People
Professor Katō Norihiro
Katō Norihiro (1948-2019) was Emeritus Professor of Waseda University. During his career he published more than 50 books including 8 books on Murakami and was one of the first critics to widely recognise Murakami’s contribution to Japanese literature. He has also written extensively on other topics related to Japanese literature, history and political affairs. While most of his writings are in Japanese, he was a columnist for the Op-Ed section of The New York Times from 2014 to 2015. With his approval, his work was also translated twice into English for this project: ‘The problem of tatemashi in Murakami Haruki’s work: comparing The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and 1Q84’ in Japan Forum vol 32 (3) 318-337 and ‘From hara-hara to doki-doki: Murakami Haruki's use of humour and his predicament since 1Q84’ in Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage (2022 eds. Hansen & Tsang). His contribution to this project remains invaluable.