In the past Murakami has answered readers' questions, most famously on a page opened by Asahi Shinbun called "Murakami Asahido." According to a January 6 article in Asahi Shinbun, Murakami felt that after a long break, he wanted to interact with readers again, and made a sudden decision to create the webpage, the first time he has done so in nine years. The website will be called "Murakami-san no tokoro," or, "Mr. Murakami's Place."
This is the announcement on the Shinchosha site: http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/murakamisannotokoro/
The web address has not been released yet, but the announcement makes it clear that the site will be open for a limited time starting "on the afternoon of January 15th." Under the announcement in Murakami's writing (or so we assume) it states: "I am waiting for your questions. Haru." It seems that the readers are encouraged to ask anything, about "their worries, etc."
According to a related article at time.com, the spokesman for Shinchosha said that fans will have until the end of January to ask questions, and Murakami's responses will appear on the website during the following two months, until the end of March.
In the past, Murakami's exchanges with readers have been published in four books, which are quite interesting and valuable for anyone hoping to get a glimpse of the real person behind the author, who provides answers to questions from people struggling with all kinds of personal problems or asking totally surreal things. Murakami never loses his cool and responds in a witty, kind, and caring way. Here are the covers of the books:
Perhaps this readers' forum will also lead to a similar publication in the future.
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