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84-634: During the 1980s Itoi established the profession of writing copy for advertisements among the general public in Japan. In 1981, he co-authored a collection of short stories titled Yume de Aimashou ("Let's meet in a dream") with writer Haruki Murakami . Later Itoi branched into writing essays, lyrics, and designing video games. He is best known outside of Japan for Nintendo's EarthBound , released in 1994 in Japan (as Mother 2: Giygas Strikes Back ) and in 1995 in North America. In 1997, Itoi began using

168-499: A 100 km race around Lake Saroma in Hokkaido, Japan . He discussed running and its effect on his creative life in a 2007 memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running . Murakami began to write fiction when he was 29. "Before that," he said, "I didn't write anything. I was just one of those ordinary people. I was running a jazz club, and I didn't create anything at all." He was inspired to write his first novel, Hear

252-456: A 4.14 odds ratio. Some studies report a predilection for Labrador Retriever bitches. The reason for the predilection is unknown. Ideas proposed include it being hereditary or environmental. The Labrador Retriever also shows a predisposition to other hepatobiliary diseases, including: reactive hepatitis, nodular hyperplasia , and gall bladder disease . A UK study found the breed's average life expectancy to be 13.1 years. A joint study by

336-771: A 75-minute feature. The film played at various film festivals and was released in New York and Los Angeles on July 29, 2005. The original short story, translated into English by Jay Rubin , is available in the April 15, 2002 issue of The New Yorker , as a stand-alone book published by Cloverfield Press, and part of Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Knopf . In 1998, the German film The Polar Bear ( German : Der Eisbär ), written and directed by Granz Henman, used elements of Murakami's short story " The Second Bakery Attack " in three intersecting story lines. "The Second Bakery Attack"

420-662: A Vocation in Japan, featuring insights and commentaries on Murakami's life and career. The essay collection was later translated into English by Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen and released by Alfred A. Knopf on November 8, 2022. Killing Commendatore ( Kishidanchō-goroshi ) was published in Japan on February 24, 2017, and in the US in October 2018. The novel is about an unnamed portrait painter who stumbles upon an unknown painting, titled Killing Commendatore , after assuming residence in its creator's former abode. Since its publication,

504-551: A deep chest, fine legs, and short and smooth coat, and did not carry its tail as highly as the Newfoundland. Hawker distinguishes the Newfoundland from both the "proper Labrador" and St. John's breed of these dogs in the fifth edition of his book Instructions to Young Sportsmen , published in 1846. By 1870 the name Labrador Retriever had become common in England. The liver (now usually called chocolate) Labrador emerged in

588-647: A dry well. At an October 2013 symposium held at the University of Hawaii , associate professor of Japanese Nobuko Ochner opined "there were many descriptions of traveling in a parallel world as well as characters who have some connection to shamanism" in Murakami's works. In an October 2022 article for The Atlantic , Murakami clarified that nearly none of the characters in his work has been created based on individuals in real life, as many people alleged. He wrote: "I almost never decide in advance that I’ll present

672-583: A high success rate at becoming guide dogs. A study published in 2006, tested the suitability of four different breeds (Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever/Golden Retriever Mix, and German Shepherds) as guide dogs. In this experiment, German Shepherds had the highest chance of not completing it. Labrador Retrievers and the Labrador Retriever/Golden Retriever Crossbreeds had the highest success rate. However, German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers had

756-563: A higher success rate after going through longer training than the training required for Labrador Retrievers. The Labrador Retriever is a gun dog bred to retrieve on land and water. As a dog specially bred for water retrieving, the Labrador has developed various traits for this job. For retrieving the Labrador Retriever has a soft mouth , a trait that allows it to carry game and waterfowl without damaging it. And for swimming,

840-500: A man goes on a blind date with a woman named Kaho and ends it with an insult, which is also the first line of the story. Most of Haruki Murakami's works use first-person narrative in the tradition of the Japanese I-novel . He states that because family plays a significant role in traditional Japanese literature, any main character who is independent becomes a man who values freedom and solitude over intimacy. Also notable

924-480: A more role-playing experience. Itoi launched a photo creation tool called "Dokonoko", which is designed specifically to be used with pets. It has been described as an "Instagram for pets". Dokonoko is most famous for a particular Japanese Labrador Retriever named Corky, who made front line news because of the abnormal length of her tongue. Itoi was born on November 10, 1948, and raised in Maebashi, Gunma . He

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1008-483: A particular type of character. As I write, a kind of axis forms that makes possible the appearance of certain characters, and I go ahead and fit one detail after another into place, like iron scraps attaching to a magnet. And in this way an overall picture of a person materializes. Afterward I often think that certain details resemble those of a real person, but most of the process happens automatically. I think I almost unconsciously pull information and various fragments from

1092-659: A possible recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature . Nonetheless, since all nomination records are sealed for 50 years from the awarding of the prize, it is pure speculation. When asked about the possibility of being awarded the Nobel Prize, Murakami responded with a laugh saying "No, I don't want prizes. That means you're finished." In October 2014, he was awarded the Welt -Literaturpreis . In April 2015, Murakami

1176-513: A record store. Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened a coffee house and jazz bar , Peter Cat, in Kokubunji, Tokyo , which he ran with his wife, from 1974 to 1981. The couple decided not to have children . Murakami is an experienced marathon runner and triathlon enthusiast, though he did not start running until he was 33 years old, after he began as a way to stay healthy. On June 23, 1996, he completed his first ultramarathon ,

1260-459: A series intended for Japanese students of English. Murakami considers his first two novels to be "immature" and "flimsy", and has not been eager to have them translated into English. A Wild Sheep Chase , he says, was "the first book where I could feel a kind of sensation, the joy of telling a story. When you read a good story, you just keep reading. When I write a good story, I just keep writing." In 1985, Murakami wrote Hard-Boiled Wonderland and

1344-425: A series of long conversations with, for example, an expert on neurology Yūji Ikegaya, about how to live as a human being in the world. Books collecting Itoi's past essays written on the site's front page are also available for purchase. Itoi has voiced Satsuki's father, Tatsuo Kusakabe, in the original Japanese version of the 1988 Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro . He has been a judge on several episodes of

1428-480: A story by Murakami himself. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running , a memoir about his experience as a marathon runner and a triathlete, was published in Japan in 2007, with English translations released in the UK and the US in 2008. The title is a play on that of Raymond Carver 's short story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love . In 2004, Murakami was interviewed by John Wray (novelist) for

1512-479: A theatrical version of Kafka on the Shore , which first ran at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company from September to November. On Max Richter 's 2006 album Songs from Before , Robert Wyatt reads passages from Murakami's novels. In 2007, Robert Logevall adapted "All God's Children Can Dance" into a film, with a soundtrack composed by American jam band Sound Tribe Sector 9 . In 2008, Tom Flint adapted "On Seeing

1596-887: A two-hour multimedia stage presentation. The show opened January 12, 2010, as part of the Public Theater's " Under the Radar " festival at the Ohio Theater in New York City, presented in association with The Asia Society and the Baryshnikov Arts Center . The show had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival on August 21, 2011. The presentation incorporates live actors, video projection, traditional Japanese puppetry , and immersive soundscapes to render

1680-453: A wide range of works by European and American writers, such as Franz Kafka , Gustave Flaubert , Charles Dickens , Kurt Vonnegut , Fyodor Dostoyevsky , Richard Brautigan and Jack Kerouac . These Western influences distinguish Murakami from the majority of other Japanese writers. Murakami studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he met Yoko, now his wife. His first job was at

1764-458: A work of that length, winning first prize. Murakami's initial success with Hear the Wind Sing encouraged him to continue writing. A year later, he published a sequel, Pinball, 1973 . In 1981, he co-wrote a short story collection, Yume de Aimashou with author and future Earthbound/Mother creator Shigesato Itoi . In 1982, he published A Wild Sheep Chase , a critical success. Hear

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1848-489: Is 1,200-pages long and is set in a "soul-stirring, 100% pure Murakami world" that involves "a story that had long been sealed". In promoting his latest book, Murakami stated that he believed that the pandemic and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine have created walls that divide people, fueling fear and skepticism instead of mutual trust. In July 2024, the New Yorker published Murakami's short story Kaho , in which

1932-485: Is Murakami's unique humor, as seen in his 2000 short story collection, After the Quake . In the story "Superfrog Saves Tokyo", the protagonist is confronted with a 6-foot tall frog that talks about the destruction of Tokyo over a cup of tea. In spite of the story's sober tone, Murakami feels the reader should be entertained once the seriousness of a subject has been broached. Another notable feature of Murakami's stories are

2016-553: Is an avid Monopoly player and is President of the Japan Monopoly Association ( 日本モノポリー協会 , Nihon Monopoly Kyōkai ) . He also competed in the 1992 Monopoly World Championships and placed eighth. Itoi's video game development company Ape, Inc. developed two Monopoly games for the Super Famicom , with Itoi serving as producer. These versions of Monopoly were not released outside of Japan and featured

2100-574: Is often thought it was titled after the Beach Boys ' 1964 tune ), Norwegian Wood (after The Beatles ' song ) and South of the Border, West of the Sun (after the song " South of the Border "). Some analyses see aspects of shamanism in his writing. In a 2000 article, Susan Fisher connected Shinto or Japanese shamanism with some elements of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle , such as a descent into

2184-656: Is the most popular dog by ownership in Canada , New Zealand and the United Kingdom . In 2006 both the United Kingdom and the United States, there are well over twice as many registered Labradors as the next most popular breed. If the comparison is limited to dog breeds of a similar size, then there are around 3–5 times as many Labradors registered in both countries as the next most popular breeds,

2268-629: Is used in water rescue/ lifesaving . It continues in that role today, along with the Leonberger , Newfoundland and Golden Retriever dogs; they are used at the Italian School of Canine Lifeguard. Labradors have been used as war dogs . During the Vietnam War they were used as scout dogs to track down dead or wounded soldiers or enemy positions. Labrador Retrievers have a predisposition to chronic hepatitis . One UK study found

2352-747: The 12th Earl of Home collaborated to develop and establish the Labrador Retriever breed. The dogs Buccleuch Avon and Buccleuch Ned, given by Malmesbury to Buccleuch, were mated with bitches carrying blood from those originally imported by the 5th Duke and the 10th Earl of Home. The offspring are the ancestors of all modern Labradors. The Labrador breed dates back to at least the 1830s, when St. John's water dogs bred by European settlers in Newfoundland were first introduced to Britain from ships trading between Canada and Poole in Dorset . These were then bred with British hunting dogs to create what became known as

2436-469: The German shepherd dog and Golden retriever . They are the most popular breed of assistance dog in the United States, Australia, and many other countries, as well as being widely used by police and other official bodies for their detection and working abilities. Approximately 60–70% of all guide dogs in the United States are Labradors. In 2022 Labrador Retrievers were the second most popular breed in

2520-1188: The Gunzo Prize for New Writers , the World Fantasy Award , the Tanizaki Prize , Yomiuri Prize for Literature, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award , the Noma Literary Prize , the Franz Kafka Prize , the Kiriyama Prize for Fiction, the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize , and the Princess of Asturias Awards . Growing up in Ashiya , near Kobe before moving to Tokyo to attend Waseda University , he published his first novel Hear

2604-649: The Internet and bought his first Macintosh . In 1998 he started the website and company Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun ("Almost Daily Itoi Newspaper"), which is the center of his activity today. Under the theme of "creating good mood", the website has been updated every day for the past 15 years, with Itoi's essays on lifestyle, interviews and articles, and merchandise sales. He talks about his pet dogs and his interviews with artists, craftsmen, businessmen, etc., which tend to center on philosophical issues. Itoi has co-written several books modeled on these interviews, in which he has

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2688-568: The Tokyo subway sarin attack , and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (2007), a memoir about his experience as a long distance runner . His fiction has polarized literary critics and the reading public. He has sometimes been criticised by Japan's literary establishment as un-Japanese, leading to Murakami's recalling that he was a "black sheep in the Japanese literary world". Meanwhile, Murakami has been described by Gary Fisketjon ,

2772-559: The colony of Newfoundland (now a province of Canada ), and was named after the Labrador region of that colony. It is among the most commonly kept dogs in several countries, particularly in the European world. The Labrador is friendly, energetic, and playful. It was bred as a sporting and hunting dog but is widely kept as a companion dog . It may also be trained as a guide or assistance dog , or for rescue or therapy work. In

2856-543: The conformation show bred (bench-bred) lines of this breed in the United States and are based on the American Kennel Club standard. Significant differences between UK and US standards are noted. The tail and coat are designated "distinctive [or distinguishing] features" of the Labrador by both the Kennel Club and AKC. The AKC adds that the "true Labrador Retriever temperament is as much a hallmark of

2940-537: The melanistic mask , and one was homozygous . Within this breed, the trait cannot be determined simply by appearance. As a result of specialised breeding, there are significant differences between field and trial-bred and show-bred lines of Labradors. In the United States, the former are sometimes mistakenly referred to as "American" and the latter as "English", in fact, both field and show types are bred in both countries and all Labrador Retrievers are descended from British lines. Labrador Retrievers have proven to have

3024-558: The 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning" into a short film. The film was screened at the 2008 CON-CAN Movie Festival . The film was viewed, voted, and commented upon as part of the audience award for the movie festival. It was announced in July 2008 that French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung would direct an adaptation of Murakami's novel Norwegian Wood . The film was released in Japan on December 11, 2010. In 2010, Stephen Earnhart adapted The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle into

3108-408: The 182nd installment of The Paris Review 's "The Art of Fiction" interview series. Recorded over the course of two afternoons, the interview addressed the change in tone and style of his more recent works at the time—such as After the Quake —his myriad of Western influences ranging from Fyodor Dostoevsky to John Irving , and his collaborative process with the many translators he has worked with over

3192-415: The 1830s, the 10th Earl of Home and his nephews, the 5th Duke of Buccleuch and Lord John Scott , imported progenitors of the breed from Newfoundland to Europe for use as gun dogs. Another early advocate of these Newfoundland fishing dogs was the 2nd Earl of Malmesbury , who bred them for their expertise in waterfowling . During the 1880s, the 3rd Earl of Malmesbury , the 6th Duke of Buccleuch , and

3276-516: The 1980s as well as some of Murakami's more recent short stories, including all five that appear in Tōkyō Kitanshū . In 2002, Murakami published the anthology Birthday Stories , which collects short stories on the theme of birthdays. It includes work by Russell Banks , Ethan Canin , Raymond Carver , David Foster Wallace , Denis Johnson , Claire Keegan , Andrea Lee , Daniel Lyons , Lynda Sexson, Paul Theroux , and William Trevor , as well as

3360-556: The 2007 Kiriyama Prize for Fiction for his collection of short stories Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman , but according to the prize's official website, Murakami "declined to accept the award for reasons of personal principle". In 2006, Murakami became the sixth recipient of the Franz Kafka Prize . In January 2009, Murakami received the Jerusalem Prize , a biennial literary award given to writers whose work deals with themes of human freedom, society, politics, and government. There were protests in Japan and elsewhere against his attending

3444-459: The Border, West of the Sun , 2000; The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle , 2000s), encouraged by Murakami himself. Both were later re-translated from Japanese. Sputnik Sweetheart was first published in 1999, followed by Kafka on the Shore in 2002, with the English translation following in 2005. Kafka on the Shore won the World Fantasy Award in 2006. The English version of his novel After Dark

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3528-463: The China–Japan political territorial dispute, characterizing the overwrought nationalistic response as "cheap liquor" which politicians were giving to the public. In April 2013, he published his novel Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage . It became an international bestseller but received mixed reviews. In 2015, Switch Publishing published Murakami's essay collection Novelist as

3612-628: The End of the World , a dream-like fantasy that took the magical elements of his work to a new extreme. Murakami achieved a major breakthrough and national recognition in 1987 with the publication of Norwegian Wood , a nostalgic story of loss and sexuality. It sold millions of copies among young Japanese. Norwegian Wood propelled the barely known Murakami into the spotlight. He was mobbed at airports and other public places, leading to his departure from Japan in 1986. Murakami traveled through Europe, lived in

3696-567: The Famicom, he was lead designer, writer and director, while on Mother 2 (released as EarthBound in the West) for the SNES, Itoi was producer, director and writer. He had initially envisioned Mother 3 as a highly ambitious title for the ill-fated Nintendo 64DD peripheral which would have transitioned the series into 3D graphics and featured elaborate cinematic cutscenes; however this version of

3780-531: The February award ceremony in Israel , including threats to boycott his work as a response against Israel 's recent bombing of Gaza . Murakami chose to attend the ceremony, but gave a speech to the gathered Israeli dignitaries harshly criticizing Israeli policies. Murakami said, "Each of us possesses a tangible living soul. The system has no such thing. We must not allow the system to exploit us." The same year he

3864-509: The Haruki Murakami Library, opened on October 1, 2021. In addition to its vast collection of written material, the library also hosts a coffee shop run by Waseda University students—called Orange Cat, after Murakami's Peter Cat jazz bar from his twenties—in addition to a listening lounge where visitors can listen to records collected by Murakami himself. Murakami's first novel, Hear the Wind Sing ( Kaze no uta o kike ),

3948-431: The Japanese people have experienced ... however, this time it was not a bomb being dropped upon us, but a mistake committed by our very own hands". According to Murakami, the Japanese people should have rejected nuclear power after having "learned through the sacrifice of the hibakusha just how badly radiation leaves scars on the world and human wellbeing". In recent years, Haruki Murakami has often been mentioned as

4032-463: The Japanese television shows Iron Chef and Hey! Spring of Trivia . He made his live-action acting debut in 2010, when he played the role of a professor in the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood . Itoi established the company Ape, Inc. as a venue for external developers to help make games for Nintendo. He was the creator of the Mother series. In the original Mother for

4116-746: The Labrador Retriever. Its early patrons included the Earl of Malmesbury , the Duke of Buccleuch , the Earl of Home , and Sir John Scott . Early writers have confused the Labrador with the much larger Newfoundland and the Lesser Newfoundland , with Charles St. John even referring to the Lesser Newfoundland as the Newfoundland. Colonel Peter Hawker describes the first Labrador as being not larger than an English Pointer , more often black than other colours, long in its head and nose with

4200-513: The Labrador is aided by fully webbed paws, an otter-like tail, and a waterproof coat. The high intelligence, initiative and self-direction of Labradors in working roles is exemplified by dogs such as Endal , who was trained to, if need be, put his human who uses a wheelchair in the recovery position, cover him with a blanket, and activate an emergency phone. A number of Labradors have also been taught to assist their owner in removing money and credit cards from ATMs with prior training. The breed

4284-510: The Royal Veterinary College study and The University of Sydney, concluded that chocolate-coloured Labradors have a shorter average life expectancy than other colours of Labrador (by about 10%) and are more likely to suffer some health problems. A 2024 Italian study found a life expectancy of 11 years for the breed compared to 10 years overall. A 2005 Swedish study of insurance data found that 25% of Labrador Retrievers died by

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4368-640: The United States and currently resides in Oiso, Kanagawa , with an office in Tokyo. Murakami was a writing fellow at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey , Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts , and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts . During this time he wrote South of the Border, West of the Sun and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle . The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1995) fuses

4452-781: The United States in the 1990s. He called The Wind-up Bird Chronicle a turning point in his career, marking this change in focus. English translations of many of his short stories written between 1983 and 1990 have been collected in The Elephant Vanishes . Murakami has also translated many works of F. Scott Fitzgerald , Raymond Carver , Truman Capote , John Irving , and Paul Theroux , among others, into Japanese. Murakami took an active role in translation of his work into English, encouraging "adaptations" of his texts to American reality rather than direct translation. Some of his works that appeared in German turned out to be translations from English rather than Japanese ( South of

4536-980: The Wind Sing (1979) after working as the owner of a small jazz bar for seven years. His notable works include the novels Norwegian Wood (1987), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994–95), Kafka on the Shore (2002) and 1Q84 (2009–10); the last was ranked as the best work of Japan's Heisei era (1989–2019) by the national newspaper Asahi Shimbun 's survey of literary experts. His work spans genres including science fiction , fantasy , and crime fiction , and has become known for his use of magical realist elements. His official website cites Raymond Chandler , Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan as key inspirations to his work, while Murakami himself has named Kazuo Ishiguro , Cormac McCarthy and Dag Solstad as his favourite currently active writers. Murakami has also published five short story collections, including First Person Singular (2020), and non-fiction works including Underground (1997), an oral history of

4620-418: The Wind Sing (1979), while watching a baseball game. He described the moment he realized he could write as a "warm sensation" he could still feel in his heart. He went home and began writing that night. Murakami worked on Hear the Wind Sing for ten months in very brief stretches, during nights, after working days at the bar. He completed the novel and sent it to the only literary contest that would accept

4704-575: The Wind Sing , Pinball, 1973 , and A Wild Sheep Chase form the Trilogy of the Rat (a sequel, Dance, Dance, Dance , was written later but is not considered part of the series), centered on the same unnamed narrator and his friend, "the Rat". The first two novels were not widely available in English translation outside Japan until 2015, although an English edition, translated by Alfred Birnbaum with extensive notes, had been published by Kodansha as part of

4788-454: The absence of part or all of the proopiomelanocortin gene. The Labrador Retriever is one of the more commonly affected breeds for progressive rod-cone degeneration . An autosomal recessive mutation in the PRCD gene is responsible for the condition in the breed. The Labrador is an exceptionally popular dog. As of 2006, it was widely considered the most popular breed in the world, and it

4872-607: The aftermath of the Kobe earthquake and the Aum Shinrikyo gas attack . He came to terms with these events with his first work of non-fiction, Underground , and the short story collection after the quake . Underground consists largely of interviews of victims of the gas attacks in the Tokyo subway system. In 1996, in a conversation with the psychologist Hayao Kawai, Murakami explained that he changed his position from one of "detachment" to one of "commitment" after staying in

4956-495: The age of 10, less than the overall rate of 35% of dogs dying by the age of 10. Labradors are somewhat prone to hip and elbow dysplasia , especially in larger dogs. Eye diseases may include progressive retinal atrophy , cataracts , corneal dystrophy and retinal dysplasia . They can suffer from exercise induced collapse, which causes hyperthermia, weakness, collapse, and disorientation after short bouts of exercise, or from obesity , which in some cases may be partly due to

5040-579: The archives of Haruki Murakami, including his manuscripts, source documents, and music collection. Later in September 2021, architect Kengo Kuma announced the opening of a library dedicated entirely to Murakami's works at Waseda University , which would include more than 3,000 works by Murakami, including translations into more than 50 other languages. The library, officially known as the Waseda International House of Literature or

5124-418: The breed as the 'otter' tail." Labradors are registered in three colours: Solid black , yellow (anything from creamy white to fox-red), and chocolate (medium to dark brown; originally called "liver"). Puppies of all colours can occur in the same litter . Coat colour is determined primarily by three genes, called MC1R , Agouti , and CBD103 . If a dog carries wild type alleles at all three loci,

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5208-466: The cabinets in my brain and then weave them together." Murakami named this process "the Automatic Dwarfs." He continued: "One of the things I most enjoy about writing novels is the sense that I can become anybody I want to be," noting that "Characters who are—in a literary sense—alive will eventually break free of the writer’s control and begin to act independently." Murakami was also awarded

5292-484: The comments that come from the main characters as to how strange the story presents itself. Murakami explains that his characters experience what he experiences as he writes, which could be compared to a movie set where the walls and props are all fake. He has further compared the process of writing to movies: "That is one of the joys of writing fiction—I'm making my own film made just for myself." Many of his novels have themes and titles that evoke classical music, such as

5376-656: The course of his career. Shinchosha Publishing published Murakami's novel 1Q84 in Japan on May 29, 2009. 1Q84 is pronounced "ichi kyū hachi yon", the same as 1984 , as 9 is also pronounced "kyū" in Japanese . The book was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2011. However, after the 2012 anti-Japanese demonstrations in China, Murakami's books were removed from sale there, along with those of other Japanese authors. Murakami criticized

5460-412: The dog will have a yellow coat. If a dog has a loss-of-function mutation at MC1R, it will also have a yellow coat, regardless of the genotypes at the other two loci. Dogs carrying wild-type alleles for MC1R and Agouti, together with the black allele of CBD103, will have a black coat. According to a 2011 study, 13 out of 245 Labradors studied were heterozygous for the M264V mutation responsible for

5544-399: The editor of Murakami's collection The Elephant Vanishes (1993), as a "truly extraordinary writer", while Steven Poole of The Guardian praised Murakami as "among the world's greatest living novelists" for his oeuvre. Murakami was born in Kyoto , Japan, during the post-World War II baby boom and was raised in Nishinomiya , Ashiya and Kobe . He is an only child. His father was

5628-567: The final battle of EarthBound with Giygas was inspired from his accidental childhood viewing of the Shintoho film titled The Military Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty . Specifically, the scene that inspired the battle was a scene depicting a woman being murdered, which he mistook for rape. Itoi has said that he would not be involved in a fourth title of the series. Itoi's works have had an impact on other games and other media, including Undertale , and others. Shigesato Itoi worked with Nintendo to design video game-themed haramaki . Itoi

5712-427: The game never came to fruition due to the failure of the 64DD, and Mother 3 was instead reimagined as a 2D title for Game Boy Advance closer in scope to the first two titles, with Itoi credited as the writer of the story. Another unrealized 64DD title Itoi had been involved in developing around this time was the pet simulator video game Cabbage , which was canceled after years in development hell . Itoi claims that

5796-479: The game, Ninten, also has asthma, which was one of the first aspects of his character Itoi came up with. Haruki Murakami Haruki Murakami ( 村上 春樹 , Murakami Haruki , born January 12, 1949 ) is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his work, including

5880-407: The late 1800s, with liver-coloured pups documented at the Buccleuch kennels in 1892; the first yellow Labrador on record was born in 1899 (Ben of Hyde, kennels of Major C.J. Radclyffe). The breed was recognised by the Kennel Club in 1903. The first American Kennel Club (AKC) registration was in 1917. There is a great deal of variety among Labradors. The following characteristics are typical of

5964-447: The novel has caused controversy in Hong Kong and was labeled under "Class II – indecent" in Hong Kong. This classification led to mass amounts of censorship . The publisher must not distribute the book to people under the age of 18, and must have a warning label printed on the cover. Murakami's most recent novel The City and Its Uncertain Walls was published by Shinchosha in Japan on April 13, 2023. His first novel in six years, it

6048-620: The play was performed in Japanese, with supertitle translations for European and American audiences. Two stories from Murakami's book After The Quake  – "Honey Pie" and "Superfrog Saves Tokyo" – have been adapted for the stage and directed by Frank Galati . Entitled after the quake , the play was first performed at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in association with La Jolla Playhouse , and opened on October 12, 2007, at Berkeley Repertory Theatre . In 2008, Galati also adapted and directed

6132-677: The realistic and fantastic and contains elements of physical violence. It is also more socially conscious than his previous work, dealing in part with the difficult topic of war crimes in Manchukuo ( Northeast China ). The novel won the Yomiuri Prize , awarded by one of Murakami's harshest former critics, Kenzaburō Ōe , who himself won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994. The processing of collective trauma soon became an important theme in Murakami's writing, which had previously been more personal in nature. Murakami returned to Japan in

6216-508: The son of a Buddhist priest, and his mother is the daughter of an Osaka merchant. Both taught Japanese literature . His father was involved in the Second Sino-Japanese War , and was deeply traumatized by it, which would, in turn, affect Murakami. Since childhood, Murakami, like Kōbō Abe , has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western as well as Russian music and literature. He grew up reading

6300-537: The surreal landscape of the original work. In 2013, pianist Eunbi Kim debuted a performance piece, titled "Murakami Music: Stories of Loss and Nostalgia", drawn from excerpts of Murakami's work as part of her artist residency at the Cell Theatre in New York City . Excerpts included Reiko's monologue from Norwegian Wood (novel) , as well as the self-titled song of Kafka on the Shore . The performance piece

6384-472: The three books making up The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle : The Thieving Magpie (after Rossini 's opera), Bird as Prophet (after a piano piece by Robert Schumann usually known in English as The Prophet Bird ), and The Bird-Catcher (a character in Mozart 's opera The Magic Flute ). Some of his novels take their titles from songs: Dance, Dance, Dance (after The Dells ' 1957 B-side song, although it

6468-421: Was a heavy smoker until he quit in 2002. Itoi has been married to actress Kanako Higuchi since 1993. In a 2019 interview, he mentioned that he has asthma , which causes him to cough when lying down. He would often play Mario when he was unable to sleep at night due to his asthma, and stated that he felt "indebted to Nintendo" and specifically wanted to work with them on Mother due to this. The protagonist of

6552-425: Was acted by Laura Yumi Snell and directed by Kira Simring. From 2013 to 2014, Kim and Snell performed across the United States, notably with a premiere at Symphony Space and a showing at Georgetown University . Labrador Retriever The Labrador Retriever or simply Labrador is a British breed of retriever gun dog . It was developed in the United Kingdom from St. John's water dogs imported from

6636-527: Was adapted by Japanese director Kazuki Ōmori . The film was released in 1981 and distributed by Art Theatre Guild . Naoto Yamakawa directed two short films, Attack on the Bakery (released in 1982) and A Girl, She is 100 Percent (released in 1983), based on Murakami's short stories "Bakery Attack" and "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning", respectively. Japanese director Jun Ichikawa adapted Murakami's short story " Tony Takitani " into

6720-693: Was also adapted as a short film in 2010, directed by Carlos Cuarón , starring Kirsten Dunst and as part of a segment in the South Korean omnibus film Acoustic . Murakami's work was also adapted for the stage in a 2003 play entitled The Elephant Vanishes , co-produced by Britain's Complicite company and Japan's Setagaya Public Theatre. The production, directed by Simon McBurney , adapted three of Murakami's short stories and received acclaim for its unique blending of multimedia (video, music, and innovative sound design) with actor-driven physical theater (mime, dance, and even acrobatic wire work). On tour,

6804-603: Was awarded the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature. In 2024, Murakami received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement . Murakami has received honorary degrees ( Doctor of Letters ) from the University of Liège (September 2007), Princeton University (June 2008), Tufts University (May 2014), Yale University (May 2016), and University of Nova Gorica (2021). In 2018, Waseda University in Tokyo agreed to house

6888-790: Was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of Spain . In 2011, Murakami donated his €80,000 winnings from the International Catalunya Prize (from the Generalitat de Catalunya ) to the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and to those affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster . Accepting the award, he said in his speech that the situation at the Fukushima plant was "the second major nuclear disaster that

6972-639: Was named one of the Time 100 most influential people. In November 2016, he was awarded the Danish Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award , an award previously won by British author J. K. Rowling . In 2018, he was nominated for the New Academy Prize in Literature . He requested that his nomination be withdrawn, saying he wanted to "concentrate on writing, away from media attention." In 2023, he

7056-534: Was released in May 2007. It was chosen by The New York Times as a "notable book of the year". In late 2005, Murakami published a collection of short stories titled Tōkyō Kitanshū , or 東京奇譚集, which translates loosely as "Mysteries of Tokyo". A collection of the English versions of twenty-four short stories, titled Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman , was published in August 2006. This collection includes both older works from

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