Things about Haruki Murakami you probably did not know - part 3

It’s time for a new dose of Murakami facts. Like with the two earlier postings, most of these facts are taken from interviews, articles and Jay Rubin’s biography on Haruki Murakami. Please let us know if any of these facts are untrue or inaccurate. We’ll do our best to correct them immediately. You can also send us interesting things or anecdotes for the next part.

Find the two earlier fact postings here: Part 1 & Part 2. There’s also more interesting stuff in the special content and music sections of our page index for any of you new followers who haven’t seen these things yet.

  • Haruki Murakami was nominated for the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1979 and 1980 (for Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973) - but unlike many other prizes, he never won it.
  • He doesn’t like most Asian food like Korean or Vietnamese and especially hates Chinese food, however, his wife Yōko loves Chinese food. His favorite food (aside from Japanese dishes) is Italian.
  • Murakami stands 5’7” or 170 cm.
  • The end of Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was rewritten by Murakami up to five or six times. The main reason for this must have been Haruki’s wife Yōko who very critically judges everything her husband writes - and in this case she actually advised him to rewrite the complete second half of the book.
  • From the time Murakami moved from Kōbe to Tōkyō back in his days as a student, he always lived in several places nearby the Meiji Jingu Stadium, home to the baseball team Tōkyō Yakult Swallows (which he is a fan of). It was this stadium where he was inspired to write his first novel - when Dave Hilton, a young American player, hit a double. Today, Murakami still has a home near Jingu Stadium. His main residence is in Ōiso, Kanagawa.
  • Haruki Murakami used to be friends with Raymond Carver whom he cites as one of his biggest influences. They met in Carver’s house in America back in the 80s. Haruki and Yōko then invited Carver and his wife Tess to come visit them in Japan, which unfortunately never happened because Carver died of cancer not much later. Raymond Carver’s wife sent a pair of her husband’s (very big) shoes to Japan instead, and up until today one of the very scarce photos in Murakami’s house is a picture of Raymond Carver and his wife Tess.

Notes

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