Japanese novelist and filmmaker Ryu Murakami, known for his explorations of violence, alienation, and the darker sides of society, has died at the age of 74.
Murakami died at his home on October 17, according to his Japanese publisher, Gentosha.
Often described as the enfant terrible of contemporary Japanese literature, Murakami wrote more than 40 novels and short story collections. His works combined dark humour, graphic violence, drug use and sexuality with criticism of Japanese and American society.
Born in 1952 in Sasebo, Nagasaki prefecture, Murakami was the son of two teachers. During high school, he played drums in a rock band and was placed under house arrest for three months after participating in a rooftop protest.
He published his debut novel, Almost Transparent Blue, in 1976 while still a student. Narrated by a character named Ryū, the novel portrays the hedonistic lives of disillusioned young people. It won the Gunzo Prize for New Writers and the Akutagawa Prize, one of Japan’s most prestigious literary awards.
Murakami was not related to fellow Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. Journalist David Pilling described Ryu Murakami’s writing as “edgier and angrier” in 2013, comparing Haruki to the Beatles and Ryu to the Rolling Stones.
His other notable works include Coin Locker Babies, In the Miso Soup, Audition, Piercing and Popular Hits of the Showa Era. Many of his books remain unavailable in English translation.
Several of his works have been adapted for film, including Audition, the 1999 horror film directed by Takashi Miike. The story follows a widower who stages fake film auditions to find a new girlfriend.
Writing about the novel in The Guardian in 2009, Scottish author Irvine Welsh praised its prose for its emotional depth and visceral intensity.
Murakami’s third novel, Coin Locker Babies, tells the story of children abandoned in storage lockers and won the Noma Literary New Face Prize. The novel explores the darker aspects of society through a surreal narrative involving alienation, fame, insanity and murder.
Adam Freudenheim, publisher and managing director of Pushkin Press, which publishes Murakami’s translated works in the United Kingdom alongside Bloomsbury, expressed sadness over the author’s death.
He said it had been a privilege to introduce Murakami’s original and cinematic novels to English-speaking readers, adding that the publisher extended its sympathies to the author’s readers worldwide.
