Novelist Murakami hosts Japanese ghost story reading ahead of Nobel Prize announcements

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Renowned Japanese author Haruki Murakami recently hosted a captivating ghost story reading event in Tokyo, drawing significant attention as the anticipation builds for this year’s Nobel Prize in literature announcement, an accolade for which he remains a perennial favorite.

During Thursday’s engaging session, Murakami expressed his fondness for eerie tales and his desire to delve further into this genre. The highlight of the event was a story hailing from the 18th-century collection “Tales of Moonlight and Rain.” This collection, known to have influenced Murakami’s work since his childhood, holds a special place in his literary inspiration.

The timeless collection, penned by Akinari Ueda and titled “Ugetsu Monogatari” in Japanese, explores the enigmatic boundary between reality and the surreal. Murakami once shared in a 2021 magazine guide that these stories left him pondering which side of this blurred line he truly inhabited.

Borders and barriers, both physical and metaphysical, are recurring motifs in Murakami’s literary tapestry. His protagonists frequently navigate through walls or traverse between parallel worlds, encountering mysterious and exotic characters along the way. While Murakami has acknowledged his upbringing on a diet of Western literature, scholars have discerned traces of Ueda’s influence in some of his narratives.

For over a decade, Murakami has been a prominent nominee for the Nobel Prize in literature. The announcement of the 2023 laureate is scheduled for October 5th. If he were to clinch this prestigious honor, he would become the first Japanese writer since Kenzaburo Oe in 1994 to join the ranks of Nobel laureates.

In recent years, Japanese media have also highlighted novelists Yoko Ogawa and Yoko Tawada as potential contenders for the coveted prize. International pundits have included Chinese fiction writer Can Xue and American novelist Thomas Pynchon on the list of potential laureates for this year.

Notably, the pending Nobel Prize remained unmentioned during Thursday’s ghost story gathering. Instead, the event showcased the talents of Kayoko Shiraishi, a seasoned actress known for her compelling monologues of ghostly tales. She performed “The Kibitsu Cauldron,” a story from Ugetsu, which chronicles the tragic fate of an imprudent man who marries a priest’s virtuous daughter against a cauldron’s ominous prophecy. Betrayal ensues, leading to a chilling climax where the vengeful spirit of the wife exacts her revenge.

Murakami was enthralled by Shiraishi’s spine-tingling portrayal of multiple roles and expressed his desire for her to tackle “The Mirror,” one of his own short horror stories penned in 1983.

Reflecting on his literary journey, Murakami’s debut novel, “Hear the Wind Sing,” published in 1979, was inspired during a baseball game at Meiji Jingu Stadium. This historic stadium is now entangled in a contentious redevelopment project within Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien park area, drawing increasing opposition.

Murakami, a vocal critic of the redevelopment effort, reiterated his concerns at the reading event, emphasizing the removal of approximately 1,000 trees. As an avid runner, he emphasized that the area is an integral part of his jogging route, and the stadium is the cherished home of his favorite baseball team, the Yakult Swallows.

“Jingu Gaien holds immense personal significance for me,” Murakami asserted. “I will continue to voice my opposition to this redevelopment, and I call upon those who share my concerns to lend their support.” His impassioned stance received resounding applause from the audience.

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More about Nobel Prize Contender

• Haruki Murakami
• Tales of Moonlight and Rain
• Akinari Ueda
• Nobel Prize in Literature
• Kenzaburo Oe
• Yoko Ogawa
• Yoko Tawada
• Can Xue
• Thomas Pynchon
• Jingu Gaien
• Kayoko Shiraishi