Haruki Murakami

@Novelists, Timeline and Life

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese novelist and translator who has won several prestigious awards for his works

Jan 12, 1949

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Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: January 12, 1949
  • Nationality: Japanese
  • Famous: Writers, Novelists
  • Spouses: Yoko
  • Universities:
    • Theater Arts
    • Waseda University
  • Birth Place: Kyoto
  • Height: 164cm

Haruki Murakami born at

Kyoto

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Birth Place

He is married to Yoko whom he first met while studying at Waseda University.

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Personal Life

He donated €80,000 winnings from the International Catalunya Prize to the victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

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Personal Life

Murakami was born in post World War II Japan to parents who both taught Japanese literature. As a child he read the works of various American authors like Kurt Vonnegut, Richard Brautigan and Jack Kerouac.

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Childhood & Early Life

He was heavily influenced by Western culture from a young age and this is often reflected in his works which differentiates him from other Japanese writers.

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Childhood & Early Life

He studied drama at the Waseda University in Tokyo.

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Childhood & Early Life

He began his career at a record store. He opened a coffeehouse and jazz bar in Tokyo with his wife in 1974.

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Career

In 1978, while he was watching a baseball match in Jingu stadium he was suddenly inspired to write a novel. He began writing and had completed a 200 page novel by autumn of the year and sent the work titled ‘Hear the Wind Sing’ to a new writer’s contest which he won. The novel was published the next year.

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Career

His second novel, ‘Pinball, 1973’ was published in 1980. The book explored the themes of loneliness, companionship, and destiny. The novel was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize.

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Career

With the success of his novels he chose to pursue writing as a full time career and sold off his jazz club.

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Career

In 1982, he released the novel ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’. This along with its preceding two novels comprised the ‘Trilogy of the Rat’ series.

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Career

His novel ‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’ is a surreal and dreamlike narration that alternates between the ‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland’ and ‘The End of the World. This novel is considered to be one of his finest works.

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Major Works

The novel ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’ is a part mystery and part fantasy work which combines elements of American and English literature with post war Japanese cultural identity. The award winning story is written in form of a mock-detective tale.

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Major Works