Research Seminar (Motohiro Kojima, Kyoto University)

Haruki Murakami and the Poetics of Requiem:The Third Girlfriend, the 958,816th Pizza, and The City and Its Uncertain

Before he became the world-renowned "Haruki Murakami," there was a time when he was just an ordinary high school student with a girl by his side. This girl, who manifests in various forms—as the third girlfriend, Naoko, the classmate who married a revolutionary, and Yumiyoshi—has been a constant presence throughout Murakami's literary journey. This presentation traces half a century of Murakami’s evolution as a writer, from his debut work Hear the Wind Sing to his latest novel The City and Its Uncertain Walls, while following the elusive figure of this girl.