Any Japanese literature lover will know of Haruki Murakami’s passion for music, especially classical and jazz. Before beginning his illustrious writing career, Murakami owned a jazz bar called Peter Cat in Tokyo. Music plays an important role in his stories, whether it’s a strong opening of overcooked spaghetti and Gioachino Rossini’s ‘La Gazza Ladra’ in his 1997 novel ‘The Wind-up Bird Chronicle’, or the subject of his short story ‘The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema’, inspired by the eponymous bossa nova hit by jazz musician Stan Getz.
Thanks to Spotify user Masamaro Fujiki, we now have access to Murakami’s 'personal record collection'. Fujiki compiled all the songs Murakami has written about in his stories, from his debut novel ‘Hear the Wind Sing’ to his latest, ‘Killing Commendatore’, into a playlist. In addition, he’s also added songs Murakami mentioned on his now-retired FAQ website ‘Murakami San no Tokoro’. The 238-hour long playlist ranges from classical jazz musician Eugen Cicero to traditional John Coltrane and Czech composer Leoš Janáček. You can listen to the 3,442-song playlist here.
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