Watanabe who has no other university friends other than Midori spends every day going to and from class and the library.īuilding 2 which used to house Waseda University’s library covered in ivy (from Waseda, 100 Years, Azekura Shobo publishing) The library where “I,” conflicted by my connections with Naoko and Midori spent much of my time – Waseda University’s former library and today’s Aizu Museum This accessibility is one of the reasons why Murakami is so widely read. It is not that our everyday lives are filled with experiences you find in literature, but that meaningful words and occurrences originate from everyday actions. Ichikawa: This can be said for sexual depictions as well, but accessible, fun, and stimulating occurrences, as well as portrayals you find in literature are constructed by a delicate balance. Tada: In Murakami’s novel there are many memorable scenes of characters eating together. Near the entrance you could buy meal tickets and near the bookshelves were tables and further inside a kitchen. Ichikawa: The Toyama Campus cafeteria used to be located in the same place as today’s Toyama Campus Univ.

In Norwegian Wood, there are many scenes of Watanabe and Midori eating lunch at the school cafeteria and restaurants around campus. The school cafeteria half the price of Hatsumi’s school – Waseda University’s school cafeteria and today’s Univ. Ichikawa: The years that Murakami attended university are often referred to as a “period of idealism.” For Murakami, due to the influence of the student demonstrations people “loss trust in words” and stopped trusting “words that make us feel good.” Murakami occasionally uses the word “detachment” and there is probably a connection between the fact that Murakami lived during this time period and took up this indifferent mindset. Was Murakai generally disinterested in politics? Kuno: In Norwegian Wood, the protagonist distances himself from the student demonstrations. As student protests grew fierce radical students set fire to chairs and desks in front of the main gate (from Waseda, 100 Years, Azekura Shobo publishing)

Murakami haruki norwegian wood