Authors Alive! ~Meet the Author~ Session One: Haruki Murakami and Yoko Ogawa
The following event report was written by Haruka Homma, a then 3rd year student and Cultural Affairs student advisor. The report was originally published in Japanese on October 28, 2021, and has been translated into English here.
October 9, 2021
Opened earlier this month, Waseda University’s International House of Literature (the Haruki Murakami Library) still gave off the wonderful fragrance of fresh wood from its recent renovations. On the basement floor, a sign shaped like the planet Saturn is alight. This sign is the actual prop that was used in the stage production of Kafka on the Shore, and it is here that authors Haruki Murakami and Yoko Ogawa made their grand entrance.
Yoko Ogawa, an alumna of the University, came all the way from Osaka to attend today’s event, and this brought Murakami to recall the Glico running man at the Itami Airport. The way that Murakami can create such a fervor in the audience is remarkable, and I felt I got a glimpse of his character and overflowing humor.
The first half of the Authors Alive event involved Murakami and Ogawa discussing the areas of Osaka and Kobe, and it was fascinating to hear stories about these locations which brought about the two’s artistry. I now want to visit the Nishinomiya and Ashiya areas.
At the event, both Ogawa and Murakami recited two literary works each.
Ogawa chose Backstroke, one of her short stories, for her first recital. I found it striking that she prefaced her reading by stating, “This is a work that is exactly as is read, so it’s okay to relax and listen.” It was my first time to watch and listen to an author read out their own work, and without knowing it my shoulders had become tense. But, with Ogawa’s opening comment my tension softly faded away.
The lively atmosphere of the venue had become quiet, transforming into a disciplined space where Ogawa’s voice resounded. Her way of reading was one which cherished every word. Surrounded entirely by books as I sat on the stairs of the bookcase shelf area, my imagination could run wild, and I saw the story unfold vividly in my mind.
And now Murakami with his first recital, the self-penned The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes. According to Murakami, this work was written to reflect the strangeness of “another world” that he felt when entering the literary world. He stated the work is “pretty much a true story,” which was a shock to hear.
When Murakami read, he made sure to look at our faces in the audience and it felt as if he was reading it out directly for me. His recital brought occasional laughter from the audience, and while listening I remembered thinking how amazing it is that he could channel literature in such a way that it can be felt as a real experience.
In the event’s second half, the two authors further bonded over their love of watching baseball. Murakami is a passionate fan of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. “But you’re from the Kansai region!” questioned Ogawa, and Murakami explained, “I absolutely love the Jingu Baseball Stadium, so I decided to root for the team that the stadium is home ground for!” It seems like this stadium is also grounds for inspiration when Murakami writes, and he even spoke about going to the stadium after the Authors Alive event. I was moved by the notion that some of the inspiration behind Murakami’s works could be lurking in everyday areas like a baseball stadium.
For his second recital, Murakami chose Landscape with Flatiron, a short story he wrote shortly after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. Apparently, Murakami chose this work to meet the rising demand for his “Kansai dialect.”
Though the bonfires within the story leave an impression, Ogawa felt it odd that the title instead uses “flatiron”, an object quite physically removed from that of a bonfire. When she questioned Murakami on this, he replied, “I also thought the title of the story was ‘Bonfire.’ I forgot because I don’t read the work after it is published.” It was with this statement that I felt Murakami to be a writer who isn’t overly concerned with his previously written works, and is always looking ahead to pen new stories instead.
For her second reading, Ogawa chose her 2019 novel Kobako. The work revolves around music, and Ogawa prefaced her reading by saying “While the music will not resound within these walls, please play each piece of music within your ears.” Listening to her voice while imagining the music made for quite the literary experience.
Authors Alive! ~Meet the Author~, an event named by Murakami himself, was truly a chance to meet and get a feel of the authors and their activities in the literary world. Though the two-hour event flew by, it was an unforgettable experience.
- Haruki Murakami
“The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes” (1983), translated by Jay Rubin in 2006
“Landscape with Flatiron” (2000), translated by Jay Rubin in 2002 - Yoko Ogawa
“Backstroke” (2001)
“Kobako” (2019)
This Authors Alive! ~Meet the Author~ event can be listened to on Spotify here, (Japanese language only)
