TOKYO (AP) — Hours before Haruki Murakami’s new book was set to go on sale in Japan on Friday, dozens of fans gathered outside a major Tokyo bookstore for a special event to get their first copies as soon as the clock struck midnight.“The Tale of KAHO” is the Japanese author’s first full-length novel featuring a lone woman protagonist, according to Shinchosha Publishing Co.“Kaho, a picture book author, is just an average young woman. But truly bizarre things start happening around her,” Murakami said in a brief message posted on the publisher’s campaign website. “I wrote this novel as I put myself in her shoes.”His statement surprised many fans, because most of Murakami’s protagonists are young or middle-aged men.“I’m excited about finding out how the story evolves around a female character,” said Naoyuki Yamano, the first customer to buy the new Murakami novel.
Initially, the novel started as a short story titled “Kaho,” which Murakami rehearsed at a book reading event two years ago at Waseda University, his alma mater in Tokyo, with Mieko Kawakami, a renowned female author and fan of his work. The story was published in the June 2024 edition of the monthly Shincho magazine.
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