Symposium: Haruki Murakami and International Literature

Last night, attended the pre-opening event of the Waseda International House of Literature (The Haruki Murakami Library).

The symposium by the experts including Mieko Kawakami, David Karashima and Michael Emmerich was impressive and enlightened unique aspects of Murakami’s works from international literature perspective.

The Haruki Murakami Library will open in April 2021 and exhibits a wide range of Murakami related stuff including those being donated by the author himself.

Last month, the University has launched a fundraising campaign to establish Haruki Murakami Library. There is an opportunity to set your nameplate in the library by making a donation to it;

Today, it is reported that Tadashi Yanai, an alum and founder of UNIQLO donates 1.2B JPY (11M USD) for the campaign. In this sense, buying UNIQLO clothes can be an indirect contribution.

Wishing you a happy Friday and Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it.

When the lecture ended, I went to the student affairs office and looked for Midori’s name in the class list for History of Drama. The only Midori in the class was Midori Kobayashi. Next I flipped through the cards of the student files and found the address and phone number of a Midori Kobayashi who had entered the university in 1969. She lived in a northwest suburb, Toshima, with her family. I slipped into a phone booth and dialed the number. (Norwegian Wood, Ch.4)