[ad_1]
I initially started imagining a Murakami pilgrimage the primary time a learn The Wind-up Chook Chronicle. I’d been to Japan many instances beforehand, however the colourful method Murakami wrote about seemingly strange places within the nation, such because the Pacific Lodge close to Shinagawa station, made me need to string collectively an itinerary based mostly on these locations.
After all, quite a lot of why I like the image Murakami paints of Japan a lot is that he illustrates what life was like in years and eras passed by. Nonetheless, I’d love to go to as lots of the places in Murakami novels all through Japan as attainable. In the event you would, too, please proceed studying.
Who’s Haruki Murakami?
In the event you’ve by no means learn any Haruki Murakami books, I get it. It took me a few years to select up my first one—11, exactly, from the primary time I discovered of the writer’s existence till I lastly cracked open considered one of his tomes. After all, hundreds of thousands of individuals all over the world have bought copies of his 30+ books, which have been translated into at the very least 50 languages, so I’m certain the Japanese nationwide treasure didn’t discover my absence.
And why, you ask, achieve this many individuals love Murakami? He writes in a method you would possibly describe as “magical realism,” which isn’t distinctive to him, although it’s fairly exceptional in Japan, a rustic recognized for didactic and even boring literature other than Murakami and some others. As for the perfect Murakami guide, that’s a matter of non-public desire, although I personally discover Sputnik Sweetheart to be an neglected gem.
Areas in Murakami Novels
1Q84
The polarizing behemoth 1Q84 is probably the perfect illustration of Haruki Murakami Tokyo: It begins in a taxi atop an elevated freeway in Setagaya ward, then follows a younger lady down the steps into Sangenjaya, which it illustrates in fascinating Eighties technicolor. Different places on this guide embrace Koenji in western Tokyo (which is now one of many trendiest areas of the town) and the cities of Ichikawa (dwelling to considered one of my favourite viewpoints of Tokyo) and Ome in Chiba prefecture.
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
In the event you’re looking for locations from Murakami in Nagoya, that is the guide you’ve most likely simply learn. After all, whereas the Nexus dealership that Tsukuru’s good friend Ao works at really appears to exist, the true factor simply doesn’t dwell as much as the scene Murakami builds there—you would possibly have the ability to higher visualize your self within the novel by visiting Hisaya Odori Park, the place Ao and Tsukuru later have a chat.
Exhausting-Boiled Wonderland and the Finish of the World
Exhausting-Boiled Wonderland and the Finish of the World is probably Murakami’s strangest guide, with only a few issues in it resembling the true world in any respect. Most notably, whereas about half of the guide ostensibly takes place inside the Tokyo sewer system, the setting Murakami’s phrases and characters creates appears loads additional beneath the floor than that.
Kafka on the Shore
It’s no shock that there are an enormous quantity locations in Kafka on the Shore, given the size of the guide. The current-day portion of the story begins within the Nogata neighborhood in Tokyo’s Nakano ward and continues to Takamatsu on underrated Shikoku island, although the library the place Kafka fucks his 50-year previous maybe-mother doesn’t really exist. It’s additionally not clear precisely the place the unusual occasions described in interstitial chapters passed off.
Norwegian Wooden
If hitchhiking via Japan is your jam, comply with within the footsteps of Toru Watanabe, who undertook this epic (however by no means mapped-out) pilgrimage upon studying that an ex-girlfriend has killed herself. Extra tangible places inside Norwegian Wooden embrace magnificent Rikugien backyard in Tokyo’s Bunkyo ward, Kichioji in Musashino ward and Hamburg, Germany.
South of the Border, West of the Solar
This underrated Murakami novel begins in an unnamed post-war Japanese suburb, however rapidly progresses into extra identifiable territory. The meat of the novel takes place in Tokyo’s upmarket Aoyama neighborhood, from the jazz membership Hajime owns, to the Aoyama Cemetery he sees out his window, to Fujisawa and Hakone cities in Kanagawa prefecture you can add to a Haruki Murakami tour.
Trilogy of the Rat
In the event you’re seeking to comply with Murakami in Hokkaido, look no additional than A Wild Sheep Chase, the second chapter within the Trilogy of the Rat sequence. Along with the time the principle characters spend within the giant metropolis of Asahikawa, the whole novel’s plot relies on happenings at a sheep farm in fictional Junitaki, which some consider relies upon the real-life city of Bifuka.
The Wind-Up Chook Chronicle
Like 1Q84, The Wind-Up Chook Chronicle fantastically illustrates Murakami’s Tokyo in all its 80s glory. Moreover the Pacific Lodge (at this time, working beneath the identify Keikyu Ex Inn) I discussed earlier, different real-life places talked about in Murakami’s best-known guide embrace the long-lasting Wako Constructing in Ginza, the nightlife and enterprise hub of Akasaka and numerous factors of curiosity all through Shinjuku.
Different Murakami Books
If I’ve missed essential real-life locations in Murakami books you’ve learn or liked, you should definitely go away them within the feedback part so I can embrace them in updates to this Murakami tour Japan submit! I’ve tried to be thorough on this submit however I’m solely human (which is greater than will be mentioned for a few of Murakami’s extra off-the-wall characters!).
Murakami Areas Exterior of Japan
Murakami is Japanese, so it is sensible that almost all stops on a Murakami guide tour can be ready Japan. However, a number of notable occasions in beloved books from 1Q84 to Wind-Up Chook passed off exterior the Land of the Rising Solar.
Most frequently, locations in Murakami novels in Europe appear to pop up loads. Practically half of Sputnik Sweetheart, for instance, takes place in Greece. The guide’s protagonist Okay travels to a small Greek island when he learns that Sumire, the long-time object of his affection, has instantly disappeared. Although the identify of the island isn’t revealed, the image Murakami paints of life there may be so alluring Greece’s tourism board may create an advert based mostly on it.
I’ve additionally seen that a few Murakami characters find yourself in Finland. In Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, for instance, the titular character travels to the good, white north to go to a personality from his previous whose phrases he hopes will assuage his current difficulties. It’s assumed that the unnamed scientist within the weird Exhausting-Boiled Wonderland, alternatively, flees to Finland as soon as he has escaped the wrath of the malevolent “INKlings.”
Different FAQ About Murakami Journey in Japan
Is the Wind-Up Chook Chronicle price studying?
For my cash, The Wind-Up Chook Chronicle is the Murakami guide that greatest evokes the truth of contemporary Japan (even when it’s the truth of the Eighties greater than the 2020s), and whose prose would encourage me to go to Japan if I hadn’t already carried out so already. In the event you’ve by no means visited Japan and need to get encourage, positively learn this one first!
Which Murakami is the perfect?
Usually talking, Kafka on the Shore is acknowledged as Murakami’s greatest guide, however that’s not a unanimous reality. For instance, Norwegian Wooden has a lot increased tradition cache, having been made into a preferred (in Japan, anyway) film. Some folks consider Hear the Wind Sing is his greatest guide, because it was his first and the explanation we all know Murakami in any respect!
Is 1Q84 price studying?
1Q84 has garnered a number of criticism, each for its size and slowness, and the sensation that its ending is just not passable. Nevertheless, I believe it’s positively price studying, if just for the unbelievable world-building and character improvement inside the prose, and since let’s face it: Studying an excellent guide makes a protracted flight to Japan go by method sooner than any film or TV sequence!
The Backside Line
Whether or not or not you’re taking a Haruki Murakami pilgrimage, it’s attention-grabbing to study which places from his novels really exist in actual life. To me, this data is probably much more helpful than the handle of a specific lodge or landmark, as a result of it speaks to one thing larger: If the places Murakami writes about in such an ethereal method are product of brick and stone, then the kinds of individuals he writes about have to be actual, too. Need to take your Murakami journey up yet one more notch? Rent me to plan your Japan itinerary!
[ad_2]