Reading Haruki Murakami

Dill, Jonathan (Full-time Lecturer, Foreign Languages and General Education)

I first encountered the novels of Haruki Murakami when I was a university student in New Zealand. Since then, I have often thought about his worldwide popularity. The influence of Western culture on Murakami—especially American novels and music—and the accessibility he gained through it are often mentioned. But can his appeal be explained by that alone? If other Japanese writers were to reference Western culture in the same way, could they achieve the same success abroad as Murakami? While I believe there are many secrets to his popularity, I think one clue lies in the writings of the American psychologist William James.

William, the brother of the writer Henry James, described two typical spiritual temperaments in his classic work "The Varieties of Religious Experience." One is the "healthy-minded," and the other is the "sick soul." To put it simply, the healthy-minded are optimistic and full of vitality, while the sick soul, being sensitive to the problem of suffering, feels the need to be reborn in order to continue living. Could the secret to Murakami's enduring popularity lie in the fact that his works simultaneously appeal to both of these temperaments in a way that resonates with the spirit of the age?

Murakami has various public images, one of which is that of an author of urban novels. His protagonists enjoy cooking, listening to music, and making ordinary daily choices as individuals or consumers. These protagonists also tend to overlap with Murakami's own public image. Happily married and child-free, Murakami enjoys writing, exercise, music, and food. This is the very picture of James's healthy-minded individual. While critics may emphasize aspects like his political indifference, there are surely many readers who are, on the contrary, drawn to Murakami's protagonists who enjoy simple things in a lifestyle of their own choosing.

Another image of Murakami is that of a "difficult" writer (meaning that while his style is simple, his themes are abstruse). His works often do not provide readers with a sense of closure, and some critics emphasize and critique their superficial and meaningless game-like quality. However, this can also be seen as an example of what James called the sick soul. Murakami's protagonists travel into wells, to remote islands, or into archetypal forests, where they confront humanity's great themes: morality, sex, violence, death, and so on. The experience of rebirth that James described also appears. In other words, Murakami's novels possess a mythical structure while also being compatible with the postmodern spirit of the age. It is an appealing world for people today who, while doubting traditional myths, are still seeking a connection to something deeper.

I believe that critics will continue to be divided in their opinions of Murakami. Nevertheless, his healthy-minded protagonists, sent on the journey of the sick soul, will undoubtedly continue to fascinate many readers.