Kinokuniya‘s basement features many novels about famous athletes, singers, pets, traditional fashion such as kimonos, and household planning, but the most popular novels arise from Haruki Murakami.
Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan, in what used to be Japan’s imperial capital while American forces occupied the country after World War II. Mixed feelings about the 1940s-1950s occupation were apparent as some voiced an appreciation for American-backed health initiatives committed by young American doctors who had not developed Anti-Japanese sentiment (Nishimura, 2008). Others found deep resentment of colonial forces and their oppressive form of command. Yet, Murakami developed an affinity to Western culture in his adolescence. He became drawn to American mystery novels and jazz, and followed a very unconventional path to success, describing the catalyzing experience that prompted him to start writing in 1978. Murakami attended a baseball game in Jingu Stadium, when he witnessed Dave Hilton hit a double against the Hiroshima Carp. He decided to start a novel right then and there, and got to work that night (Anderson, 2011).
Haruki Murakami, 2015 Photo by Markus Jans, Taken from http://time.com/collection-post/3823189/haruki-murakami-2015-time-100/
Did you know? For a decade, Murakami operated a jazz club called Peter Cat. After finding satisfaction in writing, he soon sold the club to write full-time.
Like his upbringing and path in general, Murakami’s writing is considered unconventional and strange, especially to the Japanese writing world. His characters are generally mundane yet globally involved people, who are thrust into metaphysical, psychological boundaries of philosophy and living. In his more recent 2013 novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage, the protagonist Tsukuru is a railway builder who listens to ‘Le Mal du Pays’, French for ‘Homesickness’ and admires the starkness of a Scandinavian chair when he by chance is forced to confront his dark past of relationships (Poole, 2014). The book makes no mention of Japanese contemporary writers and very few references to Japanese culture, and instead creates a crossroad of Western novels and influences, perhaps a nod to his childhood. In fact, Murakami’s 1987 novel, Norwegian Wood references the title of the Beatles song. Yet it is this quality of Murakami’s novels that make him an outcast in the Japanese writer scene, and quite resented amongst Japanese critics (Anderson, 2011).
In Kinokuniya…
The presence and popularity of Murakami’s books are quite ironic, and rather telling of the times. In a store that once appealed to the Japanese community separated for a period from their homeland, the arrival of Murakami’s books, that despite their Japanese origin, look outwards for Western influence speaks volumes of Kinokuniya‘s globalizing direction. In fact, Murakami’s novels have been translated into tens of languages to make them available to readers worldwide. Originally in Japanese, his books are found in English, Spanish, French, Thai, German, Russian, Czech, and tens of other languages (Anderson, 2011). Manager Takano states in support that Murakami’s novels although initially attracting the Japanese population, have gained an American/ foreigner audience with these translations.
