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Born in Kyoto, Japan.
Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan on January 12, 1949. He is currently 63 years old. -
Waseda University.
Murakami graduated from Waseda University in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, in 1973 with a degree in drama. -
The Peter Cat.
Shortly after finishing his studies, Murakami opened up a coffeehouse & jazz bar with his wife, Yoko, in Kokobunji, Tokyo. From 1974, to 1981, the two enjoyed a casual lifestyle while running their business. -
Inspired to write.
While watching a baseball game in the Jingu stadium between the Yakult Swallows and the Hiroshima Carp, Murakami was suddenly hit with the inspiration to become a novelist. He went home that day and immediatly began to write. -
Publishes first novel.
A year after his sudden inspiration, Murakami completed his first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, which won him the Gunzou Literature prize. This pushed him to continue to write. Hear the Wind Sing is the first novel in the Trilogy of the Rat series that started off Murakami's career. -
Pinball, 1973.
Pinball, 1973 is the second installment of Murakami's Trilogy of the Rat series. The novel revolves around themes of loneliness, destiny, purposelessness, and companionship, all while depicting a metaphorical tale of pinball. -
A Wild Sheep Chase.
The third installment in The Rat Trilogy, A Wild Sheep Chase was a great success , earning Murakami the Noma Literary Prize and instant fame. The novel is a moc-detective story, part mystery and part fantasy with a postmodern twist. -
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was one of Murakami's more revolutionary novels, taking his writing style of ethereal and misty fantasies to a new extreme. A rather strange and dream-like novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is split into two bizarre narratives, exploring concepts of the consciousness and its subconscious identities. -
The United States.
In 1986, Murakami and his wife left Japan and settled in the United States, where he taught at Princeton University in New Jersey and Tufts in Massachusetts. -
Norweigan Wood.
A nostalgic story of loss and love, Norweigan Wood introduced Murakami to a wider crowd. The novel sold millions of copies to the youth alone, making it a national bestseller. Murakami's career was taken to the next level as a result. -
Dance Dance Dance
Dance Dance Dance is technically the final installment of the Rat trilogy, but is not really conidered a part of the series as it's writing style and overall atmosphere is quite different from the other novels. A rather idiosyncratic novel, it fuses science fiction, hard-boiled thriller elements, & satire into a completely new literary genre. In 2001, Murakami stated that Dance Dance Dance had been a "healing act" after his unexpected fame, & one that had been the most fun for him to write. -
South of the Border, West of the Sun.
South of the Border, West of the Sun is a short, melancholic novel of passion & unrequited romance of most fantastic proportions. It was written during Murakami's stay in the United States as a visiting scholar of Princeton University. -
The Elephant Vanishes
A collection of short stories written between 1983 & 1990, The Elephant Vanishes is a masterpiece of surrealism, destruction, confusion, loss, & loneliness. -
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
One of Murakami's lengthier novels, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a wild combination of detective mystery, lost romance, & an excavation of the buried secrets of WW2. This novel was also written during Murakami's time in Princeton, & is one of his most renowned & widely acclaimed works. It won him the Yomuiri National Prize & the favor of his harshest former critic, Oe Kenzaburo. -
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche.
Murakami's first work of nonfiction, Underground was written following the Aum Shinrikyo Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo Subway in 1955. It consists of a series of interviews on both victims of the attack & members of the Aum Shinrikyo, the domestic terrorist group responsible for the attack. -
Sputnik Sweetheart
A tangled tale of a triangle of unrequited loves, Sputnik Sweetheart is a novel of the more fierce & psychedelic sides of passion. Murakami once again advances upon themes of prolonged loneliness & the decision between one's dream & their position in society. -
after the quake
A collection of short stories written in response to the 1955 Kobe earthquake, after the quake represents part of an effort no Murakami's part to adopt a more purposeful exploration of the Japanese national conscience. Each stories' characters are full of motifs & themes & contradictions to prove Murakami's points. Upon its English publication, Murakami insisted that the title be all in lowercase. -
Kafka On The Shore
An ambitious & metaphysical page-turner, Kafka On The Shore is one of Murakami's lengthier novels. Critically acclaimed by many world critics, Kafka On The Shore earned a spot among the New York Times' Top 10 list, as well as the World Fantasy Award. The novel runs between two different narratives, introducing the two characters as part of completely unrelated worlds until their tales become twisted in fate. -
After Dark
Set in the course of a single night in the metropolitan city of Tokyo, After Dark tells a tale of alienation & strange occurences that take place during the darkest hours of night. -
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman.
A collection of short stories written following his success with Kafka on the Shore, Blind Willow Sleeping Woman is considered by Murakami to be his first "real short story collection." -
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
One of Murakami's very select few nonfiction works, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a personal memoir of Murakami's experience as a regular marathon runner. -
1Q84
Murakami's most recent novel, 1Q84 was a quick sensation, all of its copies selling out the day it was released. Published in three hardcover volumes, 1Q84 takes place in a fictionalized 1984 Tokyo, immeditaly giving the airs of a mystery, but with Murakami's signature twist.
