Murakami certainly has his devoted fans. And since 2021, the Waseda University Campus in Tokyo has been home to a new place of pilgrimage: The Haruki Murakami Library.
The library didn’t yet exist at the time when the first edition of The Murakami Pilgrimage guidebook was created. But during a recent and long-overdue revisit to Japan, seeing the library was near the top of my to-do list. What follows is a brief overview of what you can expect from a visit.
SPECIAL ANOUNCEMENT
Before going further, we’re pleased to announce that a new edition of The Murakami Pilgrimage is coming! Check the end of this article for additional details.
THE HARUKI MURAKAMI LIBRARY
Construction on the Haruki Murakami Library began in 2018, and it opened to the public on October 1st, 2021. Officially known as the Waseda International House of Literature, the building was designed by acclaimed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, known for his work on the Japan National Stadium, the Nezu Museum, and numerous other notable projects.
While the main structure itself is a basic white building, it’s surrounded by curved wooden panels meant to resemble the flow of air.
At the time of writing, the museum is open from Thursday to Tuesday from 10:00-17:00. It’s free to enter, and no reservations are required for individuals.
You can get there in about 8 minutes on foot from Waseda Station on the Tozai Line.
Waseda University, of course, was the school that Murakami himself attended. And aspects of his student life were fictionalized in his 1987 novel Norwegian Wood.
It’s also no coincidence that the library is situated right by the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, a building frequented by Murakami during his student days.
Murakami, in his own words, hopes that the library ‘will provide an open and welcoming atmosphere for international literary and cultural exchange.’ And though no such event was scheduled during my recent stay, the author himself sometimes performs public readings here.
Now let’s take a look inside.
The library preserves just about every edition of every Haruki Murakami publication, including both original editions and international translations. That brings the total volume of books here to over 3,000!
Murakami’s works have been translated into 50 languages in total, with some of the more obscure translations I spotted at the library including Georgian, Bengali and Persian.
But it’s not just translated fiction you’ll find here. Not a lot of foreign Murakami fans realize what an extensive collection of travel memoirs the author has published in Japanese.
Though a few of Murakami’s nonfiction books have been translated to English, he’s written personal travel memoirs about adventures in various parts of Europe, Japan, the US, Turkey, Mongolia, and more.
Much of the library’s material was donated by Murakami himself. And hidden away somewhere are even the original manuscripts of some of his novels.
The Haruki Murakami Library also has a special room dedicated to temporary exhibitions.
At the time of my visit, they were hosting an exhibition about translations of Japanese literature into French – a topic, which, as a non-French speaker, held little interest to me.
But other special exhibits in the past have included subjects like Kafka’s Metamorphosis and its influence on Murakami, a celebration of illustrator and Murakami collaborator Mizumaru Anzai, and an overview of Japanese literature translated into English since 1985.
On one of the shelves in this room, meanwhile, is a collection of photography and art books by Haruki Murakami’s friend, Kyoichi Tsuzuki, a photographer and editor.
Next, I headed downstairs, which is home to a recreation of the author’s study that’s located somewhere in Tokyo’s Aoyama district.
Notably, the record player, power amp, and chair are identical models to Murakami’s own, while the desk, sofa, and rug are faithful approximations. And the records on the shelves here are from Murakami’s personal collection.
Sadly, the room was inaccessible at the time of my visit, and visitors could only view it from the other side of the glass.
Hanging on the wall near the study are paintings by Yoko Ochida, who also created original cover art for multiple Murakami novels.
Also on the lower level is the top highlight for many visitors to the Haruki Murakami Library: the listening lounge. Here, visitors can sit on comfortable sofas while listening to a selection of tracks mentioned in Murakami’s fiction through hi-fi speakers.
It’s not clear if the playlist regularly rotates or not, but this is what was playing at the time of my visit:
- Danny Boy – Bing Crosby
- Blowin’ in the Wind – Bob Dylan
- Georgia on My Mind – Ray Charles
- Autumn Leaves – Roger Williams
- Early Autumn – Woody Herman
- I’ll Be Home – Pat Boone
- As Time Goes By – Dooley Wilson
- Bruckner: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, WAB 102 (Nowak edition), III. Scherzo: Mäßig schnell
- Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048, I. Allegro
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall – Bob Dylan
- The End of the World – Skeeter Davis
Notably, some of the records kept at the library once belonged to Peter Cat, Murakami’s former jazz bar in Sendagaya. Peter Cat is long gone, with the building now housing an Italian restaurant and wine bistro.
When I used to live in Japan, some of the surviving Peter Cat memorabilia was being preserved across the street in a bookstore called Book House Yuu. But that store has since closed as well, making the Haruki Murakami Library the primary preserver of Peter Cat’s legacy.
On that note, there’s also a piano from Peter Cat in the on-site cafe – also on the lower level – appropriately named Orange Cat. Or at least there was, as I seem to have overlooked it during my visit.
The central stairway is the first thing visitors will see upon entering the library, and also the last section they’ll walk through on their way out.
Its sides are lined with a wide array of books by other authors that can be linked to Murakami’s fiction in some way. They’re organized into thematic categories such as ‘The Ordinary & The Extraordinary,’ ‘Stories of Family,’ and ‘Youth.’
Also featured is a curated selection of books chosen by Deborah Treisman, Fiction Editor at The New Yorker, who has edited numerous Murakami short stories over the years.
All in all, the average visitor will likely spend somewhere between 30-90 minutes at the Haruki Murakami Library. And during your time in Tokyo, you can see it in tandem with real-life places featured in Murakami’s fiction.
ANNOUNCING 'THE MURAKAMI PILGRIMAGE: 2ND EDITION'
Nearly a decade after The Murakami Pilgrimage‘s original release, we can finally confirm the existence of a second edition!
During my recent trip to Japan, I managed to visit and photograph the major locations from Killing Commendatore and The City and Its Uncertain Walls. (Speaking of libraries, I even found the real-life inspiration for the library in the town of Z**, Fukushima Prefecture).
Furthermore, I managed to revisit most of the guidebook’s Tokyo locations, along with a few in Nagoya and Kobe.
But when can we expect to see a release?
For those unaware, The Murakami Pilgrimage travel guidebook exists in both print and digital forms. The digital version is a bit unusual in the sense that it can only be accessed via web browser. But that allows for automatic updates without the need for downloads.
As promised, everyone who’s purchased the eBook version will get future updates and chapters for free.
But since the eBook version was entirely created based on the print version, the two new chapters will first be created for the print version, followed by the digital recreations.
But here’s the thing: Haruki Murakami just announced the completion of a new novel which will hit shelves in Japan this summer. That’s obviously great news for Murakami fans. But now I’m wondering if I should put off the release of the new print version until I can return to Japan yet again and do what’s necessary for that chapter (wherever that novel may take place).
In any case, work on the new print version will still go ahead. It’s possible, however, that the eBook version actually gets updated before the new print version appears for sale.
There’s also another major challenge with an updated print version – with two and potentially three new chapters, the book may end up too cumbersome to comfortably carry around as a travel guide. And that’s not even considering print costs.
Therefore, we’re considering shrinking the entire thing down (in terms of page size, and perhaps even in terms of content) in order to leave room for additional chapters.
So with all these challenges, it’s still hard to say when the 2nd edition is coming out, unfortunately.
If you already own and have used The Murakami Pilgrimage, or if you’re simply interested in the project, any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated!