Need advice on how to gently yet wistfully accept the transience of time, or how to be surprisingly impassive while being thrust headlong into a surreal new reality? You’re in luck! According to an Agence France-Presse-JIJI report, acclaimed Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami is launching an advice column on a new website called, no shit, “Mr. Murakami’s Place” (Murakami-san no tokoro in the original Japanese).
Despite Murakami’s reputation for reclusiveness, a spokesman for his publisher says the column will see him answer “questions of any kind,” regardless of what language they’re written in. These can include requests for advice, as well as questions on his own likes and dislikes. Murakami himself reportedly said the plan gives him a chance to bypass the media and communicate directly with his readers.
The column is reminiscent of an earlier project in 2006, when Murakami answered fan questions through a website set up by The Asahi Shimbun. Murakami will be soliciting questions through the end of January, though his publisher has yet to provide the “Mr. Murakami’s Place” URL or email address for questions.