“Brutus” featuring Haruki Murakami

I will introduce 3 works of Murakami’s favorite Japanese literature. What I found interesting is that he is drawn to the style of Japanese. It is said that Murakami first deconstructed the traditional style and made his voice from scratch. That is probably reflected in this selection. His favorites tend to be the ones written by so called “The Third Generation of Postwar Writers”. 1. Saiichi Maruya “Tree Shadows” Maruya is a writer, scholar, and translator (he translated “Ulysses”). Murakami describes him as undoubtedly a “stylist”. Maruya extolled “Hear the Wind Sing” when he debuted. 2. Shotaro Yasuoka “Complete Oeuvre” Murakami says that Yasuoka writes Japanese the best among the post-war writers. He was shocked by its craft of “The Glass Slipper” and flabbergasted when he knew it was his debut work. 3. Nobuo Kojima “American School” “Kojima is second to none when he depicts characters who are put in troubling situations.” I personally admire Kojima’s works as well. His debut work “The Rifle” is my favorite. If you’re a Murakami fan, why don’t you read one of them?