetsuro Degawa.
- October 31: Delivered a lecture at a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa symposium, serving as a visiting researcher. Opened his remarks, “Thank you for coming instead of going to the beach,” eliciting laughter from the audience.
- March: Wrote the foreword for Men Without Women, to be published the following month.
- August: Spoke at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
- August 23: Discussed The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle with a reporter from The Guardian.
- August 24: Delivered a lecture on Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.
- August 30: Held a book signing at Waterstones Piccadilly in London for the UK release of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.
- September 6: Attended the Saito Kinen Festival, conducted by Seiji Ozawa.
- Received the Welt-Literaturpreis from the German newspaper Die Welt.
- November 22: Saw the final performance (*JA) of Shikao Suga's tour, which opened with “Bakudan Juice,” a song featured in After Dark.
- Wrote a message, “Keep on moving forever,” (*JA) for a campaign celebrating Seiji Ozawa’s 80th birthday in 2015.
- January 15: Launched the temporary website “Murakami’s Place (Murakami-san no Tokoro).”
Discover More
- The Haruki Murakami Library
- The Waseda International House of Literature, also known as The Haruki Murakami Library, is located at the author's alma mater.
- Murakami Radio (*JA)
- This is a monthly radio program hosted by Haruki Murakami. He selects music based on a theme and shares stories and personal anecdotes. Please note that the broadcast is currently only available in Japan. Sorry about that.
- HarukiMurakami.com
- The official site operated by Penguin Random House, the U.S. publisher of Murakami's works.
- Shinchosha Official Site (*JA)
- The publisher of the popular Murakami Asahido essay series, featuring his collaboration with illustrator Mizumaru Anzai. They also publish major novels such as Kafka on the Shore and The City and Its Uncertain Walls.
- The Tale of KAHO (*JA)
- Official special site for The Tale of KAHO, the first full-length novel in three years.
