advice columns

Haruki Murakami Is Starting an Advice Column Because You Need It

Photo: John MacDougall/Getty Images

Normally the path from advice columnist to award-winning author runs in only one direction, but leave it to Haruki Murakami to do something different. The Japanese novelist is launching an online advice column where, according to his spokesman, he will “receive questions of any kind,” in any language. (Within reason.) The column will appear on a new website called Mr. Murakami’s Place (Murakami-san no tokoro), and the author’s spokesman said Murakami was open to answering questions about himself as well. It’s all a way for the publicity-shy writer to engage with his fans, so once this is up, look for Murakami to raise his engagement even further by producing relatable web content, like “31 Things Unemployed Cat-Loving Japanese Men Know to Be True,” “84 Times the Shifting Nature of Reality Gave Us Life,” and “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.”

Haruki Murakami Is Starting an Advice Column