is a Japanese novelist, essayist and filmmaker. His novels explore
human nature
Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...
through themes of disillusion, drug use, surrealism, murder and war, set against the dark backdrop of Japan. His best known novels are '' Almost Transparent Blue'', ''
Audition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece gi ...
Murakami was born in Sasebo, Nagasaki on 19 February 1952. The name ''Ryūnosuke'' was taken from the protagonist in ''Daibosatsu-tōge'', a work of fiction by .
Murakami attended school in Sasebo. While a student in senior high, he joined in forming a rock band called Coelacanth, as the drummer. In the summer of his third year in senior high, Murakami and his fellow students barricaded the rooftop of his high school and he was placed under house arrest for three months. During this time, he had an encounter with
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
culture, which had a strong influence on him.
After graduating from high school in 1970, Murakami formed another rock band and produced some 8-millimeter
indie film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...
s. He enrolled in the
silkscreen
Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke" ...
department at Gendaishichosha School of Art in Tokyo, but dropped out in the first year. In October 1972, he moved to
Fussa, Tokyo
is a city located in the western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 56,786, and a population density of 5600 persons per km². The total area of the city is .
About one third of the city area is ...
and was accepted for the sculpture program at
Musashino Art University
or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan.
History
In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...
. He married his wife, a keyboard player, in the 1970s and their son was born in 1980. In the early 1990s, Murakami devoted himself to disseminating
Cuban music
The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban ...
in Japan and established a label, ''Murakami's'', within
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
.
Murakami started the
e-magazine
An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the comput ...
''JMM'' (Japan Mail Media) in 1999 and still serves as its chief editor. Since 2006, he has also hosted a talk show on business and finance called ''Kanburia Kyuden'', broadcast on
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Eiko Koike. In the same year, he began a
video streaming
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...
service, RVR (Ryu's Video Report). In 2010, he established a company, , to sell and produce
eBooks
An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...
.
Works
Murakami's first work was the short novel '' Almost Transparent Blue'', written while he was still a university student. It deals with promiscuity and drug use among disaffected youth. Critically acclaimed as a new style of literature, it won the Gunzo Prize for New Writers in 1976, despite some objections on the grounds of decadence. Later the same year, his ''Blue'' won the
Akutagawa Prize
The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes.
History
Th ...
, going on to become a bestseller.
In 1980, Murakami published a much longer novel, '' Coin Locker Babies'', again to critical acclaim, and won the 3rd Noma Liberal Arts New Member Prize. Next came the autobiographical novel '' 69'', and then ''Ai to Gensō no Fascism'' (1987), revolving around the struggle to reform Japan's survival-of-the-fittest society with a secret "Hunting Society". His work ''Topaz'' (1988) concerns a
sado-masochistic
Sadism () and masochism (), known collectively as sadomasochism ( ) or S&M, is the derivation of pleasure from acts of respectively inflicting or receiving pain or humiliation. The term is named after the Marquis de Sade, a French author known ...
woman's radical expression of her sexuality.
Murakami's ''The World in Five Minutes From Now'' (1994) is written as a point of view in a parallel universe version of Japan, and was nominated for the 30th
Tanizaki Prize
The Tanizaki Prize (谷崎潤一郎賞 ''Tanizaki Jun'ichirō Shō''), named in honor of the Japanese novelist Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, is one of Japan's most sought-after literary awards. It was established in 1965 by the publishing company Chūō K ...
. In 1996 he continued his autobiography ''69'', and released the ''Murakami Ryū Movie and Novel Collection''. He also won the Taiko Hirabayashi Prize. The same year, he wrote the novel ''Topaz II'' about a female high school student engaged in "compensated dating", which later was adapted as the live-action film '' Love & Pop'' by anime director
Hideaki Anno
is a Anime, Japanese animator, filmmaker, Film producer, producer, and voice actor. His most celebrated creation, the Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), ''Evangelion'' franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industr ...
. His ''Popular Hits of the Showa Era'' concerns the escalating firepower in a battle between five teenage male and five middle-aged female social rejects. Literary scholar Barbara Greene suggests that the text reveals how "the invisible violence of post-Bubble Japan’s social order is made explicit through a low-stakes, yet hyperviolent, guerilla war undertaken by a set of ludicrous and narcissistic characters whose increasingly deadly attacks are met with public indifference. Within the consumer-capitalist social order, personal satisfaction is the paramount goal..."
In 1997 came the psychological thriller novel '' In the Miso Soup'', set in Tokyo's Kabuki-cho
red-light district
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex industry, sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light district ...
, which won him the Yomiuri Prize for Fiction that year. ''Parasites'' (''Kyōsei chū'', 2000) is about a young
hikikomori
''Hikikomori'' (, "pulling inward, being confined") are reclusive adolescents or adults who withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement. The term refers to both the sociological phenomenon in gener ...
fascinated by war. It won him the 36th Tanizaki Prize. The same year ''Exodus From Hopeless Japan'' (''Kibō no Kuni no Exodus'') told of junior high school students who lose their desire to be involved in normal Japanese society and instead create a new one over the internet.
In 2001, Murakami became involved in his friend
Ryuichi Sakamoto
was a Music of Japan, Japanese musician, composer, keyboardist, record producer, singer and actor. He pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the Synthesizer, synth-based band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his ...
's group NML '' No More Landmines'', which sets out to remove landmines from former battle sites around the world.
In 2004, Murakami announced the publication of ''13 Year Old Hello Work'', aimed at increasing interest in young people who are entering the workforce. ''Hantō wo Deyo'' (2005) is about an invasion of Japan by
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
. It won him the Noma Liberal Arts Prize and .
The novel ''
Audition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece gi ...
'' was made into a feature film by
Takashi Miike
is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over 100 feature film, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films span a variety of different genres, ranging from violent and surrealism, b ...
. Murakami reportedly liked it so much he gave Miike his blessing to adapt '' Coin Locker Babies.'' The screenplay for the latter was worked on by director
Jordan Galland
Jordan Galland (born 1980) is an American filmmaker and musician based in New York City.
Early life
Born in Farmington, Connecticut, Galland was raised in New York City and graduated in 2002 from New York University, where he studied film, anim ...
but Miike failed to raise enough funding for it. An adaptation directed by Michele Civetta is currently in production.
In 2011, ''Utau Kujira'' won the .
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...
''; by
Jonathan Clements
Jonathan Michael Clements (born 9 July 1971) is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Koxinga and Qin Shi Huang, as well as monthly opinion columns for '' Neo'' magazine. He is also the co-au ...
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...