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A Wild Haruki Chase: Reading Murakami Around the World
“Youthful, slangy, political, and allegorical, Murakami is a writer who seems to be aware of every current American novel and popular song. Yet . . . [ A Wild Sheep Chase ] is clearly rooted in modern Japan.” — The New York Times “In every society, Murakami’s works are first accepted as texts that assuage the political disillusionment, romantic impulses, loneliness, and emptiness of readers. Only later do they fully realize that the author was born in Japan and that the books are actually translations.” —Inuhiko Yomota, Meiji Gakuen University Jay Rubin, Richard Powers, Kim Choon Mie, Inuhiko Yomota, Roland Kelts, Shozo Fujii, Shinya Machida, Ivan Sergeevich Logatchov, Koichi Oi, Issey Ogata
With a special essay on translation by Haruki Murakami
Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami’s best-selling books, including Norwegian Wood , The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle , and Kafka on the Shore , have been translated into over forty languages. His dreamlike prose delights readers across borders and datelines. What lies behind this phenomenal international appeal? The Japan Foundation asked novelists, translators, artists, and critics from around the world to answer this question. A Wild Haruki Chase presents their intriguing findings. Neuroscience, revolution, a secret Chinese connection . . . you’ll never read Murakami the same way again.
Includes a full-color review of book covers from around the world!
With a special essay on translation by Haruki Murakami
Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami’s best-selling books, including Norwegian Wood , The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle , and Kafka on the Shore , have been translated into over forty languages. His dreamlike prose delights readers across borders and datelines. What lies behind this phenomenal international appeal? The Japan Foundation asked novelists, translators, artists, and critics from around the world to answer this question. A Wild Haruki Chase presents their intriguing findings. Neuroscience, revolution, a secret Chinese connection . . . you’ll never read Murakami the same way again.
Includes a full-color review of book covers from around the world!
152 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
7 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
The Japan Foundation
41 books8 followersThe Japan Foundation is an institution dedicated to carrying out comprehensive international cultural exchange programs throughout the world.
The Japan Foundation was established in October 1972 as a special legal entity supervised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In October 2003, it was reorganized as an independent administrative institution.
The Japan Foundation has a global network consisting of its Tokyo headquarters, the Kyoto office, two Japanese-language institutes (the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa; and the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai) and 24 overseas offices in 23 countries, including two Asia Center liaison offices.
The Japan Foundation was established in October 1972 as a special legal entity supervised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In October 2003, it was reorganized as an independent administrative institution.
The Japan Foundation has a global network consisting of its Tokyo headquarters, the Kyoto office, two Japanese-language institutes (the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa; and the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai) and 24 overseas offices in 23 countries, including two Asia Center liaison offices.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 28, 2025
“What lies behind this phenomenal international appeal (of Murakami)? The Japan Foundation asked novelists, translators, artists, and critics from around the world to answer this questions.”
This is a collection of essays from a set of symposiums sponsored by The Japan Foundation in 2006 entitled “A Wild Haruki Chase: How the World is Reading and Translating Murakami”. Richard Powers (American Novelist) was the keynote speaker. Translators and Critics included Alfred Birnbaum (United States), Ted Goossen (Canada), Jay Rubins (United States), Leung Ping-kwan (Hong Kong), and Lai Ming-Chu (Taiwan), among others from around the world. I have valued all the essays, especially the one by Shinya Machida, a staff writer for the Yomiuri Shinbun, entitled “Contemporary Japanese Literature Finds a Global Following”.
This is a collection of essays from a set of symposiums sponsored by The Japan Foundation in 2006 entitled “A Wild Haruki Chase: How the World is Reading and Translating Murakami”. Richard Powers (American Novelist) was the keynote speaker. Translators and Critics included Alfred Birnbaum (United States), Ted Goossen (Canada), Jay Rubins (United States), Leung Ping-kwan (Hong Kong), and Lai Ming-Chu (Taiwan), among others from around the world. I have valued all the essays, especially the one by Shinya Machida, a staff writer for the Yomiuri Shinbun, entitled “Contemporary Japanese Literature Finds a Global Following”.
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December 29, 2024I’m not sure how to rate a collection of conference papers, so I won’t. That said, I think each contribution offers something interesting, and having so many prominent names involved is quite an achievement. Even though I don’t know how to rate it, I’m glad it exists. Shoutout to The Japan Foundation for bringing this together—it served as an excellent entry point for my research! Despite reading it back in September, I’ve held on to my copy and haven’t yet cleared my annotations (it’s a library loan), which is a testament to how much I am revisiting and will continue to revisit several of these papers before finishing my own work.
March 17, 2018
I originally picked this collection of Murakami related essays sourced from a literary conference at the time of my own initial Murakami enthusiasm when I discovered him after reading Norwegian Wood and A Wild Sheep Chase. I did enjoy Murakami's own essay about reading himself in translation and not recognizing the writer. I abandoned my initial reading after getting bogged down in the essay about neuroscience but decided to push on through this time. Reading about the gradual emergence of the worldwide Murakami following in the early 2000's was only mildly interesting in hindsight.
August 10, 2023
“In the world of high-tech, late capitalism, the banal exists right next to the inconceivable and the miraculous. I do not need to rehearse the miracles for you — the defeats of time and space, the triumphs and transformations and transcendence of the human. The most fantastic development in Murakami is no more strange or estranging than what we live with every day of our lives.” - Richard Powers
A delightful read for Murakami freaks and all those interested in literary trends and works in translation. My favorite essay (quoted above) was The Global Distributed Self-Mirroring Subterranean Neurological Soul-Sharing Picture Show by Richard Powers. Each essay offered a unique perspective and invited me to look at Murakami from a new angle. Very cool of my favorite used bookstore to have such a gem :-)
A delightful read for Murakami freaks and all those interested in literary trends and works in translation. My favorite essay (quoted above) was The Global Distributed Self-Mirroring Subterranean Neurological Soul-Sharing Picture Show by Richard Powers. Each essay offered a unique perspective and invited me to look at Murakami from a new angle. Very cool of my favorite used bookstore to have such a gem :-)
July 30, 2018
For Booktube-A-Thon 2018: 1/ Let a coin toss decide your first read. and 4/ Read a book with green on the cover.
This is a collection of essays by attendees at a symposium on translating the works of Haruki Murakami. As a translator myself, I was interested to read the section by Jay Rubin (who has translated many of Murakami's works into English) and Murakami's essay on being translated. The sections on how his work is seen in South Korea and Russia were also very interesting. The essay by Richard Powers about neurology was frankly nonsense.
I was especially interested by the different "reasons why Murakami is popular internationally" suggested by the various authors. Notably, Yomota Inuhiko points to his "cultural scentlessness" and "absence of Japanese stereotypes" making the books relatable transnationally, while Ivan Sergeevich Logatchov says "Murakami's works have a certain appeal to Russian readers simply by virtue of the abundance of scenes that bear no resemblance to Russian life".
This is a collection of essays by attendees at a symposium on translating the works of Haruki Murakami. As a translator myself, I was interested to read the section by Jay Rubin (who has translated many of Murakami's works into English) and Murakami's essay on being translated. The sections on how his work is seen in South Korea and Russia were also very interesting. The essay by Richard Powers about neurology was frankly nonsense.
I was especially interested by the different "reasons why Murakami is popular internationally" suggested by the various authors. Notably, Yomota Inuhiko points to his "cultural scentlessness" and "absence of Japanese stereotypes" making the books relatable transnationally, while Ivan Sergeevich Logatchov says "Murakami's works have a certain appeal to Russian readers simply by virtue of the abundance of scenes that bear no resemblance to Russian life".
December 7, 2022
The mix of essays leave something for every Murakami fan. The best essays for me were:
“The Murakami Aeroplain”
“What We Talk About When We Talk About Murakami” - this one in particular struck me as describing the almost indescribable qualities of Murakami’s writing
“The Sense of Loss in Murakami’s Works and Korea’s 386 Generation”
“Haruki Murakami as a Contemporary Phenomenon”
“The Murakami Aeroplain”
“What We Talk About When We Talk About Murakami” - this one in particular struck me as describing the almost indescribable qualities of Murakami’s writing
“The Sense of Loss in Murakami’s Works and Korea’s 386 Generation”
“Haruki Murakami as a Contemporary Phenomenon”
March 28, 2012
Personally, I think fans of Murakami won't enjoy this book because of its apologetic nature. The first essay--the one about neuroscience--is simply an attempt at a novel way of seeing Murakami, by applying a theory of neuroscience to an author who is fast becoming famous worldwide. That said, the essay fails to deliver, because there really isn't anything remarkable about it; I don't understand why one needs to find a new theory/topic and apply it to Murakami, when there are just so many things to discuss about him. It could have worked, but I suppose the writer (also the main lecturer of the conference on Murakami) was in a hurry to write his paper, or was simply out to impress.
The other pieces were also unremarkable. For a group of supposedly enthusiastic Murakami 'groupies', their papers were bland. The same thing was repeated: Murakami appeals to this generation of readers because he writes about the loneliness that this generation feels, set against a rapidly-changing urban environment. I also seemed to get the fact that Murakami is becoming famous because of his Western references. I know the writers were against this, but somehow this was what came out in their essays. references to Coke and Western musicians propelled Murakami to international stardom. This makes us see the West as the universal factor which unites everyone.
I also seemed to get the feel that the writers were blaming the English translators for being slow; other countries have published other books by Murakami, whereas the English translators haven't. Maybe the underlying theme of this book is the politics of translation; now THAT would have been an interesting study.
The other pieces were also unremarkable. For a group of supposedly enthusiastic Murakami 'groupies', their papers were bland. The same thing was repeated: Murakami appeals to this generation of readers because he writes about the loneliness that this generation feels, set against a rapidly-changing urban environment. I also seemed to get the fact that Murakami is becoming famous because of his Western references. I know the writers were against this, but somehow this was what came out in their essays. references to Coke and Western musicians propelled Murakami to international stardom. This makes us see the West as the universal factor which unites everyone.
I also seemed to get the feel that the writers were blaming the English translators for being slow; other countries have published other books by Murakami, whereas the English translators haven't. Maybe the underlying theme of this book is the politics of translation; now THAT would have been an interesting study.
June 6, 2012
s genial poder hacer una pausa y no tener que manejar, en particular a mi me da tiempo de leer, y con mis severo problema de déficit de atención, agravado por el hecho de que a todo le busco la "bloggeabilidad" pues no necesito mucho para aislarme del mundo, que de verdad preferiría no requiriera tanta interacción en algunos momentos, un libro, mis audífonos (que necesito unos, ahorita estoy usando la basura que viene con los iPods) alguna bebida (y en estos momentos mi collarín y mis pastillas :S) y ya estamos más que hechos.
A Wild Haruki Chase es breve, se puede leer en una sentada, y no necesita leerse en secuencia, todos los colaboradores, entre los que está el mismo Murakami aportan en poco espacio sus opiniones sobre la traducción (que ustedes saben es otro tema que me apasiona) y sobre que tontos son los que leen a Murakami creyendo que eso es Japón, así como lo que lo acusan de no ser japonés (otro tema de los muy míos) .
Se puede incluso mezclar a la película de moda: Inception, con algunos de los pasajes del libro, pero eso lo haremos en unos días.
A Wild Haruki Chase: Reading Murakami Around the WorldUna cosa si hay que dejar en claro, si, Haruki Murakami es un autor de moda (no de hace poco) y sus libros los lee más gente de la que los hubiera tocado si no fuera por eso, y si, la Japan Foundation organizo "A Wild Haruki Chase" buscando que su nombre suene aún más en la carrera para el Nobel
A Wild Haruki Chase es breve, se puede leer en una sentada, y no necesita leerse en secuencia, todos los colaboradores, entre los que está el mismo Murakami aportan en poco espacio sus opiniones sobre la traducción (que ustedes saben es otro tema que me apasiona) y sobre que tontos son los que leen a Murakami creyendo que eso es Japón, así como lo que lo acusan de no ser japonés (otro tema de los muy míos) .
Se puede incluso mezclar a la película de moda: Inception, con algunos de los pasajes del libro, pero eso lo haremos en unos días.
A Wild Haruki Chase: Reading Murakami Around the WorldUna cosa si hay que dejar en claro, si, Haruki Murakami es un autor de moda (no de hace poco) y sus libros los lee más gente de la que los hubiera tocado si no fuera por eso, y si, la Japan Foundation organizo "A Wild Haruki Chase" buscando que su nombre suene aún más en la carrera para el Nobel
December 10, 2011
I'm a Murakami fan. That being said, I think my time reading this book would have been better spent just reading one of Murakami's novels. The intentions are good but I ended up skimming through a lot of essays. The introduction by Jay Rubin made me not want to read the rest of the book but Murakami's intro after the first essay helped me plow on.
The essays that I felt were worth reading were "How to View the 'Haruki Boom'" "The Sense of Loss in Murakami's Works and Korea's 386 Generation" and "What Russians See in Murakami". Everything else is either saying the same thing over and over or just didn't interest me.
Well, I'm going to read "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" now. Much better to read the work of the author you like rather than what other people think of that author.
If you find this book, just skim it. I really hate doing that for books but this one is better off being skimmed through.
The essays that I felt were worth reading were "How to View the 'Haruki Boom'" "The Sense of Loss in Murakami's Works and Korea's 386 Generation" and "What Russians See in Murakami". Everything else is either saying the same thing over and over or just didn't interest me.
Well, I'm going to read "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" now. Much better to read the work of the author you like rather than what other people think of that author.
If you find this book, just skim it. I really hate doing that for books but this one is better off being skimmed through.
March 3, 2009
A Wild Haruki Chase is a collection of essays, mainly by translators and academics, that addresses the question: What makes Murakami so widely-read and loved around the world? This book can be read by any fan of Japanese or contemporary fiction, but only true Murakami aficionados might appreciate its worth.
The essay by novelist Richard Powers stood out among the dozen or so, and held my fascination with his well-researched comparison between "Murakami's world" and the field of neuroscience. He provides many examples where such links seem tenable and valid through easy-to-follow explanations.
If you plan to read this book, I recommend getting your hands on a library copy instead of buying one.
The essay by novelist Richard Powers stood out among the dozen or so, and held my fascination with his well-researched comparison between "Murakami's world" and the field of neuroscience. He provides many examples where such links seem tenable and valid through easy-to-follow explanations.
If you plan to read this book, I recommend getting your hands on a library copy instead of buying one.
June 19, 2011
if you're a hardcore murakami fan, this won't give you much you haven't likely gleaned elsewhere, with one important exception: the opening essay by Richard Powers. those looking for some important insight into murakami's writing will find it in this essay; not so much in the others.
altho the others are fascinating proof that we see the world through our own culture's lenses.
so, ya, buy it for powers' essay; and go read powers while you're at it, particularly The Echo Maker and Plowing the Dark.
altho the others are fascinating proof that we see the world through our own culture's lenses.
so, ya, buy it for powers' essay; and go read powers while you're at it, particularly The Echo Maker and Plowing the Dark.
February 9, 2011
I dont know if it is a legitimate reason, but I hated this because it states right in the preface that the whole purpose behind it is to garner support for murakami haruki to be awarded the nobel prize. soemthing about that just doesnt sit right with me...dont just come out and say that 3 pages into the book. in fact, not saying it at all would have been ideal.
Honestly, the rest of the stuff in there wasn't too bad (there were various translators and journalists that contributed sections of the book), but they lost me on page 3 of the preface.
Honestly, the rest of the stuff in there wasn't too bad (there were various translators and journalists that contributed sections of the book), but they lost me on page 3 of the preface.
July 12, 2013
I wanted to get some perspective on Murakami before I started re-reading his books. This collection of short perspectives on the "Murakami phenomenon" is an easy read and provides several different views on Murakami's influence around the world. Apparently, Korea gets everything translated two or three times before the US gets a chance! Not an essential for a Murakami fan (I'm currently reading Rubin's "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words" and like it better, but it is much longer).
September 5, 2008
essays about Haruki Murakami from around the world, including one by Murakami himself on reading his work in translation. for the completest only, perhaps. but includes interesting perspectives on the Murakami phenomenon or "Haruki Boom." worth picking up for the full color insert of international Murakami covers.
July 4, 2012
This book sounded really good in theory, but something about it just didn't... carry through for me. There are way better books out there about Murakami. It's a pretty short read and maybe that was why I felt that it ended abruptly, but I found myself wishing there had been more to it. It would be perfectly acceptable to just skim this during an afternoon.
April 11, 2015
A good introduction/glimpse into the works of Haruki Murakami in Japan and the international literary scene. Contributors are translators of his works, academics and literature news reporter from Japan and abroad.
August 27, 2008
The first essay was by far the best, and it sort of went downhill from there. Still an interesting read for Murakami fans and people interested in translation in general
March 29, 2010
i'm a big fan of murakami, and hoped to get some different perspectives on his work from this book, but too much of it was boring. i think i'll steer clear of similar books going forward.
May 2, 2010
"the global distributed self-mirroring subterranean neurological soul-sharing picture show" by richard powers is my favorite at the moment. subject to change, i'm sure.
July 28, 2011
Interesting. If you like Murakami, that is.
April 18, 2012
This kinda dissapointed me. I love Murakami, but all the essays in this book were about the same subjects, and couldn't entertain me, unfortunately.
January 28, 2013
Interesting, quick read if you are interested in Murakami.
August 11, 2015
A fascinating look into Murakami's international impact. I would recommend this book to anyone, even those who haven't read Murakami, if you are interested in international relations.
August 15, 2012
It can be a 5-star book if it has no more than 56 pages.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews