I went to the big Kinokuniya in Shinjuku and bought the biggest, handsomest cookbook I could find (Norwegian Wood, Ch.4)
At the Kinokuniya bookstore in Shinjuku, 1984 tee shirts are on sale whilst Murakami tee is for display only.
I am sure many people want this yellow shirtIn 1949, George Orwell published 1984, while J.R.R. Tolkien published Lord of the Rings with an image of Sauron’s eye in 1954. I wonder if the “watching eye” represented the Zeitgeist of that time.1984 is an all time best seller here and was paid homage by 1Q84.
He bought a few books at the Kinokuniya bookstore, and then headed for the Nakamuraya Café. He gave Komatsu’s name at the door and was shown to a quiet table in the back. Fuka-Eri was not there yet. (1Q84, Book1 Ch.4)
Nakamuraya cafe on the other side of the street from Kinokuniya is a setting place where Tengo and Fuka-Eri met in 1Q84 Nakamuraya cafe is known for its “curry of love and revolution” which was introduced by Subhas Chandra Bose who married the daughter of the owner of Nakamuraya in 1918. Murakami should have known that, but he let Fuka-Eri ordered salad and bread. It was a twist.
we caught a bus to Shinjuku and went to an underground bar called DUG behind the Kinokuniya bookstore. We each started with two vodka and tonics. (Norwegian Wood, Ch.7)
The jazz cafe and bar, Dug was originally established in the back of Kinokuniya in 1967, two years before the setting time of NW, and has been in current place on Yasukuni Street since 2007. Murakami wrote Norwegian Wood in 1987 reflecting 1969 and we can still drink there in 2020 as Toru and Midori did. While Norwegian Wood was set in 1969, the behaviour of the protagonists was quite 1980s-like when it was published. Toru and Midori’s vodka and tonics order follow the sense in that time.
[…] Dug is a Jazz bar in Shinjuku where Toru and Midori drunk vodka and tonics in Norwegian Wood. […]