Ono: Haruki Murakami·Coffee·Travel

Coffee Online Ono Column

In my mind, Haruki Murakami and his books have always been positioned as such--a seemingly easy-going uncle next door who likes to write some advanced youth novels, travel notes and essays written very kindly and lovely. I reread Murakami's travels and essays, and occasionally his novels, but I can never claim to be an ardent Murakami fan.

So when I saw Guo Zhengpei write more than one book, but two books, looking for the projection of Haruki Murakami's literary world in real life, I really admired it. Finding the source of a writer's imaginary world is not so much a matter of one's textual fetishism as a matter of a true fan's search for his own love.

The book Greece·Murakami·Cat is a combination of Guo Zhengpei's personal Greek travels and Murakami's "textual research" trip. She took the trouble to go to Haruki Island, which is pronounced the same as Murakami's Japanese name, to find Captain Sugawara, whom Murakami had been associated with, to visit Seven Falls Restaurant on Rhode Island, and to Spetcha Island, where Murakami had lived--based only on Murakami's book of travels written twenty years ago,"The Drum in the Distance." After twenty years, those personnel still exist, this kind of confirmation across time, not only let the writer excited unceasingly, we do the reader, also feel incredible magic.

When it came to the writing of Tokyo·Murakami·Brigade, Guo Zhengpei's "textual research" difficulty suddenly increased, because the textual research materials of the second book were mainly imagination. Guo Zhengpei visited and experienced the "Capital High Taiping Stairs" that changed the fate of the heroine Green Bean in "1Q84," the day of the heroine's daily life in Kichikoji Temple in "Sputnik Lovers," and the Tokyo walking route of Watanabe and Naoko in "The Forest of Norway." Murakami is very good at describing the details of everyday life, and his fans 'quest is destined to be a fun and interesting trip.

For me, Tokyo·Murakami·Brigade can also be regarded as Tokyo·Coffee·Brigade, because Guo Zhengpei collected many coffee-related words in Murakami's works as the introduction of each chapter, and among the places she visited, there were quite a few jazz cafes, tea shops and mass cafes scattered on the streets of Tokyo. Guo Zhengpei, who was good at taking photos, even attached a whole page of coffee photos of various cafes at the end of the book.

Japan is a country where common people's life and coffee culture are very developed. However, after reading Guo Zhengpei's book, I gained more perceptual experience. Although these two books have not been published for a long time, they have become the object of my re-reading. I can proudly tell you that I am a fervent fan of Ms. Guo Zhengpei.

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