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July 12, 2026
 

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HARUKI MURAKAMI

Haruki Murakami's first book in three years hit shelves in Japan on Friday.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 3, 2026
Murakami says his novels are ‘different’ from AI literature
When he is deeply focused on writing a story, characters suddenly show up, and “that’s not something that comes out from analogy,” he said, adding “AI probably can’t do that.”
Haruki Murakami returns this summer with his new novel, "The Tale of Kaho," which is centered on a 26-year-old picture book author.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 24, 2026
Haruki Murakami to release first novel in three years with ‘The Tale of Kaho’
The beloved author’s new work, set to be released July 3, marks his first female-led novel — and a return to the uncanny.
Author Haruki Murakami (right) joins Roland Kelts on stage for the Murakami Mixtape event. Murakami is the contemporary Japanese novelist most emblematic of the country’s love of jazz.
CULTURE / Music / CULTURE SMASH
Mar 29, 2026
How the Japanese made jazz their own
Through Haruki Murakami and a Tokyo-to-New York performance, hints of how Japan reinterpreted jazz.
A successful illustrator (Issey Ogata) mourns his late wife (Rie Miyazawa) after her sudden passing in “Tony Takitani.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 12, 2026
‘Tony Takitani’: Haunting Murakami adaptation rendered beautifully in new 4K restoration
Few Haruki Murakami screen adaptations capture the author’s melancholy as beautifully as Jun Ichikawa’s 2004 “Tony Takitani.”
Actor Tatsuya Fujiwara plays the protagonist Calcutec in "The End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland.”
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 7, 2026
Can Japanese theater travel? A Murakami adaptation tries.
“The End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland” adaptation is part of a rising wave of contemporary Japanese theater productions that tour internationally with original casts.
Ryan Gander’s “The Find” transforms Okayama into the site of a scavenger hunt for coins that anyone is free to take home.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 5, 2025
Artists turn Okayama into Murakami-esque city of wonder
The fourth edition of the triennial Okayama Art Summit transmutes the sensibility of Haruki Murakami’s “1Q84” into an urban art program.
An anthropomorphic frog (voiced by Non) and a banker turned parking lot attendant (Koichi Sato) team up on a mission in "After the Quake."
CULTURE / Film
Sep 25, 2025
The familiar is made surreal in ‘After the Quake’
Tsuyoshi Inoue’s feature reworks NHK’s four-part Haruki Murakami drama adaptation, evoking the dreamlike atmosphere of the author’s works.
June is Pride Month, which means it’s the perfect time to get acquainted with how sexual minorities have been represented in Japanese fiction if you’re not familiar with these narratives already.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 11, 2025
Pride and prose: Novels that illuminate queer lives in Japan
From Yukio Mishima and Haruki Murakami to Li Kotomi and Akira Otani, dive into Japanese fiction’s LGBTQ+ narratives in honor of Pride Month.
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 3, 2025
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
NHK’s new four-episode miniseries, “After the Quake,” probes the ripple effects of past major disasters across Japanese society.
Jay Rubin’s new translation of Haruki Murakami’s “End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland,” in part set in a walled city where inhabitants’ shadows are forcibly removed, speaks to the author’s quirky, exhaustive attention to detail when rendering his imaginative world on the page.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 16, 2024
Jay Rubin takes us back to Haruki Murakami’s world
A new translation of “End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland” brings the fan favorite closer to the original Japanese text.
"Butter," Asako Yuzuki’s thrilling novel inspired by a real-life femme fatale, was named the Waterstones Book of the Year in 2024.
CULTURE / Books / 2024 in Review
Dec 15, 2024
Women are writing a new chapter in Japanese literature in the 2020s
From the deadly serious and deeply weird to the fluffiest of diversions, a bounty of Japanese fiction in translation has delighted readers and critics this decade so far.
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 19, 2024
Haruki Murakami’s ‘The City and Its Uncertain Walls’ gives deep deja vu
“The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” newly translated into English, is an explicit rerun of the author’s older works with an alternate ending.
“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” incorporates six Murakami short stories from three books into a single intertwined narrative that centers on a trio of lonely Tokyoites.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Jul 20, 2024
‘Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman’ is an immersive journey into Murakami’s world
Pierre Foldes’ beautiful adaptation of six Haruki Murakami stories features one of the author’s most memorable characters, who injects the film with self-aware humor.
The titular city in Haruki Murakami's most recent novel, "The City and Its Uncertain Walls," appears to exist in the protagonist's dream world.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 19, 2024
Before Murakami’s English release, try him in Japanese one more time
An English version of “The City and Its Uncertain Walls” won’t come out till fall, so practice reading it in Japanese before checking the translation.
Reader opinions have been mixed on Haruki Murakami's latest novel, “The City and Its Uncertain Walls.”
CULTURE / Books
Aug 20, 2023
Haruki Murakami’s latest has readers and reviewers perplexed
Following the arrival of the renowned author’s first full-length novel in six years, critics and readers have been left scratching their heads.
Japan Times
CULTURE
May 24, 2023
Haruki Murakami wins top books prize in Spain
The €50,000 ($55,000) award is one of eight prizes for the arts, sport and scientific research handed out yearly by a foundation named for Crown Princess Leonor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 13, 2023
Haruki Murakami’s first novel in six years hits shelves in Japan
The bestselling author spent three years working nonstop on his new novel, ‘The City and Its Uncertain Walls,’ which reworks the story of the same title from 1980.
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 15, 2023
Haruki Murakami’s new novel. Plus, allegations resurface in J-pop.
Celebrated author Haruki Murakami reveals the title to a new novel, “The City and its Uncertain Walls.” Also, the BBC puts out a documentary on J-pop titan Johnny Kitagawa.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 17, 2023
Thousands sign petition to save Tokyo’s ‘sacred’ Jingu Stadium
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played at the legendary venue in 1934 as part of a Japanese tour, making the stadium only one of a handful remaining where Ruth played.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 16, 2022
Do you have what it takes to be a novelist? Let Haruki Murakami decide.
In “Novelist as a Vocation,” the prolific author paints himself as an everyman while giving frustratingly unclear advice on being a professional writer.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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