Like so many others, I love Haruki Murakami’s writing.
One of his books I read this year was The Wind Up Bird Chronicles (1997) . Murakami has this way of drawing the reader in – and before you know it, you’re 93 pages into his characters’ lives.
He describes simple things – a man boiling a pot of pasta for lunch and listening to music on the radio – and as mundane as that sounds, I’m left wondering okay, what happens next?
Then the phone rings. And I think, this incident will be the thing to spin the man’s life into mayhem. But it’s not. The inciting incident involves the man’s wife, and her brother – Noburu Wataya – and the couple’s cat – who also has the name Noburu Wataya.
And in Murakami’s books, there’s always a cat.
Murakami’s details are never boring. You glide along with the characters thinking la-la-la when suddenly the story goes sideways. Like really sideways and someone is sitting at the bottom of a dried-up well clutching a baseball bat.
Because with Murakami – much like in Korean movies – things always go sideways.
One of the nice things about the Muji Hotel café is the bookshelves that separate every three rows of tables.
All one has to do is slide out a book on architecture, weaving or art. Some of the titles like La Vilaine Lulu make me wonder ‘Who buys a book like this?’
I’m sitting in the café with my Americano…
…when I notice a slim book with a bright blue cover.
Hmm. On The Table by Mizumaru Anzai. I’ve never heard the name.
I tip the book towards me.
Inside is a series of glorious silkscreens and illustrations – simple and colourful. Just lovely. I flip through it quickly at first, then slowly – page by page.
There’s something about his art that appeals to me.
The simplicity?
The colours – never more than two or three?
I’d love to have a copy of this book – if only for inspiration.
I go through it from cover to cover. At the very end of the book, there’s a timeline of Mizumaru Anzai’s life.
The print is small.
I’m about to flip back to the beginning of the book when something catches my eye.
In 1979, Anzai “met Haruki Murakami who ran a jazz bar at the time.”
Okay – so Anzai and Murakami met. That’s not strange. Many creative people run in the same circles. What’s odd is that their meeting holds a place in Anzai’s timeline.
Then I read the timeline from beginning to end.
Anzai’s name at the time of his birth was Noburu Watanabe.
Noburu Watanabe. Noburu Wataya.
Coincidence ? Definitely not.
Eureka! The internet tells me that not only did they know each other but they collaborated for many years as well.
Now, I really want this book.
I ask at the hotel’s front desk if they know where I can get a copy of the book.
The concierge walks me back to the Muji Atelier – the Muji gallery where a woman stands at a podium ready to give out information on the exhibit currently on display in Muji.
I ask her the same question I asked the concierge.
Except now I feel foolish for having gone down this path in the first place.
But she springs into action. Her fingers fly over the screen of her phone.
I wait.
Tap-swipe-swipe- tap-tap.
“I found it,” she says.
At this point, my heart is hammering.
“There is a bookstore not far from here.”
She writes the name down. and then something else in Japanese which I can’t read.
“Just show them this paper. They have a few of those books in their store.”
I thank her. Profusely.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Yurika. Like Eureka.” And she smiles. I also can’t help but smile at how connected it all is.
We walk quickly to the bookstore. It’s cold. I’m shivering a little but maybe it’s because I’m excited.
The bookstore is everything book lovers dream a bookstore to be.
Warm and inviting. Long cushioned benches for quietly perusing books.
A mix of books, washi-paper stationary and fountain pens. Artisanal pottery and jewellery.
Beautiful and delicate little lamps made from the skeletons of bell-shaped flowers.
A gallery in the center of the store.
And books. And books. And books.
Even though many of the books are in Japanese, there’s enough visually, and in English to keep me very occupied.
This bookstore is just wonderful. We spend three hours here. I leave with my book and some washi paper and feel as though I’ve just had a big dinner.
Note – There is an Anzai / Murakami exhibition being held in Shinjuku until April 2024. If you’re in the area and can visit it, please do.
This bookstore is also definitely worth a visit.
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