Haruki Murakami Library: Where Light and Darkness Intersect

The Haruki Murakami Library (or Waseda International Literary Library) opened on the Waseda University campus (Tokyo, Japan) in early 2021. Designed by renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the library was not a completely new construction but rather an expansion and renovation of Building 4 of Waseda University.

Originally, building 4 housed the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, a place Murakami frequently visited as a student. After being renovated into the Waseda International Literary Center, it is hoped that it will facilitate research on Haruki Murakami's works, world literature, and translation, as well as academic and cultural exchange among researchers and students worldwide.

The library houses a vast collection of materials, including 3,000 personal notes, manuscripts, book reviews, a collection of Haruki Murakami's works translated into many languages, as well as tens of thousands of vinyl records that he has collected over the years.

"I've been writing for almost 40 years, accumulating piles of manuscripts, documents, and newspaper clippings that I no longer have room to store at home or in my office," Haruki Murakami explained when talking about his decision to donate his "collection" to Waseda University in 2018.

Haruki Murakami is an alumnus of Waseda University. However, he studied theater arts rather than literature and only began writing his first novel at the age of 29, long after leaving Waseda.

The Haruki Murakami Library also includes an area that recreates the writer's workspace, a radio studio, and a student-run cafe.

Instead of being a traditional space dedicated solely to studying, architect Kuma envisioned the Library as a vibrant space where anyone, including Haruki Murakami himself, could come to discuss the author's works and the future of literature over cups of coffee.

In 2021, to commemorate the opening of the Haruki Murakami Library, director Kei Shichiri made a short film about the building, to – as he put it – "explore the relationship between humans and books, through the interplay of light and shadow."

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