Author
Ryunosuke Murakami popularly known as Ryu Murakami is sometimes unfairly called ‘the other Murakami’, the other being Haruki Murakami. Though both the men wrote on nearly similar themes their style of writing was different.
Profile
Ryu Murakami was born on February 19th 1952 in Sasebo, Nagasaki.In his school he showed interest in music and formed a rock band. He was interested in Cuban music. He joined the silkscreen department at Gendaishichosha School of Art in Tokyo. However he could not continue and moved to Fussa, Tokyo and enrolled for the sculpture program at Musashino Art University. He married a keyboard player in 1970 and has a son. Murakami started an e-magazine, Japan Mail Media (JMM), in 1990 and continues to be its chief editor. His first novel was written during his days in Fussa when he stayed near the base of the US Army. The novel was ‘KagirinakuTomeinichikai Blue’ (Almost Transparent Blue). The first novel won him theAkutagawa Prize, the most prestigious literary award of Japan. Since then he has added voluminous work into the Japanese and global literary stage as a short story writer, an essayist, a novelist and a filmmaker. Since 2006 he has been hosting shows on finance and business called ‘KanburiaKyuden’ and is telecasted on TV Tokyo. He established a company, G2010, in 2010, to sell eBooks. Murakami is a recipient of many awards and his novels have been translated into many languages.
Genre
Ryu Murakami explores the maze of human nature through the themes of war, murder, surrealism, disillusion and drug use. All this is set against the backdrop of the dark side of Japan, especially of Tokyo. There is ample use of technology in his stories. Some critics say that though Ryu’s themes are similar to Harukami’s works, Ryu’s novels have many unpredicted twists and the focus is on characters trapped in vicious situations.
Popular works by the author
Some of the popular works of RyuHarakami are‘69’ (1987), ‘Coin Locker Babies’ (1995), ‘In the Miso Soup’ (2004), ‘Piercing’ (2007), ‘Audition’ (2009), ‘Popular Hits of the Showa Era’ (2011).