Designed by Kengo Kuma and Associates, the new Haruki Murakami Library opened its doors at Waseda University in Tokyo PartⅡ

Some critics claim that Murakami’s books express a globalized culture because their cosmopolitan environments are not strictly linked to Japan. Yanai, with his international brand Uniqlo, and Kuma - with projects realized all around the world – are also the expression of a global culture. Though, the three fathers of this project are also credited for having enormously contributed to spreading the Japanese culture worldwide in their different fields. In an interview about his book Kafka on the Shore, Murakami said that that for him, writing a novel is like “riding on the back of a runaway horse and let yourself be led without knowing where clinging with all her strength to his neck so as not to be thrown to the ground.” Whether in literature, architecture, or business, creativity is born from hard work mixed with enthusiasm. Success cannot be planned nor achieved with premeditation. It comes from passion and perseverance. The same values that you can learn and breathe at the new Murakami Library.

Prof. Giorgio Amitrano

Interview to Professor Giorgio Amitrano

Matteo Belfiore - Besides your academic career and four years in Tokyo as director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo, you are the translator of some of the most significant Japanese storytellers, from Yoshimoto Banana to Kawabata Yasunari, from Mishima Yukio to Murakami Haruki. You've got to meet Murakami on several occasions. What did you understand about his personality, and how do you think this is reflected in his writings?

Giorgio Amitrano - Murakami gave me the impression of a very reserved person in all of our meetings. He usually answers the questions with rather terse but always interesting, original, and profound answers. Even knowing that one should not look for an autobiographical component in narrative works - and especially in his, so rich in invention - it seems clear that there is a remarkable correspondence between him and his characters. In other words, I think that his personality is in line with his writing.

Matteo Belfiore - As a book lover - and an estimator of the typical Tokyo bookstore's atmosphere - what do you think of this project? Did Kuma succeed in his intent to materialize Murakami's style?

Giorgio Amitrano - I have only seen the Library in photos and videos, not yet in person. From what I have been able to see, it seems to me that Kuma created a splendid work from an aesthetic point of view and managed perfectly to evoke the world of Murakami. Perhaps more than materializing it, which would be impossible (it would take entire cities), he managed to create a visual correlative. There is in his creation a clarity, cleanliness, and attention to detail that are very close to Murakami's style. A library that is neither baroque nor minimalist - as Murakami's work is not - and which instead recalls the quality of the writer's imagination and mental circuits.

Matteo Belfiore - Kuma Kengo described the project as a tunnel-shaped structure that transports us from our daily reality to a parallel dimension, or even a tunnel that takes visitors to discover the world of Murakami Haruki. What do you think of this metaphor? Do you find it in the work of the Japanese writer?

Giorgio Amitrano - It seems very beautiful that Kuma used the tunnel - a metaphor not usually associated with Murakami's books - where wells, labyrinths, stairs recur. I think it's good because it shows how Kuma didn't "flatten" himself on Murakami's personality, but he interpreted it by expressing his own. If the parallel worlds have become almost a "trademark" of Murakami, Kuma has focused on something that can connect them. Designing the tunnel, Kuma has created an image that, in addition to joining the parallel worlds, connects his world with those of Murakami.

Matteo Belfiore - In your recent book entitled “Iro Iro. Il Giappone tra pop e sublime,” you examined in-depth Murakami's work. In the book, you state that the Japanese writer uses two registers in his narrative works: realistic and fantastic. I see a similarity with the creation of Kengo Kuma. There is a fantastic register in his projects - the poetic concept that describes and guides each project – and a realistic register, the attention for the structure, the details, and the construction techniques. Have you ever experienced these feelings while visiting the works of Kengo Kuma?

Giorgio Amitrano - Yes, it seems to be a fair observation. There is a kind of elective affinity between Kuma and Murakami because they both move with agility and lightness between the realistic and the fantastic register. Obviously, in the case of Kuma, the term "fantastic" must be contextualized, given that an architect must still express himself by passing through the most concrete elements of reality. Those foundations are necessary to construct buildings that are used to make our dream and live or use them. The Library that Kuma has designed for Murakami is visionary, like the one described in the novel “Wonderland”, but it is also realistic and aimed at users: like the one we find in "Kafka on the beach."