At the beginning of October last year, a small group of ardent fans of the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami gathered in front of the television in a hotel right next to a sheep farm to watch a live broadcast from Stockholm and hear the name of the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. As soon as they realized that Murakami didn't get an award in 2014 either, a group of fans let out an audible collective sigh of disappointment. But even the repeated absence of the award did not discourage the loyal fans and affected the spirit of the group at the Tontu Hotel next to the farm.
The owner of the sheep farm, Yoshiki Jagiu, 66, led the group that raised wine glasses in a toast to the hope that Murakami would take the Nobel Prize in 2015. Afterwards, they feasted on a hearty meal of barbecued mutton called jingisukan.
Matsuyama farm is one of the few in Japan that produces dairy products from sheep. In the last few years, it has also become a holy place for "harukistas", Murakami fans.
About 20 years ago, Jagiu first read The Sheep Adventure, Murakami's long-form early novel, created during his formative years as a writer. Jagiu was surprised to find that the imaginary town of Junitaki from the novel "The Adventure of the Sheep" bears a striking resemblance to the local town of Bifuka, especially Niupu District, where Jagiu's Matsujama Farm is located.
The railroad depicted in the novel, the third largest deficit producer in Japan, led Jagiu to think that it was the Biko Line of the former Japan National Railway, which operated between Bifuku and Niupu stations. The area described in the novel as the northern limit for large-scale rice cultivation led Jagia to believe that it was the area around Niupu County. It was because that's what he learned during his elementary school days. In the novel, the area is located 260 kilometers from Hokkaido's capital, Sapporo, the same distance as Niupu District. Jagiu came to the conclusion that the town of Junitaki, described in the novel, is actually Bifuka, and that the area where the main character arrived in search of sheep was described after Niupu district.
Jagiu put forward his theory online a few years after reading the novel. Since then, his position has become widely accepted among Harukists.
Matsujama farm is spread over grassland with white birch trees and mountains looming in the distance. An old wooden two-story building, the Tontu Hotel, stands on the lawn. It is similar in structure to houses in rural areas in the USA. Jagiu opened a fattening beef farm in 1980. As early as 1987, however, he changed his business to a sheep breeding farm ahead of a government measure easing restrictions on beef imports. In 1995, he also built Tonta.
Although there are many similarities, it remains unclear whether Murakami actually used Bifuku as a model for Junitaki. The writer does not talk about it. However, Koji Nakagawa, an IT company operator in Tokyo, is one of those who have frequented Bifuku since 2000.
"This is the only area where I can feel the world described in Murakami's novel," says Nakagawa (34).
Since 2012, Nakagawa and the Tutist organization Bifuke have organized events where participants read excerpts from Murakami's books while watching flocks of sheep in the pastures outside Tontu. Seventy Murakami fans participated in such a reading held in June. In October 2013, a tourism organization installed a collection of Murakami's novels in an exhibition gallery at Bifuka Train Station.
The Murakami craze has even caught fans from abroad. Visitors from the UK, Taiwan and elsewhere have toured the farm over the past few years.
"This is the blessing that the Haruki boom brought us," says Jagiu.
"Since foreign universities have begun to study Murakami's works, I want to promote exchanges with people abroad in various ways."
Tips for readers everywhere of the world in written form
Murakami, one of the most famous Japanese writers of surrealism and winner of prestigious awards, will give online advice to all his readers, his publisher announced on Tuesday, reports the "Electricliterature" website.
The name of the site will be "Murakami-san no tokoro" or "Mr. Murakami's Place", and it will serve as a kind of "advice line" between the famous writer and his readers around the world.
The writer, known for his shyness, especially when it comes to appearing in the media, will advise fans on how to overcome the various difficulties they face, and will give the answers in writing.
"Murakami will answer every question, and the answers will be in written form, and in different languages," said a spokesperson for the publishing house that represents the writer.
Murakami will also answer fans' questions about himself, his affinities, hobbies, or whatever readers want to discuss with him.
All questions are submitted by the end of January, and Murakami's answers will be published during February and March.
"After so much time, I want to correspond with my readers," said the writer, as reported by his spokesperson.
According to the spokesperson, the URL address of the website has not been published yet, and will be known in the next few days.
Bonus video:
