INTERVIEW: Haruki Murakami releases 1st novel in 3 yrs with "renewed passion" for writing

For "The Tale of Kaho," Murakami has also made a woman the sole protagonist of a full-length novel for the first time. The 352-page work follows a picture book author named Kaho who matures as she confronts her relationship with her mother.

Murakami, who fell ill and was hospitalized during writing, said in a recent interview with Kyodo News that the experience gave him a renewed sense of passion for writing.

The following are questions and answers exchanged between Murakami and a reporter in the interview:

Q: The novel grew out of a short story you wrote for a reading event in 2024.

A: A woman named Kaho is told by a strange man, "It's my first time going on a date with an ugly woman like you," and she is shocked. At first, that scene was all there was, and even I did not know what kind of story it would turn into, but as I wrote it, it became a 40-page story. I thought that was the end, but then I heard people saying, "What happens next?" and I thought maybe I could try writing a continuation.

Q: "Norwegian Wood" and "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" also began as short stories.

A: This time it was a little different as it felt like I was attaching short stories together. When I finished the previous part, after a while I'd think I might be able to write the next part, and I'd connect them loosely, then make a few touches at the end. Strangely, there weren't many contradictions and the plot didn't go off in a weird direction.

Q: The novel also depicts Kaho's own creative process as a picture book author.

A: Kaho's story and the story she writes communicated with each other, stimulating each other as they moved forward. It was so much fun to write. The story moved ahead before I had time to think, and there was hardly any time when I agonized over what to do or spent time thinking. That's generally how I write. It takes time before I start, but once I do, it's often easy after that.

Q: True to your style, the novel features many beings from another world, such as anteaters from the jungle, a jaguar and a termite.

A: I didn't know an anteater would show up either. But otherworldly beings push the story forward. I always need things that come from a different world. The real world and the unreal world influence each other and makes the story come alive. That may be one of the characteristics of what I write.

Q: You have portrayed violence in your previous works as well. In this novel, Kaho kills a jaguar that has possessed the owner of a knife sharpener shop and a termite queen that has taken over her mother's body.

A: Kaho does kill them but she goes from the real world into the unreal world, kills something unreal and then returns. There is "killing" in this novel but there is no "murder." Kaho stabs her mother with a blade but in another sense, she is trying to kill something within herself. Through that act, she grows as a person. Killing also carries the symbolic meaning of rebirth.

Q: This is the first time one of your novels has featured a woman as its sole protagonist, and it also explores the relationship between a mother and daughter. It feels like a new challenge for you.

A: It happened quite naturally. As I was writing, the relationship between the mother and daughter gradually became central to the story and portraying it in a vivid, authentic way turned out to be the most difficult part. I haven't written much about family relationships and I've never felt particularly comfortable doing so. But this time, I was determined to tackle it properly.

Q: Although the prose is highly accessible, the story itself is complex and resists easy interpretation.

A: Writing about the unreal in a realist style is both my way of writing and what I want to achieve. To fully depict the unreal, the screws of the realist style have to be tightened until the prose becomes solid and precise. That's why style matters so much. You need an intricate story, but you don't need ornate prose -- that's my approach. Beautiful, elaborate writing slows the flow of the story, and then what would normally come won't come.

Q: In the novel, Kaho decides to keep writing by following the guidance of a cat named Scarlett Johansson, a character in one of her own stories. Are you also guided by the characters you create?

A: Absolutely. You can't write unless you trust your guide. There are really two stages: first, you find your guide, and then you follow it with all your might. You let Scarlett Johansson lead the way, making sure not to lose sight of her or fall behind. That's incredibly important. It requires concentration and the stamina to keep following.

Q: The novel also discusses the idea of a "good story." What does that mean to you?

A: Whether it's positive or negative, I think a good story is one that draws readers in completely. Through that experience, people are changed, even if only a little. That's what matters. No matter how good a story may seem, if it doesn't have that driving force, I don't believe it can truly be called a good story.

Q: Now that artificial intelligence is capable of writing novels, do you think storytelling as a human endeavor will endure?

A: AI synthesizes what has already happened and makes inferences from it. But what I do when I write a novel is completely different. A novelist's job is to pull something genuinely new into the world. I don't think AI can do that. If I stay intensely focused, suddenly an anteater appears in my mind. It doesn't come from inference -- it literally comes out of thin air. There are probably writers who work more like AI, thinking, "A novel like this has been written before, so I'll follow that pattern..." But that's not the kind of novel I want to write.

Q: Kaho says that her stories come from "some dark, deep place."

A: I don't begin with a blueprint or a plan. I just keep writing and adding to it, like constructing a building piece by piece. But when I step back and look at it from a distance, it has a surprising consistency, and I find that interesting. I used to approach it rather cautiously, but now I'm confident that it will work. I think that's simply the result of having written novels for more than 40 years.

Q: You will continue descending into that "dark, deep place" to find your stories.

A: It's not easy. You have to descend into the basement, find something there, and then bring it back up to the surface. It's dangerous and it is something you can fake too. But unless you go all the way down into that deepest darkness, you can't create a genuine story.

Q: This novel exists in a space somewhere between reality and fiction. Is that how you see human existence itself?

A: The essence of human existence can't be explained in words. It can't simply be written down. So what do you do? You replace the total image of human existence with the total image of a story to write. In the end, I think that's what I'm doing. Many writers try to describe the totality of human existence directly in words, but that's extremely difficult and can easily become a dead end. I prefer to transform it into a story first. By doing so, I think it's possible to understand at least a little more about what it means to exist as a human being.

Q: I understand you fell ill and were hospitalized while writing this novel.

A: I'd rather not go into the details of the illness, but it was the first time I'd ever been hospitalized. I lost 17 kilograms, could barely walk, and had no desire to write anything. I wondered whether I would be able to do anything worthwhile anymore, whether I'd ever be able to write again. But after I was discharged and my weight returned to normal, I found myself wanting to write again, and I was incredibly happy about that. Perhaps that sense of joy and renewed optimism comes through in this novel. In the past, I often liked stories that ended in unresolved absurdity, but this time I wanted to give the story a conclusion and leave readers with the feeling that the next step lies ahead.

Q: What do you plan to do from here?

A: I don't know how much longer I'll live, but I still want to keep writing. Since recovering from my illness, that desire has become even stronger than it was before.

(Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949. After running jazz bars, he made his literary debut in 1979 with "Hear the Wind Sing." He has received numerous literary awards in Japan and abroad, including the Franz Kafka Prize, and is also an accomplished translator, particularly of American literature. His works include the bestselling novels "Norwegian Wood," "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," and "1Q84." His latest novel, "The Tale of Kaho," is his first full-length work since "The City and its Uncertain Walls," published in 2023.)