Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleHaruki Murakami's new novel, The Tale of KAHO, was released in Japan on Friday, with enthusiastic fans attending a midnight countdown event at a major Tokyo bookstore. The novel is notable as Murakami's first full-length work to feature a lone female protagonist, Kaho, a picture book author who experiences bizarre events after a particularly rude blind date. Murakami stated he wrote the novel by putting himself in Kaho's shoes, a departure from his usual young or middle-aged male protagonists, which has generated significant interest among his fans. The Tale of KAHO originated as a short story rehearsed at a university event and was subsequently expanded through a series of four stories published in Shincho magazine, now compiled into a 352-page novel. The novel is currently available exclusively in Japanese, with no plans for an English translation disclosed, following his previous novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, released three years prior. In fullHaruki Murakami’s first novel with female protagonist released at midnight launch in TokyoMore bulletinsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

Haruki Murakami's new book, "The Tale of KAHO," goes on sale in Japan on Friday. Fans gathered outside a Tokyo bookstore for a midnight release.

TOKYO, July 3 — Haruki Murakami has said that he writes novels that are “completely different” from what AI can create, as his first book in three years hit shelves in Japan...