村上春树村上求学时对学校没什么好感，不过他特别爱看书，一有空就一头栽进文学作品的世界里。结果国语的成绩不错。至于英语，村上一上高中就开始阅读英文版的外国文学，他对自已的英文阅读能力颇有自信，不过这毕竟和会考试不同，因此英文成绩在班上是中上的排名。村上还自嘲说，要是当时的英文老师知道我翻译不少外国作品，大概会摇头吧！ 村上高中毕业后当了一年浪人（重考生），第二年考上了早稻田大学第一文学部的演剧科。村上几乎不到学校去上课，他在新宿打工，空闲时僦到歌舞伎町的爵士咖啡厅去。村上还是大学生时（22岁）就和夫人阳子结婚。25岁时，夫妻两人以日币五百万圆的资金，在国分寺车站南口的地下一楼开了一家名为 "Peter Cat" 的爵士咖啡厅，当时村上养的猫，名字就叫Peter。之后店面迁移到千驮谷去。
村上26岁从早稻田的演剧科毕业论文的题目是「美国电影中关于旅行的思想」。
村上一边经营爵士咖啡厅，晚上还继续在厨房的桌子上写作，准备参加由「群像」杂志主办的群像新人文学赏。结果村上初试啼声的「听风的歌」，一举摘下桂冠，那一年是1979年，村上30岁，「听风的歌」一书并旋即由讲谈社出版。
翌年（80年），村上又有新作问世，即《听风的歌》的姐妹作《1973年的弹珠玩具》。一直到写《寻羊冒险记》之前，村上所写的作品都是在蜡烛两头烧的情况下完成的。当时写作的意义愈来愈重要时，村上不得不有所抉择。为了能更专心于写作，他卖掉经营七年的爵士咖啡厅，并搬到千叶去住。《寻羊冒险记》也就是村上成为专业作家后写的第一本小说。 成为专业作家后的村上，生活的内容和作息有了很大的改变。以往到凌晨二、三时都还未入睡的村上，现在却过着晚上十时就寝，早上六时起床的规律生活，而且养成每天早晨慢跑的习惯，甚至在第二年就可以跑完全程的马拉松。
村上算是相当多产的作家，从1979年耕耘至今，长篇、短篇小说、随笔、翻译作品等，加起来超过四十部。村上写作的节奏通常是长篇和短篇交替进行，唯一的例外是长篇的《挪威的森林》后，接着又继续另一长篇作品《舞．舞．舞》。 村上的个性可以说非常执着而且单纯，他简朴而有规律的生活就是最好的写照，就好比他数十年如一日地慢跑（后来加上游泳）、稿子绝无迟交记录，甚至他自嘲从出生到现在从没有过宿醉、便秘、头痛和肩酸的记录，难怪外界会觉得他特立独行，不易亲近。
像村上春树这般全世界知名的作家，大家免不了会去揣测他这个人如何？他过着什么样的生活等等。如果这年头人要够怪才有看头，那你认为钟爱爵士乐、猫、马拉松和写小说的村上怪或不怪？
原载于 1997年9月《日本文摘》
1949年
1月12日出生于京都市伏见区，为国语教师村上千秋、村上美幸夫妇的长子。出生不 久，家迁至兵库县西宫市夙川。
“我生在关西长在关西，父亲是京都一和尚之子，母亲是船场一商家之女，可说是百分 之百的关西种。自然每天讲的是关西方言。所受教育带有相当浓厚的地方主义色彩，认为关 西以外的方言都是异端，使用‘标准语’的没一个地道之人。那是这样一个世界：棒球投球 手则非村山莫属，食则清淡为主，大学则京大①为贵，鳗鱼则烤制为上。”(《村上朝日堂 的反击》)
①：京都大学之略
1955年 6岁 4月，入西宫市立香炉园小学就读。
“我家是非常普通的家庭，只是父亲喜欢书，允许我在附近书店赊账买自己中意的书。 当然漫画、周刊之类不行，只限于正经书。但不管怎样，能买自己中意的书实在让人高兴。 我也因此得以成为一个像那么回事的读书少年。”(《村上朝日堂》)
1961年 12岁
4月，入芦屋市立精道初级中学校就读。
“讲起过去的事来，当时(60年代前期)我家每月让书店送来一册河出书房的《世界文学 全集》和一册中央公论社的《世界文学》，我便一册接一册地看，如此送走了中学时代。由 于这个缘故，我的读书范围至今仍只限于外国文学。或许可以说三岁看大七岁看老吧，总之 最初的机遇或环境基本决定了一个人的喜好。”(《村上朝日堂》)
1964年 15岁
4月，入兵库县神户高级中学校就读。该校为新闻委员会所属。
“反正我就是喜欢看书，一有时间就看文学方面的书，以致不怎么用功国语的成绩也过 得去。英语方面，由于一上高中就以自己的方式涉猎英语简装书，对英文阅读本身是有信心 的。但英语成绩不怎么样，因为没有理会那些技巧性的小东西。记忆中成绩也就是中间偏上 一点。若是当时的英语老师知道我如今搞这么多英语翻译，想必会觉得莫名其妙。社科方面 世界史很拿手。为什么呢，因为今央公论社的《世界历史》那套全集上初中时我就已反复看 了一二十遍。记得全集广告词有这样一句话：‘历史比小说更有趣’。” (《转而悲哀的外国语》)
1967年 18岁
听从父母劝告，准备考国立大学。经常去芦屋图书馆。
1968年 19岁
4月，入早稻田大学第一文学部戏剧专业就读。在目白原细川藩邸的私立宿舍“和敬 寮”寄居半年，后退出。“经营者是臭名远扬的右翼分子，宿舍长是个陆军中野学校出身的 面目可惜的汉子。而我这样的人居然未遭驱逐，很有点不可思议。时间是1968年，正是 迭起的年代，我也正血气方刚，对什么都愤愤不平。”(《村上朝日堂》)后来迁往练马区寄 宿。距离最近的车站是都立家政，几乎不去学校，在新宿打零工，其余时间泡在歌舞伎町的 爵士乐酒吧里。
1969年 20岁
4月，《问题只此一个，没有交流——’68年电影观感》在《早稻田》发表。迁入三鹰 市一间宿舍。“由于情绪好，在一家当铺买了支长笛。练习时，隔壁房间一个吉他少年提议 吹哈比曼，于是每天都吹《Memphis Undergronud》。结果在我记忆中，三鹰市就是 《Memphis Undergronud》。”(《村上朝日堂》)
1971年 22岁
以学生身份同阳子结婚。入居阳子夫人父母家(其父母在文京区千石经营床上用品店)。
1974年 25岁
在国分寺开爵士乐酒吧。开店资金500万日元。250万为夫妇打零工存款，其余由银行贷 款。“起始觉得找工作也未尝不可，便去几家有关系的电视台转了转，但工作内容实在无聊 透顶，只好作罢。心想与其干那样的工作，还不如自己好好开一家小店。开店可以亲自采 购，亲自动手做，亲自为顾客服务。终归，说起我能做的事，也就是开爵士乐酒吧了。反正 我就是喜欢爵士乐，做事也想做多少同爵士乐有关的。”(《村上朝日堂》)店名取自在三鹰 寄居时养的一只猫的名字。后移店至千驮谷。
1975年 26岁
3月，从早稻田大学第一文学部戏剧专业毕业。毕业论文题目是《美国电影中的旅行思 想》。
1979年 30岁
在涩谷区千驮谷附近的神宫球场动了写小说念头，随后每晚在餐桌上挥笔不止，写罢投 给“群像新人奖”评审委员会。投稿的原因在于“有字数”。
6月，《且听风吟》获第23届“群像新人奖”。
“走出校门后几乎从未提笔，刚开始写得异常吃力。唯一给我鼓励的是菲茨杰拉德那句 话：‘如想叙述与人不同的东西，就要使用与人不同的语言。’但毕竟不是件容易事。边写 边这样想道：40岁时肯定能写出像样些的东西来。现在仍那样想。获奖固然让我欣喜万分， 但我不愿意受有形物的束缚，已经不再是那样的年纪。”(《群像》)
7月，《且听风吟》由讲谈社印行。
1980年 31岁
在涩谷区千驮谷一边经营酒吧，一边从事创作。
3月，发表译作《失却的三小时》(菲茨杰拉德著，载于《Happy End通讯》)。
4月，发表《去中国的货船》(载于《海》)。
6月，《1973年的弹子球》由讲谈社印行。
7月，发表《读米歇尔·克莱顿的小说令人想入非非，从“说谎方式”想到“熵的减 少”》(载于《Happy End通讯》)。
9月，发表《街，以及不确切的壁》(载于《群像》)。
12月，发表译作《残火》、《冰宫》和《酒精中》(均系菲茨杰拉德著，载于《海》)。 发表《穷婶母的故事》(载于《新潮》)。
1981年 32岁
决心从事专业创作。酒吧转让他人，移居千叶县船桥市。
3月，发表《纽约煤矿的悲剧》(载于《Brutus》)。
4月，发表《袋鼠晴日》(同上)，由此至1983年在该刊发表系列短篇。
5月，译作《菲茨杰拉德作品集》由讲谈社印行。
7月，与村上龙的对谈集《Walk and Run》由讲谈社印行，作为“同时代的美国”系列 随笔发表《疲劳中的恐怖——史蒂芬·金》(载于《海》)。
9月，发表《被夸大的情况——围绕越南战争的作品群》(同上)。
11月，发表《无政府主义——弗兰西斯同＜地狱启示录＞》(同上)。
12月，同广告词撰稿人系井重里合写的《梦里相会》，由冬树社印行；《与朋友永久运 动的终结》于《文学界》连载。
是年开始作为编委参与《早稻田文学》的编辑工作，为时一年半。《且听风吟》由初中 下一届同学大森一树搬上银幕。
1982年 33岁
2月，《青心学院大学——面临危机的自治与教精神》于《朝日周报》连载，作为 “同时代的美国”系列随笔发表《反现代的现代性——约输·阿宾格的小说》 (载于《海》)。
5月，发表《都市小说的形成与发展——昆德拉与昆德拉以后》(同上)。
7月，发表《事先各好的牺牲者的传说——古姆·莫里森／德阿兹》(同上)。
8月，发表《寻羊冒险记》(载于《群像》)和《下午最后的草坪》(载于《宝岛》)。
10月，《寻羊冒险记》由讲谈社印行，该作获“野间宏文艺新人奖”。
11月，发表《她的土中的小狗》(载于《昂》)。
12月，发表《悉尼的绿色长街》(载于《海》临时增刊《孩子们的宇宙》)。
1983年 34岁
1月，发表《萤》、《烧仓房》(载于《中央公论》)。
2月，发表《E．T式地看＜E．T＞》(载于《中央公论》)。
4月，发表《作为符号的美国》(载于《群像》)，短篇集《去中国的货船》由中央公论 社印行，发表《我打电话的地方》等7篇莱蒙德短篇泽作(载于《中央公论》)，发表《通过 “沙滩男孩”长大的我们》(载于《Penthouse》)。
6月，发表《避雨》(载于《IN．POCKET》)。由此至翌年10月隔月在该刊发表小品。
7月，莱蒙德短篇译作集《我打电话的地方》由中央公论社印行。
9月，短篇集《袋鼠晴日》由平凡社印行。
10月，发表《游泳池边》(载于《IN．POCKET》)。
11月，发表《关于穿的人们》(载于《群像》)。
12月，发表《盲柳与睡美人》(载于《文学界》)，同插图画家安西水丸合写的《象工 厂的Happy End》，由CBS索尼出版社印行。
是年初次赴海外旅行，在希腊参加雅典马拉松赛。
1984年 35岁
1月，发表《跳舞的小人》(载于《新潮》)。
2月，发表《乘出租车的男人》(载于《IN．PECKET》)，在《翻译世界》连载《村上春 树的简装书生活》(至6月号)。
3月，同摄影师稻越功一合写的《波面波语》由文艺春秋社印行。
4月，发表《三个德国幻想》(载于《Brutus》)和《现在为了死去的女王》 (载于《IN．POCKET》)。
6月，发表《猎刀》(载于《IN．POCKET》)。
7月，《萤·烧仓房及其他》短篇集由新潮社印行，《村上朝日堂》由若林出版企画社 印行，发表《迪斯尼·成尔逊与加利福尼亚神话的缓慢的死》(载于《小说新潮》临时增刊 “大专栏”)。
10月，发表《呕吐1979》(载于《IN．POCKET》)。
12月，同中上健次对谈(载于《国文学》1985年3月号)。
是年夏赴美国旅行约6个星期。
1985年 36岁
4月，在《Mari Clair》连载译作《牧熊》(John lrving著)，在《周刊朝日》连载《村 上朝日堂》(至翌年4月)。
6月，《世界尽头与冷酷仙境》由新潮社印行，10月获“谷崎润一郎奖”；莱蒙德短篇 译作集《夜幕下的马哈鱼》由中央公论社印行；发表托尔曼短篇译作《无头鹰》(载于《小 说新潮》增刊)；发表《小说中的制度》(载于《波》)。
8月，发表《再袭面包店》(载于《Mari Clair》)和《象的失踪》(载于《文学界》)。
10月，短篇集《旋转木马鏖战记》由讲谈社印行。
11月，译作连环画《西风号遇难》(C．V．奥尔兹巴格著)及连环画《羊男的圣诞节》 (与插图画家佐佐木合著)印行。
12月，发表《家庭事件》(载于《LEE》)和《双胞胎与沉陷的大陆》(载于《小说现代》 附册)，评论电视剧化电影的《电影冒险记》(同川本三郎合著)由讲谈社印行。
1986年 37岁
1月，发表《罗马帝国的崩溃·1881年印第安人起义·希特勒入侵波兰以及狂风世界》 (载于《月刊角川》)和《拧发条鸟与星期二的女郎们》(载于《新潮》)。
4月，短篇集《再袭面包店》由文艺春秋杜印行。
6月，《村上朝日堂的反击》由朝日新闻社印行，发表波尔短篇译作《滴翠岛》、《世 界尽头》、《志愿讲演者》、《弥天大谎》、《方便屋》、《一个小姐的肖像》、《马戏 团与战争》(均载于《东京人》创刊号至秋季号)以及《科西嘉岛冒险记》(载于《Marioair》 12月号)。是年，移居神奈川县大矾町。
10月，在意大利罗马滞留10日，后赴希腊。
11月，《朗格尔汉斯氏的午后》由光文社印行。留居希腊米科诺斯岛。
1987年 38岁
1月，留居意大利西西里岛。发表波尔短篇译作《文坛游泳术》(载于《文学界》)，
《“THE SCRAP”怀念80年代》由文艺春秋社印行。
2月，留居罗马。
3月，赴博洛尼亚。
4月，赴希腊的科西嘉和克里特旅行。
6月，回国。纪实性小说《日出国的工厂》由平凡社印行，发表《反正去过希腊》 (载于《WINPS》)。
7月，波尔短篇译作集《世界尽头》由文艺春秋社印行。
9月，重赴罗马。《挪威的森林》由讲谈社印行，上下册畅销430万部；发表 《“October Light”所放之光》(载于《青春与读书》)。
10月，参加雅典马拉松赛。
11月，翻译C．D．B．布莱思的《伟大的德斯里夫》，由新潮社印行。
12月，译作连环画《特快列车“北极号”》(CV．奥尔兹巴格著)印行。
1988年 39岁
2月，发表《罗马哟罗马，我们必须准备越冬》(载于《新潮》)。
3月，赴伦敦。翻译托尔曼的《忆伯父》，由文艺春秋社印行。
4月，回国。《司各特·菲茨杰拉德Book》由TBS Britannica社印行。回国后取得汽车 驾驶许可证。
8月，返罗马，同摄影师松村映三结伴赴希腊、土耳其采访旅行。先去希腊东北部阿索 斯半岛上建有希腊正教修道院的圣山阿索斯山，之后驱车由伊斯坦布尔进入土耳其，用21天 沿国境线绕土耳其周游，途经黑海、苏联、伊朗、伊拉克国境、地中海、爱琴海，最后折回 罗马。此次游记首先刊载于《03》(1990年1—2月)，大幅修订后以《雨天炎天》为书名由新 潮社于1990年8月印行。
9月，译作《And Other Stories——珍本美国小说12篇》由文艺春秋社印行。
10月，《舞！舞！舞！》由讲谈社印行。
1989年 40岁
4月，发表《莱蒙德的早逝》(载于《新潮》)。
5月，赴希腊罗得旅行。
6月，发表《电视人的反击》(载于《PAR AVION》)和《飞机》(载于《Eureka》)。
7月，驾驶私家车赴德国南部、奥地利旅行。《村上朝日堂哟！》由文化出版局印行， 《小而有用的事》由中央公论社印行。
9月，译作连环画《无名的人》(C．V．奥尔兹巴格著)由河出书房新社印行；翻译托尔 曼的《一个圣诞节》，由文艺春秋社印行。
10月，回国，即赴纽约。译作《原子时代》(T．O’Brien著)由文艺春秋社印行，发表 《我们时代的民间传说》(载于《SWITCH》和《上等瑕玉——P．奥斯塔的＜幽灵们＞》 (载于《新潮》)。
11月，发表《眠》(载于《文学界》)。
1990年 41岁
1月，回国。《电视人》由文艺春秋社印行。以《神园退步》等为题发表希腊、土耳其 游记(载于《03》)。
2月，在居住地涩谷区千驮谷目睹奥姆真理教竞选众议院议员的宣传话动。
5月至翌年7月，八卷本《村上春树作品集1979—1989》由讲谈社印行，发表《杰克·伦 敦的假牙，突如其来的个人教训》(载于《朝日新闻》)。
6月，叙写作为希腊、意大利“常驻旅行者”的体验并收有同阳子夫人的照片的《远方 的鼓》由讲谈社印行，发表《托尼、瀑谷》(载于《文艺春秋》)。
8月，《雨天炎天》由新潮社印行。
10月，译作《谈一下真正的战争》(T．O’Brien著)由文艺春秋社印行。
11月，译作连环画《哈里斯·巴蒂克之谜》(CT．奥尔兹巴格著)由河出书房新社印行。
1991年 42岁
1月，赴美国新泽西州普林斯顿大学任客座研究员。
“1月去美国领事馆取签证的时候，正值海湾战争爆发。我们在驶往赤坂的出租车中听 到美军用导弹袭击巴格达的消息。我们不认为那是个好去处。虽说战场遥远，但去一个打仗 的国家并在那里生活毕竟不是件开心事。可是一切手续都已办完了，作为我们除了赴美已别 无选择。结果固然没有受战争的直接影响，不过坦率说来，当时美国那种激昂的爱国气氛是 不怎么令人愉快的。”(《继而悲哀的外国语》)
4月，发表《绿兽》、《冰男》(载于《文学界》临时增刊《村上春树Book》)。
12月，译作连环画《天鹅湖》(C．V．奥尔兹巴格著)由河出书房新社印行。
1992年 43岁
由于延长美国滞留期限，以客座教投身份在普林斯顿大学研究生院讲现代日本文学，内 容为“第三新人”作品读解，副教科书为江藤淳的《成功与失落》。
10月，《奇鸟行状记》(或译《拧发条鸟编年史》)第一部开始在《新潮》连载(至翌年 8月)，《国境南·太阳西》由讲谈社印行。
1993年 44岁
1月，发表《非故弄玄虚的小说的诞生——同莱蒙德交往的10年》(载于《朝日新闻》)。 6月，译作连环画《神奇的扫帚》(CV．奥尔兹巴格著)由河出书房新社印行。
7月，赴马萨诸塞州剑桥城的塔夫茨大学任职。
11月，翻译《归来的翻空猫》(格温著)，由讲谈社印行。
1994年 45岁
2月，《继而悲哀的外国语》由讲谈社印行。
4月，《奇鸟行状记》第一部《贼喜鹊》和第二部《预言鸟》由新潮社印行。在普林斯 顿大学与同为该校客座教授的河合草雄进行公开对话，题目为“物语在现代日本的合义”。 6月，赴中国内蒙古自治区、蒙古旅行(兼来访)。由大连经海拉尔、中国一侧的诺门 坎、蒙古的乌兰巴托去哈拉哈河东侧的旧战场察看。此次纪行发表于《马可·波罗》 (9—11月)。
7月，夫妇去千叶县仓町旅行，当地出身的安西水丸同行。旅行目的之一是“补偿在蒙 古期间糟糕透顶的饮食”。
12月，发表《袭击动物园》(载于《新潮》)。
1995年 46岁
3月，美国大学春假期间临时回国，在神奈川县大机家里得知地铁毒气事件。
6月，退掉剑桥城寓所，驱车横穿美国大陆至加利福尼亚，之后在夏威夷考爱岛逗留一 个半月回国。
8月，《奇鸟行状录》第三部《刺鸟人》由新潮社印行。
9月，在神户市与芦屋市举行自选作品朗诵会。“由我来朗诵也起不了什么作用，但我 还是尽力做了，哪怕有一点点用处也好。人们说我不习惯出头露面，其实也是和大家一样 的人。既无什么技能，又不善言辞，所以很少出场。给人拍照也不喜欢，虽说拍照也不至 于狂蹦乱跳或咬断小指。”(《SPA》10月第4期)
11月，同河合隼雄对话。发表《育柳与睡美人》(载于《文艺界》)。
1996年 47岁
1—12月，独自来访东京地铁毒气事件62名受害者，每5天采访1名。
2月，发表《第七个男人》(载于《文艺春秋》)。《奇鸟行状录》获第47届“读卖文学 奖”。
5月，《村上朝日堂周报·漩涡猫寻觅法》由新潮社印行。
6月，翻译《利穿心脏》(米歇尔·吉曼著，作者系书中主人公——因连续杀人而自求一 死的犯人之胞弟)，由文艺春秋社印行。发表《列克星敦的幽灵》(载于《群像》)。
11月，短篇集《列克星敦的幽灵》由文艺春秋社印行。
12月，《去见村上春树·河谷隼雄》由岩波书店印行。
——据日本小学馆1997年5月版《群像日本作家第二十六卷·村上春树》，年表原撰者 为今井清人，译时略有删减
1997年 48岁
3月，经采访东京地铁毒气事件受害者写成的《地下》由讲谈社印行。
6月，《朝日村上堂是如何锻造的》由朝日新闻社印行。
10月，《为了年轻读者的短篇小说导读》由文艺春秋社印行。
12月，《爵士乐群英谱》（和田诚插图）由新潮社印行。
1998年 49岁
4月，《边境·近境》由新潮社印行。
5月，《边境·近境——摄影篇》（松村映三摄影）由新潮社印行。
6月，漫画《毛绒绒软蓬蓬》（安西水丸作画）由讲谈社印行。
7月，《地下》的续篇《约定的场所》（获1999年度桑原武夫奖）由文艺春秋社印行。
10月，《CD-ROM版朝日村上堂》由朝日新闻社印行。翻译马克·斯特兰多的《狗的人 生》，由中央公论社印行。
1999年 50岁
4月，《斯普特尼克恋人》由讲谈社印行。
5月，翻译格雷斯·佩利《最后瞬间的剧变》，由文艺春秋社印行。赴北欧旅行两个 星期。
8月—12月，发表“地震之后系列”——其一《UFO降落钏路》，其二《有熨斗的风 景》，其三《神的孩子全跳舞》，其四《泰国之旅》，其五《青蛙君救东京》（载于《新 潮》1999年8—12月号）。
2000年，51岁
2月，短篇集《神的孩子全跳舞》由新潮社印行。
2002年，53岁
长篇小说《海边的卡夫卡》印行。
2004年，55岁
长篇小说《after dark》印行。
2005年，56岁
9月，短篇集《东京奇谈集》印行。
原载于 《村上春树群像日本之作家，小学馆》
He is considered an important figure in postmodern literature and is one of the most notable Japanese artists since Akira Kurosawa. The Guardian praised him as "one of the world's greatest living novelists" for his works and achievements.
Biography
Murakami was born in Japan during the Post-World War II baby boom. Although born in Kyoto, he spent his youth in Shukugawa (Nishinomiya), Ashiya and Kobe. His father was the son of a Buddhist priest, and his mother the daughter of an Osaka merchant. Both taught Japanese literature.
Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers, such as Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and he is often distinguished from other Japanese writers by his Western influences.
Murakami studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he met his wife, Yoko. His first job was at a record store, which is where one of his main characters, Toru Watanabe in Norwegian Wood, works. Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened the coffeehouse (jazz bar, in the evening) "Peter Cat" in Kokubunji, Tokyo with his wife. They ran the bar from 1974 until 1981.
Many of his novels have themes and titles referring to classical music, such as the three books making up The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: The Thieving Magpie (after Rossini's opera overture), Bird as Prophet (after a piano piece by Robert Schumann usually known in English as The Prophet Bird), and The Bird-Catcher (a character in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute). Some of his novels take their titles from songs: Dance, Dance, Dance (after The Dells' song, although it is widely thought it was titled after the Beach Boys tune), Norwegian Wood (after The Beatles' song) and South of the Border, West of the Sun (the first part being the title of a song by Nat King Cole).
Murakami is a keen marathon runner and triathlete, although he did not start running until he was 33 years old. On June 23, 1996, he completed his first ultramarathon, a 100-kilometer race around Lake Saroma in Hokkaido, Japan. He discusses his relationship with running in his 2008 work What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
"Trilogy of the Rat"
Murakami wrote his first fiction when he was 29. He said he was inspired to write his first novel, 1979's Hear the Wind Sing, while watching a baseball game. In 1978, Murakami was in Jingu Stadium watching a game between the Yakult Swallows and the Hiroshima Carp when Dave Hilton, an American, came to bat. According to an oft-repeated story, in the instant that Hilton hit a double, Murakami suddenly realized he could write a novel. He went home and began writing that night. Murakami worked on it for several months in very brief stretches after working days at the bar. He completed a novel and sent it to the only literary contest that would accept a work of that length, and won first prize.
His initial success with Hear the Wind Sing encouraged him to continue writing. A year later, he published Pinball, 1973, a sequel. In 1982, he published A Wild Sheep Chase, a critical success. Hear the Wind Sing, Pinball, 1973, and A Wild Sheep Chase form the "Trilogy of the Rat" (a sequel, Dance, Dance, Dance, was written later but is not considered part of the series), centered on the same unnamed narrator and his friend, "the Rat". The first two novels are unpublished in English translation outside of Japan, where an English edition with extensive translation notes was published as part of a series intended for English students. Murakami considers his first two novels to be "weak," and was not eager to have them translated into English. A Wild Sheep Chase was "The first book where I could feel a kind of sensation, the joy of telling a story. When you read a good story, you just keep reading. When I write a good story, I just keep writing."
Wider recognition
At Jerusalem Prize ceremony, 2009
In 1985, Murakami wrote Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, a dream-like fantasy that takes the magical elements in his work to a new extreme.
Murakami achieved a major breakthrough and national recognition in 1987 with the publication of Norwegian Wood, a nostalgic story of loss and sexuality. It sold millions of copies among Japanese youths, making Murakami a literary superstar in his native country. The book was printed in two separate volumes, sold together, so that the number of books sold actually doubled, creating the million-copy bestseller hype. One book had a green cover, the other one red.
In 1986, Murakami left Japan, traveled throughout Europe, and settled in the United States. He was a writing fellow at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, and at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. During this time he wrote South of the Border, West of the Sun and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
An established novelist
In 1994-1995, he published The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, a novel that fuses realistic and fantastic tendencies, and contains elements of physical violence. It is also more socially conscious than his previous work, dealing in part with the difficult topic of war crimes in Manchuria (Manchukuo). The novel won the Yomiuri Prize, awarded by one of his harshest former critics, Kenzaburo Oe, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994.
The processing of collective trauma soon became an important theme in Murakami's writing, which had until then been more personal in nature. While he was finishing The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Japan was shaken by the Kobe earthquake and the Aum Shinrikyo gas attack, in the aftermath of which he returned to Japan. He came to terms with these events with his first work of non-fiction, Underground, and the short story collection after the quake. Underground consists largely of interviews of victims of the gas attacks in the Tokyo subway system.
English translations of many of his short stories written between 1983 and 1990 have been collected in The Elephant Vanishes. Murakami has also translated many of the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Carver, Truman Capote, John Irving, and Paul Theroux, among others, into Japanese.
Recognition
In 2006, Murakami became the sixth recipient of the Franz Kafka Prize from the Czech Republic for his novel Umibe no Kafuka (Kafka on the Shore).
In September 2007, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Liège, as well as one from Princeton University in June 2008.
In January 2009 Murakami received the Jerusalem Prize, a biennial literary award given to writers whose work has dealt with themes of human freedom, society, politics, and government. There were protests in Japan and elsewhere against his attending the February award ceremony in Israel (including threats to boycott his work) as a response against Israel's recent bombing of Gaza. Murakami chose to attend the ceremony, but gave a speech to the gathered Israeli dignitaries harshly criticizing Israeli policies. Murakami said, "Each of us possesses a tangible living soul. The system has no such thing. We must not allow the system to exploit us."
Recent work
Sputnik Sweetheart was first published in 1999. Kafka on the Shore was published in 2002, with the English translation following in 2005. The English version of his novel, After Dark, was released in May 2007. It was chosen by the New York Times as a "notable book of the year". In late 2005, Murakami published a collection of short stories titled Tōkyō Kitanshū, or 東京奇譚集, which translates loosely as "Mysteries of Tokyo". A collection of the English versions of twenty-four short stories, titled Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, was published in August 2006. This collection includes both older works from the 1980s as well as some of Murakami's most recent short stories, including all five that appear in Tōkyō Kitanshū.
Murakami recently published an anthology called Birthday Stories, which collects short stories on the theme of birthdays by Russell Banks, Ethan Canin, Raymond Carver, David Foster Wallace, Denis Johnson, Claire Keegan, Andrea Lee, Daniel Lyons, Lynda Sexson, Paul Theroux, and William Trevor, as well as a story by Murakami himself.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, containing tales about his experience as a marathon runner and a triathlete, has been published in Japan, with English translations released in the U.K. and the U.S. The title is a play on that of Raymond Carver's collection of short stories, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.
Shinchosha Publishing published Murakami's newest novel, 1Q84, in Japan on May 29, 2009. 1Q84 is pronounced as 'ichi kyū hachi yon', the same as 1984, as 9 is also pronounced as 'kyū' in Japanese.
Criticism and influence
Murakami's fiction, often criticized by Japan's literary establishment, is humorous and surreal, and at the same time digresses on themes of alienation and loneliness. Through his work, he was able to capture the spiritual emptiness of his generation and explore the negative effects of Japan's work-dominated mentality. His writing criticizes the decline in human values and a loss of connection among people in Japan's society.
Murakami was awarded the 2007 Kiriyama Prize for Fiction for his collection of short stories Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, but according to the Kiriyama Official Website, Murakami "declined to accept the award for reasons of personal principle".
Films and other adaptations
Murakami's first novel Hear the Wind Sing (Kaze no uta o kike) was adapted by Japanese director Kazuki Ōmori. The film was released in 1981 and distributed by Art Theatre Guild.
Naoto Yamakawa directed two short films Attack on the Bakery (released in 1982) and A Girl, She is 100 Percent (released in 1983), based on Murakami's short stories The Second Bakery Attack and On Seeing the 100% Perfect Woman One Beautiful April Morning respectively.
Japanese director Jun Ichikawa adapted Murakami's short story Tony Takitani into a 75-minute feature. The film played at various film festivals and was released in New York and Los Angeles on July 29, 2005. The original short story (as translated by Jay Rubin) is available in the April 15, 2002 issue of The New Yorker, as a stand-alone book published by Cloverfield Press, and part of Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Knopf.
In 1998 the German film Der Eisbaer (Polar Bear), written and directed by Granz Henman, used elements of Murakami's short story The Second Bakery Attack in three intersecting story lines.
Murakami's work was also adapted for the stage in a 2003 play entitled The Elephant Vanishes, co-produced by Britain's Complicite company and Japan's Setagaya Public Theatre. The production, directed by Simon McBurney, adapted three of Murakami's short stories and received acclaim for unique blending of multimedia (video, music, and innovative sound design) with actor-driven physical theater (mime, dance, and even acrobatic wire work). On tour, the play was performed in Japanese, with supertitles translation for European and American audience.
Two stories from Murakami's book after the quake—Honey Pie and Superfrog Saves Tokyo— have been adapted for the stage and directed by Frank Galati. Entitled after the quake, the play was first performed at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in association with La Jolla Playhouse, and opened on October 12, 2007 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. In 2008, Galati adapted and directed a theatrical version of Kafka on the Shore also first running at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater from September to November.
On Max Richter's 2006 album Songs from Before, Robert Wyatt reads passages from Murakami's novels.
In 2007, Robert Logevall adapted All God's Children Can Dance into a film, with a soundtrack composed by American jam band Sound Tribe Sector 9.
In 2008, Tom Flint adapted On Seeing the 100% Perfect Woman One Beautiful April Morning into a short film. The film was screened at the 2008 CON-CAN Movie Festival. The film was viewed, voted, and commented upon as part of the audience award for the movie festival.
It was announced in July 2008 that French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung would direct an adaptation of Murakami's novel, Norwegian Wood. The film will be released in 2010.
In 2010, Stephen Earnhart adapted The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle into a 2 hour multimedia stage presentation. The show opened January 12, 2010 as part of the Public Theater's "Under the Radar" festival at the Ohio Theater, presented in association with The Asia Society and the Baryshnikov Arts Center. The presentation incorporates live actors, video projection, traditional Japanese puppetry, and immersive soundscapes to render the surreal landscape of the original work.
Bibliography
Novels
Original Title↓ Original Publication Date↓ English Title↓ English Publication Date↓
風の歌を聴け
Kaze no uta o kike 1979 Hear the Wind Sing 1987
1973年のピンボール
1973-nen no pinbōru 1980 Pinball, 1973 1985
羊をめぐる冒険
Hitsuji o meguru bōken 1982 A Wild Sheep Chase 1989
世界の終りとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド
Sekai no owari to hādoboirudo wandārando 1985 Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World 1991
ノルウェイの森
Noruwei no mori 1987 Norwegian Wood 2000
ダンス・ダンス・ダンス
Dansu dansu dansu 1988 Dance Dance Dance 1994
国境の南、太陽の西
Kokkyō no minami, taiyō no nishi 1992 South of the Border, West of the Sun 2000
ねじまき鳥クロニクル
Nejimaki-dori kuronikuru 1995 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle 1997
スプートニクの恋人
Supūtoniku no koibito 1999 Sputnik Sweetheart 2001
海辺のカフカ
Umibe no Kafuka 2002 Kafka on the Shore 2005
アフターダーク
Afutā Dāku 2004 After Dark 2007
1Q84
Ichi-kyū-hachi-yon 2009 1Q84 2011
Short stories
Year Japanese Title English Title Appears in
1980 中国行きのスロウ・ボート
"Chūgoku-yuki no surou bōto" "A Slow Boat to China" The Elephant Vanishes
貧乏な叔母さんの話
"Binbō na obasan no hanashi" "A 'Poor Aunt' Story" (The New Yorker, December 3, 2001) Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
1981 ニューヨーク炭鉱の悲劇
"Nyū Yōku tankō no higeki" "New York Mining Disaster" (The New Yorker, January 11, 1999)
スパゲティーの年に
"Supagetī no toshi ni" "The Year of Spaghetti" (The New Yorker, November 21, 2005)
四月のある晴れた朝に100パーセントの女の子に出会うことについて
"Shigatsu no aru hareta asa ni 100-paasento no onna no ko ni deau koto ni tsuite" "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning" The Elephant Vanishes
かいつぶり
"Kaitsuburi" "Dabchick" Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
カンガルー日和
"Kangarū-biyori" "A Perfect Day for Kangaroos"
カンガルー通信
"Kangarū tsūshin" "The Kangaroo Communique" The Elephant Vanishes
1982 午後の最後の芝生
"Gogo no saigo no shibafu" "The Last Lawn of the Afternoon"
1983 鏡
"Kagami" "The Mirror" Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
とんがり焼の盛衰
"Tongari-yaki no seisui" "The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes"
螢
"Hotaru" "Firefly"
納屋を焼く
"Naya wo yaku" "Barn Burning" (The New Yorker, November 2, 1992) The Elephant Vanishes
1984 野球場
"Yakyūjō" "Crabs" Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
嘔吐1979
"Ōto 1979" "Nausea 1979"
ハンティング・ナイフ
"Hantingu naifu" "Hunting Knife" (The New Yorker, November 17, 2003)
踊る小人
"Odoru kobito" "The Dancing Dwarf" The Elephant Vanishes
1985 レーダーホーゼン
"Rēdāhōzen" "Lederhosen"
パン屋再襲撃
"Panya saishūgeki" "The Second Bakery Attack"
象の消滅
"Zō no shōmetsu" "The Elephant Vanishes" (The New Yorker, November 18, 1991)
ファミリー・アフェア
"Famirī afea" "A Family Affair"
1986 ローマ帝国の崩壊・一八八一年のインディアン蜂起・ヒットラーのポーランド侵入・そして強風世界
"Rōma-teikoku no hōkai・1881-nen no Indian hōki・Hittorā no Pōrando shinnyū・soshite kyōfū sekai" "The Fall of the Roman Empire, the 1881 Indian Uprising, Hitler's Invasion of Poland, and the Realm of Raging Winds"
ねじまき鳥と火曜日の女たち
"Nejimaki-dori to kayōbi no onnatachi" "The Wind-up Bird And Tuesday's Women" (The New Yorker, November 26, 1990)
1989 眠り
"Nemuri" "Sleep" (The New Yorker, March 30, 1992)
TVピープルの逆襲
"TV pīpuru no gyakushū" "TV People" (The New Yorker, September 10, 1990)
飛行機―あるいは彼はいかにして詩を読むようにひとりごとを言ったか
"Hikōki-arui wa kare wa ika ni shite shi wo yomu yō ni hitorigoto wo itta ka" "Aeroplane: Or, How He Talked to Himself as if Reciting Poetry" (The New Yorker, July 1, 2002) Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
我らの時代のフォークロア―高度資本主義前史
"Warera no jidai no fōkuroa-kōdo shihonshugi zenshi" "A Folklore for My Generation: A Prehistory of Late-Stage Capitalism"
1990 トニー滝谷
"Tonī Takitani" "Tony Takitani" (The New Yorker, April 15, 2002)
1991 沈黙
"Chinmoku" "The Silence" The Elephant Vanishes
緑色の獣
"Midori-iro no kemono" "The Little Green Monster"
氷男
"Kōri otoko" "The Ice Man" Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
人喰い猫
"Hito-kui neko" "Man-Eating Cats" (The New Yorker, December 4, 2000)
1995 めくらやなぎと、眠る女
"Mekurayanagi to, nemuru onna" "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman"
1996 七番目の男
"Nanabanme no otoko" "The Seventh Man"
1999 UFOが釧路に降りる
"UFO ga Kushiro ni oriru" "UFO in Kushiro" (The New Yorker, March 19, 2001) after the quake
アイロンのある風景
"Airon no aru fūkei" "Landscape with Flatiron"
神の子どもたちはみな踊る
"Kami no kodomotachi wa mina odoru" "All God's Children Can Dance"
タイランド
"Tairando" "Thailand"
かえるくん、東京を救う
"Kaeru-kun, Tōkyō wo sukuu" "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo"
2000 蜂蜜パイ
"Hachimitsu pai" "Honey Pie" (The New Yorker, August 20, 2001)
2002 バースデイ・ガール
"Bāsudei gāru" "Birthday Girl" Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
2005 偶然の旅人
"Gūzen no tabibito" "Chance Traveller"
ハナレイ・ベイ
"Hanarei Bei" "Hanalei Bay"
どこであれそれが見つかりそうな場所で
"Doko de are sore ga mitsukarisō na basho de" "Where I'm Likely to Find It" (The New Yorker, May 2, 2005)
日々移動する腎臓のかたちをした石
"Hibi idō suru jinzō no katachi wo shita ishi" "The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day"
品川猿
"Shinagawa saru" "A Shinagawa Monkey" (The New Yorker, February 13, 2006)
Essays and Non-Fictions
English Japanese
Year Title Year Title
N/A Not yet published in English (Rain,Burning Sun (Come Rain or Come Shine)) 1990 雨天炎天
"Uten Enten"
N/A Not yet published in English (Portrait in Jazz) 1997 ポ－トレイト・イン・ジャズ
"Pōtoreito in jazu"
2000 Underground 1997–1998 アンダーグラウンド
"Andāguraundo"
N/A Not yet published in English (Portrait in Jazz 2) 2001 ポ－トレイト・イン・ジャズ 2
"Pōtoreito in jazu 2"
2008 What I Talk About When I Talk About Running 2007 走ることについて語るときに僕の語ること
"Hashiru koto ni tsuite kataru toki ni boku no kataru koto"
N/A Not yet published in English (It Ain't Got that Swing (If It Don't Mean a Thing)) 2008 意味がなければスイングはない
"Imi ga nakereba suingu wa nai"
Translations
* C. D. B. Bryan - The Great Dethriffe
* Truman Capote - A Christmas Memory, One Christmas, Breakfast at Tiffany's, I Remember Grandpa, Children on Their Birthdays
* Raymond Carver - All Works of Raymond Carver
* Raymond Chandler - Farewell, My Lovely, The Long Goodbye
* Bill Crow - Jazz Anecdotes, From Birdland to Broadway
* Terry Farish - The Cat Who Liked Potato Soup
* F. Scott Fitzgerald - My Lost City, The Great Gatsby
* Jim Fusilli - The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds
* Mikal Gilmore - Shot in the Heart
* Mark Helprin - Swan Lake
* John Irving - Setting Free the Bears
* Ursula K. Le Guin - Catwings, Catwings Return, Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings, Jane on her Own
* Tim O'Brien - The Nuclear Age, The Things They Carried, July, July
* Grace Paley - Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, The Little Disturbances of Man
* J. D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye
* Mark Strand - Mr. and Mrs. Baby and Other Stories
* Paul Theroux - World's End and Other Stories
* Chris Van Allsburg - The Polar Express, The Wretched Stone, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, Ben's Dream, Two Bad Ants, The Sweetest Fig, The Window's Broom, The Stranger, The Wreck of the Zephyer, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
Translators of Murakami's works
Murakami's works have been translated into many languages. Below is a list of translators according to language (by alphabetical order):
* Arabic - Saeed Alganmi, Iman Harrz Allah
* Brazilian Portuguese - Ana Luiza Dantas Borges
* Bulgarian - Ljudmil Ljutskanov
* Catalan - Albert Nolla, Concepció Iribarren, Imma Estany
* Chinese - 賴明珠/Lai Ming-zhu (Taiwan), 林少華/Lin Shao-hua (China), 葉惠/Ye Hui (Hong Kong, China)
* Croatian - Vojo Šindolić
* Czech - Tomáš Jurkovič
* Danish - Mette Holm
* Dutch - Elbrich Fennema, Jaques Westerhoven, L. van Haute
* English - Alfred Birnbaum, Jay Rubin, Philip Gabriel, Hideo Levy (USA), Theodore W. Goossen (Canada)
* Estonian - Kati Lindström, Kristina Uluots
* Faroese - Pauli Nielsen
* Finnish - Leena Tamminen, Ilkka Malinen, Juhani Lindholm
* French - Corinne Atlan, Hélène Morita, Patrick De Vos, Véronique Brindeau
* Galician - Mona Imai, Gabriel Álvarez Martínez
* Georgian - Irakli Beriashvili
* German - Ursula Gräfe, Nora Bierich, Sabine Mangold, Uwe Hohmann
* Greek - Maria Aggelidou, Thanasis Douvris, Leonidas Karatzas, Juri Kovalenko, Stelios Papazafeiropoulos, Giorgos Voudiklaris
* Hebrew - Einat Cooper, Dr. Michal Daliot-Bul
* Hungarian - Erdős György, Horváth Kriszta, Komáromy Rudolf
* Icelandic - Uggi Jónsson
* Indonesian - Jonjon Johana
* Italian - Giorgio Amitrano, Antonietta Pastore
* Korean - Kim Choon-Mie, Kim Nanjoo
* Latvian - Ingūna Beķere
* Lithuanian - Milda Dyke, Irena Jomantienė, Jūratė Nauronaitė, Marius Daškus, Dalia Saukaitytė, Ieva Stasiūnaitė, Ieva Susnytė
* Norwegian - Ika Kaminka, Kari and Kjell Risvik
* Persian - Gita Garakani, Mehdi Ghobarayi, Bozorgmehr Sharafoddin
* Polish - Anna Zielinska-Elliott
* Portuguese - Maria João Lourenço, Leiko Gotoda
* Romanian - Angela Hondru, Silvia Cercheaza, Andreea Sion, Iuliana Tomescu
* Russian - Dmitry V. Kovalenin, Ivan Sergeevich Logatchev, Sergey Ivanovich Logatchev, Anatoly Lyan
* Serbian - Nataša Tomić, Divna Tomić
* Slovak - Lucia Kružlíková
* Slovene - Nika Cejan, Aleksander Mermal
* Spanish - Lourdes Porta, Junichi Matsuura, Fernando Rodríguez-Izquierdo y Gavala
* Swedish - Yukiko Duke, Eiko Duke, Vibeke Emond
* Thai - Noppadol Vatsawat, Komsan Nantachit, Tomorn Sukprecha
* Turkish - Pınar Polat, Nihal Önol, Hüseyin Can Erkin
* Ukrainian - Ivan Dziub, Oleksandr Bibko
* Vietnamese - Trinh Lu, Tran Tien Cao Dang, Duong Tuong, Cao Viet Dung, Pham Xuan Nguyen