New Murakami novel a hit before it arrives

“It is amazing. People are craving his latest novel,” said Takashi Machii, spokesman for the book's publisher Shinchosha, which has raised its first printing to 480,000 copies, up from 380,000 after orders flooded in.

Murakami, 60, is one of the most widely translated Japanese writers alive, with global best-sellers such as “Norwegian Wood,” “Kafka on the Shore” and “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.” He is considered a top Japanese candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature.

In a clever marketing scheme, the contents of his new novel have been kept secret. Fans ordering the book know nothing but the title, “1Q84,” which can be read as “1984” in Japanese.

“I don't care a bit,” longtime Murakami fan Michiyo Sato said Thursday of the book's mystery, after buying the 1,000-page, 3,600 yen ($38) novel at one of a handful of stores that began selling it Wednesday ahead of its nationwide rollout.

“I've been waiting so long for his new work,” the 45-year-old Tokyo resident said. “He offers such quality in his humanness and intelligence.”

“The secrecy surrounding the work is making customers absolutely famished for this book,” said Toshiaki Uchida, assistant manager at Yaesu Book Center. “Only Mr. Murakami can come out with a book that will sell dozens of copies in a single day.”

It is unclear when the work will be translated into English, according to Shinchosha.

Murakami, who has lived in the U.S., including stints at Princeton and Harvard, is fiercely private. He was not immediately available for comment.

Murakami has also written works of nonfiction, including a piece based on interviews with victims of the 1995 deadly nerve gas attack in Tokyo, and translated works by Raymond Carver, Truman Capote, John Irving and J.D. Salinger.

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