The Buzz | Murakami: Joy of writing is to start not knowing end

Best-selling Japanese author Haruki Murakami says he enjoys writing novels because he doesn’t know how they’ll end up. Murakami, hosting a special radio show yesterday, said he starts writing without deciding how the story should end. Ideas pop up as he writes and he goes with the flow while the stories take shape.

Murakami made the comment on “Murakami Radio,” a pre-recorded 55-minute show broadcast only in Japan — his second this year on Tokyo FM after his first in August was a big hit. Music serves as important motifs in his stories. An avid listener and collector of music, he has also written books on the topic. During the show, Murakami played a selection of cover versions from jazz and pop. He opened the show paying tribute to Aretha Franklin, playing her version of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”. Murakami, 69, began writing while running a jazz bar in Tokyo after graduating from university.