Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1949, the son of a Buddhist priest. After receiving a degree in drama from Waseda University in Tokyo, Murakami opened a jazz bar called "Peter Cat" which he ran from 1974-1982. He wrote his first novel, "Hear the Wind Sing," when he was 30 years old.
In 1982, Murakami published "A Wild Sheep Chase," a critical success which put him squarely in the magical realism camp. In 1985, "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" was published. "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," a Murakami favorite among Westerners, was published in 1994 and won him the Yomiuri Literary Award.
Murakami has 14 books to his name. The most recent available in English is "Kafka on the Shore," published in the English translation in 2005.
Nationality: Japanese
Notable Work: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Dates: (1949- )
