Famed Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami is about to become the internet’s agony uncle. Yesterday, Murakami’s publisher announced that the reclusive writer will launch a website where fans can ask for advice and pose questions “of any kind”. The site will be called “Murakami-san no tokoro” or “Mr. Murakami’s place,” though his publisher, Shinchosha, has not announced a URL or email address for it.
“After so long, I want to exchange emails with readers,” Murakami said in a statement published by Shinchosha.
The 65-year-old author of books like “Norwegian Wood” (which was turned into a movie in 2010, starring Kiko Mizuhara) and “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” will also answer questions about his personal tastes, including his affection for cats and his favourite Japanese baseball team. Questions can be submitted in multiple languages and will be accepted through the end of January. Murakami will publish his responses over the following two months.
Murakami’s books have been translated into 12 languages and he enjoys an ardent following of fans, known as “Harukists”, though he has long shied from the limelight.
Source: Sipa Press / Rex Features
In 2013, he appeared in public in Japan for the first time in 18 years to promote his latest novel, “Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and the Year of His Pilgrimage”, and took the opportunity to explain his disdain for fame.
He told the small audience (tickets were limited to 500, which were only made available through a lottery) present at the event:
When I woke up this morning I almost thought of taking a bullet train home. It’s not because I have a mental condition or purple spots all over my body. I’m just an ordinary person who lives an ordinary life.
So, if you could ask Haruki Murakami for advice on the advice column website, what would you most likely ask him?
Sources: The Verge, Shinchosha, Telegraph.