Cult Japanese Author, Ryu Murakami, Dies Aged 74

Image of author Ryu Murakami. (Image: Pinterest)

Ryu Murakami, the cult Japanese author and film-maker whose dark and funny novels won millions of readers, has died aged 74. His Japanese publisher, Gentosha, said he died at home on 17 October.

Often called the enfant terrible of modern Japanese literature, Murakami filled his stories with violence, drug use and sex. Behind the shock value was a sharp critique of both Japanese and American culture.

In high school he played drums in a rock band. After joining a rooftop protest at his school, he was placed under house arrest for three months. He later enrolled at Musashino Art University in Tokyo but dropped out to become a writer.

His first novel, Almost Transparent Blue, came out in 1976 while he was still a student. Narrated by a character called Ryu, it follows a group of bored, nihilistic young people living a life of drugs and parties. It won the Gunzo prize for new writers and the Akutagawa prize, Japan's top literary award, and went on to become a bestseller.

Murakami was not related to the more famous Haruki Murakami. In 2013, journalist David Pilling described Ryu’s books as “edgier and angrier”, adding…

Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/lifestyle