Midnight Spider Monkey

Author: [Japanese] Haruki Murakami
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2001-08-01
Features: The short stories in this book were originally intended for serialized magazine advertisements. Some were used for J. Press suits, while the second part was for Parker pens. However, the content of the stories had nothing to do with the advertisements. The characters in the stories are completely fictional. Each ultra-short story in the book is fascinating, as if opening a magic box and not knowing what will come out next, with your heart pounding. Beyond the excitement, there’s a strange and humorous feeling, and then you sketch the images in your mind and put them on paper. The short stories in this book (though the term is a bit awkward, and I can’t think of a better one) were, to be honest, originally meant for serialized magazine advertisements. Some were used for J. Press suits, while the second part was for Parker pens. But if you ask whether the content of the stories relates to the suits and pens, the answer is that it has nothing to do with them. I simply wrote short, story-like pieces as I pleased, and Mr. Ansei Suitomaru provided the illustrations, filling in the gaps as product advertisements. That’s all. The J. Press series was featured in MEN’SCLUB, while the Parker pen series appeared in The Sun. As for how effective these advertisements were, I have no idea, and it makes me break into a cold sweat to think about it. To be honest, I’d rather not dwell on it. The initial proposal and commission for this series came from Mr. Kazui Shigeriri. He said, “Hey, just write some short stories. Treat it as a hobby, and it won’t take much effort.” As a result, I wrote one such piece a month for several years. The work was so interesting that several years later, Suitomaru and I decided to do it again—this time with Parker pens as the advertisers. So, the Parker pen series still used the original proposal by Kazui, just with a different medium. Some readers might think that writing this every month would be extremely stressful (though, interestingly, no one has actually said that), but to be honest, it wasn’t. This is because, while serializing these stories, I was fully focused on writing a long story, and the short pieces served as a mental break, allowing me to relax and shift my mindset. Moreover, to be honest, I really enjoy writing these seemingly meaningless, almost useless short stories. That said, in reality, I still put a lot of thought into them—I wasn’t just lounging under a pear tree, waiting for the fruit to fall into my mouth. No, that rarely happens. In fact, I wrote more pieces for advertisements, but when compiling this book, I removed eight to adjust the overall tone and added two new ones. Working with Suitomaru is always a pleasure—just the kind of thing that fits the English phrase “nice and easy.” I’ve collaborated with Suitomaru on many projects, and I always feel that his illustrations bring the accompanying text to life. Due to the size constraints, Suitomaru redrew all the illustrations for this book. As for the final piece, Morning Ramen Song, it would be wonderful if it could be given Japanese lyrics to accompany The Angel’s Hammer. I thought about this for a long time (though I’ve completely forgotten why I had such a whim), and the only conclusion I could reach was that only “Menma” would rhyme with “If I had a hammer.” To be honest, I love ramen, and just passing by a ramen shop makes me feel a sense of loss. But for some reason, I ended up writing a ramen song—perhaps fate from a past life. If you like it, feel free to set it to music and sing it. The idea for The Crimson Poppy came from a line in a children’s rhyme: “Give Mom a shoulder rub, the crimson poppy grins and laughs.” Since I was a child, I’ve always wondered what the expression on a poppy flower is and how it laughs. Although I didn’t dance with joy when I finally realized the answer after years of pondering, the stories in this book have no real-life prototypes. For example, the K publishing house in Deep-Fried Meatballs is not the publishing company of the same name, Shochiku, and The Liar Nicole has no connection to the Nicole clothing brand. Sophia University doesn’t exist—the Deep-Fried Pancake Research Society at least doesn’t, as far as I know—and The Attack of the Insect Hollow Elder has nothing to do with the elderly welfare center “Insect Hollow Elder’s House” in Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture. Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Kazui Shigeriri for generously allowing the proposal to be reused. Without his proposal, this series of works might not have come into existence, as I would never have spontaneously written thirty or forty such stories all at once. During the serialization, I also received much support from Mr. Ishii Kazuhiro at Kazui’s office. I would also like to thank Miss O, who was responsible for the second part of the serialization and the editing of this book, for her tireless efforts on behalf of this project—and perhaps you don’t believe it, but she has no connection to the character named O in the book.