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5 April 202123 August 2023

Haruki Murakami Made a Speech at An Entrance Ceremony of Waseda University

On 1st April, 2020, Haruki Murakami made a speech to 1400 freshmen at an entrance ceremony of the department literature and culture of his old school Waseda University, while using his unique expressions and metaphors. What he said is below.

“Hello. Congratulations on your admission. Still the world, but does not settle down easily, this year is thus to gather here with everyone, to celebrate the new beginnings together I think that’s great.

I entered the literature department of this university more than 50 years ago (1968), but at that time, I didn’t have any particular desire to become a novelist.

But when I got married, graduated from college, and was busy with work every day, I suddenly felt like “I want to write a novel”, and when I suddenly realized I became a novelist like this. Somehow, it’s called Nariyuki, or something that led me to it. I don’t really understand it myself.

By the way, I got married while I was in school, so I got married first, started work, and finally graduated. The order was reversed from that of ordinary people. I don’t really recommend that way of life, but it’s something that can be done.

So, I think, a novelist can’t be very smart. That’s because smart people think about things right away. The written novels that I think of in my head are usually not very interesting. You can’t write a good novel unless you think about it with your heart, not your head.

However, writing sentences that other people will read uses a lot of head, so I will work my head as needed. But it’s just the right time to be a talented person and not an honor student. It’s hard to find the right time.

Because some of students of the Faculty of Literature and the Faculty of Culture, Media and Society, you may want to become a novelist, but please find a good balance between them. I think Waseda University is a fairly suitable environment for such work.

This fall, the International Literature Museum (Haruki Murakami Library) will open on this Waseda campus. This is a space where students can freely use books, materials, and music collections.

The motto of the library, or the word at the entrance, is “Let’s open up a story, let’s tell our hearts”. This may need some explanation.

First of all, it seems easy to talk about your heart, and this is quite difficult. Because we usually think this is our mind, because it is only a small part of our whole mind. In other words, our consciousness is nothing more than a bucket of water pumped from the pond of our hearts. The remaining area is untouched and is left as an unknown area.

But what really moves us is the remaining heart. It’s not consciousness or logic, it’s a broader, bigger heart. So how do we find the unknown realm of that mind? How can I find the source of the power that really moves me? One of the things that plays that role is the story.

The story sheds light on areas of the mind where our consciousness cannot be read well. It transforms our unspeakable mind into a form of fiction that emerges figuratively. That’s what we novelists are trying to do. For example, this is the basic function of the novel. There is something called “for example” that can only be expressed in a one-step replacement form. Speaking of roundabouts, it’s roundabouts, isn’t it?

Therefore, novel is of little use to society directly. No matter what, it’s not like a quick-acting drug or vaccine. However, without the work of novel, society cannot move forward in a healthy manner.

This is because, society also has a heart. Things that cannot be scooped up by consciousness and logic only. Things that are left behind. It is the role of literature in the novel to scoop up such things firmly and slowly. The novel fills the gap between the mind and consciousness.

Therefore, novels have been picked up by people in various forms and in various places for over 1000 years. The profession of a novelist has been handed down like a torch. I would be very happy if some of you would inherit the torch, or if there was someone who would warmly and cherish it.

Once again, congratulations on your entrance. Have a nice and fulfilling year on this campus.”

Book Review | Novelist as a Profession by Haruki Murakami, Switch Publishing, 2015

Novelist as a Profession by Haruki Murakami is an auto-biographical essay (on the afterword, mentioned by Murakami). This essay treats themes of novelist, novel, literature, writing, art, school education and life. On this essay Murakami told how he lived, spent his life, wrote novels, think about literature and novel. Anyway, as a result, for readers, this essay Murakami told readers how to write novel and induced them to write a novel. But it is not a usual “how to” book or a guide book at all.

On this essay, Murakami wrote honestly his experience, way of life, thought and policy. He didn’t want to be a novelist seriously. At first, he had no enthusiasm to write novel. He ran a jazz cafe or bar, and earned a sufficient amount of money. Some epiphanies, chances and lucks made him a novelist. Also he continued to write novels of his own will.

Murakami is an ordinary and modest person, also is uncategorized and unconventional individual. He was a usual student, spent a daily life as an ordinary and normal citizen. Also he isn’t a stereotyped great writer or artist.

Murakami’s policy is such as a policy of non-policy or non-rule. He live and write by spontaneousness, freedom and nature. He doesn’t depend on any authorities, academism and large systems. He live his life the way he like. He doesn’t interest in any prizes and the Japanese literature scene. So he migrated to foreign countries, and made a distance to the Japanese literature scene.

His policy links to his way of writing and the content of his works. He writes his novels the way he like. He writes a novel by rhythm and free improvisation like jazz. He doesn’t set a heavy and proper theme, a strict plan and fixed personalities of characters. His policy and way of writing made the “voice” echoes with the hearts of readers.

Murakami wrote his novels for himself, “writing for enjoy myself as my basic stance” (p. 269). So the title of a novel by an imaginary writer Derek Heartfield in Murakami’s debut novel Hear the Wind Sing is “What’s Wrong About Feeling Good ?” (p. 270), it expressed the sense of incongruity to the Japanese literature scene.

Murakami has been enjoyed writing and wrote by his spontaneousness from his debut until now. And he has no desire to become a novelist or to succeed in a novel, and there’s any limitations. He alway wrote a novel by a plentiful and spontaneous pleasure. So he can own “a natural feeling that I’m free” and “free and natural feeling” (p. 111), and he thinks his originality caused by freedom.

On the other hand, Murakami has will and durability to write story, and his original way of work. He had been built his own style of writing and his original grand narrative by trial and error. When he write a long novel 5 hours in early morning everyday. And he trains the body and keeps his physical strength without fail. He founded healthy life for writing. He thinks to complete a long novel it’s necessary of concentration and durability.

Murakami is only a novelist and a creator. He isn’t good at analyse and criticize things like a scholar, also he want not his works analysed and criticized by scholars and critics. He won’t be a councillor or a literature prize, also he isn’t interested in any prizes. Over almost 40 years, he only wrote novels and texts. He only want to enjoy writing a novel. Murakami thinks he is only an ordinary person has a certain measure of capacity to write a novel, but by some chances and accidents made him a novelist, and by his will and durability he continued to write novels. I think Murakami told that “everyone can write a novel and become a novelist”. As a matter of fact, by this book, you should want to write a novel or create something.

A spring clear afternoon, Murakami visited the 1978 opening game of the Central League at an outfield stand of the Jingu Stadium, Tokyo. When the first batter of Yakult Swallows, Dave Hilton hit a fine double, an epiphany fell into Murakami, then he realized “That’s it, maybe, I can write a novel !” at the moment. (pp. 46 – 47) This essay makes you want to write a novel or want to do a creation. Like Murakami realized “That’s it, maybe, I can write a novel !”, to read this essay, you may realize “That’s it, maybe, I can write a novel !”.

Product Details

Novelist as a Profession
Haruki Murakami
Switch Publishing, Tokyo, 10 September 2015
313 pages, JPY 1944
ISBN 9784884184438
Content

Are Novelists Tolerant Persons?
When I Became a Novelist
About Literature Awards
On Originality
Well, What Should I Write?
Taking Side with Time: To Write Long Novels
Extremely Individual and Physical Activity
About School
How Characters That I Should Present?
Who is I Write for?
Going Abroad: The New Frontier
Place a Story Is in: Memories of Dr. Hayao Kawai

commentaire | Abandonner une chatte: Quand je parle de mon père de Haruki Murakami, Bungeishunju

Abandonner une chatte, quand je parle de mon père est un essai de Haruki Murakami, à propos de l’histoire de sa famille et surtout son père. Et il n’est pas un essai ordinaire seul, mais a une histoire et est comme une nouvelle traite l’histoire de sa famille et ses expériences de base. Le père de Murakami, Chiaki Murakami (1917 – 2008) était le seconde fils de une famille d’un temple bouddhiste, et était un professeur de japonais (littérature japonaise) d’une lycée. Teneur principal de cet essai est sa vivre et expérience dans la seconde guerre sino-japonaise.

Pourquoi est-ce que Murakami pensait qu’il doit écrire à propos de son père ? Il pense peut-être que son être et et sa partie d’origine de personnalité de Murakami sont fait et formé par son père directement ou indirectement. Père de Murakami était bon professor de (littérature de) japonais sérieux et dévoué, amoureux des livres qui avait beaucoup des livres et son hobby était haiku. Et il a renoncé à devenir un savant, ainsi il avait exception à réaliser son espoir à le fils unique, mais Murakami sentait répulsion à son espoir et le système éducative en uniforme du Japon. Ces éléments de son père faisait et formait caractère de Murakami inclut antipathies et réactions.

De plus, Murakami peut être existé par la guerre. Malheureusement sa père a été enrôlé par une erreur à l’armée quand la seconde guerre sino-japonaise se a passait., mais heureusement sans savoir pourquoi il n’a pas été enrôlé quand la guerre de Pacifique. Le fiancé de sa mère (un professeur du musique) meurt par la guerre, la maison des ses parents a brûlée par un bombardement. Afin que son père et sa mère ont rencontré et épousé, elle a donné naissance à Murakami. Voilà pourquoi la vie inclut accidents et est formée par accidents. Les gens sont vécu par accidents, et accidents font inévitabilités, nécessités et faits. Murakami énonce un précepte concernant l’épisode de un chaton a monté sur la partie plus haute d’un pin.

Un résultat engloutit une cause facilement, et fait l’impotence. (p. 94)

Et chattes dans ce essai sont dieux ou êtres divins de l’accident et le destin, apportent la nécessité et la vie. Le premiere épisode de une grande female tabby est une métaphore de la libération mystérieuse et incompréhensible de l’armée. La seconde épisode de un petit chaton blanc mignon est une métaphore de la résurrection du Christ. Le chaton a disparu sur sur la partie plus haute d’un pin, est allé au paradis. C’est un accident ou un miracle a apporté une nécessité ou une histoire à Murakami, et a devenu un fragment de lui.

Alors, je pense, une thème de ce essai est raisonner de l’accident et la nécessité de la vie.

D’un autre côté, un autre thème de cet essai est histoires et l’histoire. La personnalité et les œuvres de Murakami peuvent être affectées par ses expériences, son environment, sa famille et sa âge. Les deux episodes de chattes se composent des parties de Murakami. Un conversation par son père de qui a regardé un meurtre du prisonnier chinois ou a lui meurtrit, affectait à Murakami, et il reprend comme un trauma pourtant il est une expérience indirecte. Leur père a adoptait temporairement à un temple de Nara, pourrait affecter à Murakami comme une expérience inconsciente. Episodes personnels d’un homme forme sa personnalité et sa histoire. Et Murakami pense que chacune des histoires entre nous fait le grande histoire du monde ou « l’histoire ». Il écrit dans la postface.

L’histoire n’est pas une chose appartient au passe. C’est une chose passe comme sang vivant chaud à intérieur de la conscience et la inconscience, fait traverser à la prochaine génération par force. Dans un sense, ce essai est une histoire personnel, dans le même temps, il est une partie de la grande histoire forme le monde entier qui nous vivons. C’est une très petite taille de partie, malgré tout, on peut lui faire confiance, c’est un fragment comme un fait. (pp. 99 -100)

Les gens ont existé par accidents, ont vécu par faits, ont affecté par l’histoire. Mais nous vivons en société comme une personne, et devons penser, interpréter, decider et agir. Les choses associent entre accidents et nécessités, histoires et l’histoire sont la pensée, la conscience et la volonté. Je pense, ce essai raconte l’importance de chacune des façons de vivre, consciences et volontés des gens dans une époque, transforme histoires en l’histoire.

Details sur le livre

Abandonner un chat: Quand je parle de mon père
Haruki Murakami
Bungeishunju, Tokyo, Japon, 23 avril 2020
104 pages, JPY 1320
ISBN 978-4163911939
Contenu

Abandonner une chatte
Épilogue: Un fragment de l’histoire