He has been called the uncrowned king of the Nobel Prize in Literature and has created countless popular classics.
He respects China and His readers, but he does not dare to touch anything that has anything to do with China.
He was a descendant of the Japanese army invading China, so he refused to have offspring.
He did not bully any Chinese, but he exiled himself with heavy shackles.
He was a famous Japanese writer who was respected by Chinese, but rejected by the Japanese...
He is the writer who has pursued freedom and dignity all his life, Haruki Murakami.
Haruki Murakami
In most people's minds, fathers are heroes and role models. But in Haruki Murakami's heart, his father is the origin of tragedy and the beginning of misfortune. Because of his father's status as a Japanese army invading China, Murakami Haru vowed not to eat Chinese food and not to produce offspring for the rest of his life.
Will the gap between Haruki Murakami and his father disappear one day? Is it possible for Haruki Murakami to achieve self-reconciliation in this lifetime?
Today, with respect, we approach Haruki Murakami, the "most tragic Nobel finalist."
When he was young, he admired his father and learned about the past of the invasion of China
Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1949. It was a magical year, and this year New China was founded. It may be doomed in the dark, and Haruki Murakami has a constant relationship with China throughout his life.
Haruki Murakami's childhood
In his few childhood memories, his father once appeared as a positive figure. It was when Haruki Murakami was very young, and his father was his hero. He knew that his father had been a soldier.
Moreover, the family's samurai sword also proves that his father was once a strong kong. In the heart of the young Haruki Murakami, the appearance of his father is what a man should look like.
However, the change in cognition occurred on a very ordinary night. At that time, Haruki Murakami had just entered elementary school. When he came home in the evening, he held his father's leg and asked him to tell a story. His father thought about it and told him about a war experience.
The Japanese invaded China
Haruki Murakami's father was chiaki Murakami and was born in 1917. In 1938, at the age of 20, Chiaki Murakami joined the Japanese invasion of China. During his long career, Murakami participated in many campaigns to invade China. What he told his son was a memory of torturing and killing prisoners.
"At that time, we gathered a group of Chinese prisoners. They were not soldiers, as if they were just a local militia. The man who led them was cut open by us. Others were frightened and did not dare to act rashly. ”
"Then we tied them together and set them on fire. They struggled and were burned one by one. They screamed and we were unmoved. Later, when I cleaned up, there was only a pile of ash and some unburned bones left on the ground. ”
Haruki Murakami's youth
At that time, Haruki Murakami could not understand how desperate it was to be trapped in the sea of fire. He just felt that those struggles, those screams, were too cruel. Such atrocities should not be human acts. Since then, he has erected a wall in his heart against his father.
The hero in the child's mind has deteriorated. The hero is no longer a hero, the hero becomes an executioner who kills innocents indiscriminately. He could not explain his change of mood, and he could not forgive his father for what he had done.
Later, he studied history on his own. Although not in the textbooks, Haruki Murakami himself found some historical materials about the Japanese invasion of China. Only then did he understand what kind of heinous crimes the Japanese had committed against Chinese. It was a pain that words could not describe, and it was a sin that Haruki Murakami could not accept. He could not forgive that his father was one of those sinners. The wall of estrangement in my heart is getting thicker and thicker.
The Japanese guns picked up my innocent people
He broke up with his father and began to suffer himself
When he grew up, Haruki Murakami once talked to Chiaki Murakami once. The subject of the conversation was about the terrible war. Haruki Murakami wondered if his father had ever felt guilty and repentant.
"How do you feel about that history you used to be?"
"How else can you feel?" It's been so long that things have happened irretrievably. It doesn't matter how much I think about it now. ”
"Then you don't want to do something to make up for it?" Don't you want to atone for your sins for yourself and for us? ”
"What sin have I! I did not provoke this war. I was a soldier, and I was fighting for my country. I don't understand what the sin in your mouth really is. I don't understand why you think so much all day long! ”
The Japanese killed innocent people
This time, the father and son broke up unhappily. In Murakami Haruki's heart, he was completely disappointed in his father. He found that his father represented the attitude of the older Group of Japanese soldiers. They never felt that they were wrong as the initiators of the war, and the word justice in their hearts had no weight at all.
If they will regret it, then it is definitely not the war that they regret. What they regret is that they did not deploy more carefully and did not win the war. This senseless attitude towards unjust war deeply stung Haruki Murakami's heart. He hated himself as a descendant of the Japanese army that invaded China.
Obviously it was not his fault, but he began to suffer internally. During that time, he couldn't sleep all night. As soon as I closed my eyes at night, my mind was full of cruel words and descriptions. As soon as I opened my eyes, I felt as if I could see the blood and tears of innocent Chinese victims. Daily and nightly self-torture made Haruki Murakami lose weight.
Haruki Murakami's youth
At that time, he was already a writer. He has written a lot of beautiful works and has a group of Chinese readers. But this group of Chinese readers is a shackle of criticism for him. He would wonder how he was entitled to be loved by Chinese. Their own fathers may have killed their fathers and grandfathers with their own hands. This is the hatred of the country and the family, and it is a glacier that cannot be dissolved.
In a later interview, Haruki Murakami also recalled his mood at this time.
"The publisher held a signing party for me, and they came to buy books for a group photo. When I saw chinese readers, I lowered my head deeply. I am repenting for that period of sin, even if it does not belong to me. But that was a blood debt to my nation. ”
Haruki Murakami puts himself in a heavy chain, and he pronounces himself a sinner. From the day he was exposed to the history of Japan's invasion of China, he became a staunch anti-war activist. Although the damage he once caused is irreparable, he can soothe those injuries. He wanted to expose the evils of war in his own way, to expose the crimes of the Japanese.
Of course, he also has selfish intentions. He wanted to see if his father had personally participated in the most unforgivable massacres. He wanted to see if he and his father could reconcile.
So Haruki Murakami spent five years investigating the many massacres represented by the Nanjing Massacre. He personally came to Nanjing and walked through the streets and alleys here. As soon as he thought that the country's butcher's knife had destroyed the beauty of the place, Haruki Murakami was heartbroken.
Nanjing Massacre
Five years passed, and the result was somewhat comforting to him. Father did not participate in the later battles, and the sins on his hands were not as deep as he thought. However, the results also shocked him. It turned out that the truth of the matter was even more tragic than what he had seen in the historical data. His heart was filled with guilt and grief.
They refuse to eat Chinese food and do not want to have offspring
Haruki Murakami's confession to Chinese is reflected in many specific measures. For example, he refused to eat Chinese food all his life. It's not that he doesn't want to eat it, it's that he feels unworthy. As a descendant of a sinful people, how could he be qualified to touch the delicacies of his victims?
Once, he was invited to China to give a lecture. The moment he stepped on Chinese soil, Haruki Murakami almost burst into tears. He stabilized his emotions and followed the organizers to the hotel prepared in advance.
The image comes from the Internet
After taking your seat, delicious dishes were successively placed on the table. These delicacies are local specialties and each dish is steaming hot. Just looking at it can make people's fingers move. However, Haruki Murakami folded his hands together and never touched the chopsticks again.
He turned and took out the cold can from his backpack. Then, to the colleagues around him, he said apologetically: "Everyone enjoy it, I will eat this." ”
At first, the organizers thought that Haruki Murakami was not used to Chinese food. He also enthusiastically proposed, do you want to change the Japanese food store? Haruki Murakami waved his hand hurriedly.
"Don't bother me with everyone, I'm not uncomfortable. But I have already vowed not to touch Chinese food in my life. These cold cans, I can eat. ”
"Don't touch Chinese food? Why? ”
"My father once participated in the Japanese invasion of China. People say, how can I be qualified to eat Chinese food? ”
"Although that is unforgivable, what does it have to do with you?" Why would you put yourself in a cage? ”
"That's the principle in my heart, so I'm sorry everyone. I want to stick to my bottom line, just let my cold cans accompany everyone. ”
Not only did he not eat Chinese food, Haruki Murakami also vowed not to have children. This decision was also supported by his wife.
Haruki Murakami and his wife
Haruki Murakami's wife is named Yoko Takahashi. When the two met in micro, they supported each other and walked all the way. Yoko Takahashi is an independent woman who runs a coffee shop.
Although housewife culture is a feature of Japanese culture, Yoko Takahashi has never been dismissive of such housewives who live in dependence on men.
What is even more rare is that she can mentally share the frequency with Haruki Murakami. When Haruki Murakami first proposed the idea of not having children, Yoko Takahashi was not angry. She just calmly asked why, understanding her husband's true attitude.
"My family, they all confessed to you. As you know, my father was a Japanese invader. I have the blood of sin flowing from me. This legacy must end with me. So, I can't give birth to a child who continues to shed the blood of sin. The sins of the Father shall be broken here with me. ”
"I see. So, are there other reasons? ”
"He gave me an unhappy childhood, he was the origin of my tragedy. As a child, I was unhappy. Then as a father, I can't guarantee that I will be happy. If that's the case, why not maintain the status quo? At least I live with Yoko, and now I'm happy. ”
"I understand your idea, and you managed to convince me. It doesn't matter, if you don't have children, you don't have children. Our value does not need to be reflected by children. ”
His wife's understanding surprised Haruki Murakami. Originally, he had prepared a large paragraph to convince his wife. So to this day, Haruki Murakami still doesn't have any children of her own.
But as Yoko Takahashi said, the couple opened a coffee shop by themselves and wrote alone, and played no less value than others.
Standing up and setting out, he was bitterly rejected by his compatriots
Haruki Murakami's remarks and actions were already attacked by Japanese people at a very early stage. It's just that things didn't get big at that time, and the so-called criticism was just not painful or itchy.
However, Haruki Murakami's voice in the Diaoyu Island incident really pushed himself to the cusp of the storm. Obviously, it is our territory, but the Japanese want to seize it. Such an unreasonable act naturally aroused the resentment of the Chinese compatriots.
We didn't think there would be Japanese people speaking up for us. But Haruki Murakami, he did just that.
As a celebrity, Haruki Murakami has publicly expressed his support for China. "Not because I'm partial to China, but because I respect the facts," he said. From ancient times to the present, all kinds of evidence can prove that it is Chinese. That being the case, the current strife is completely meaningless. ”
As a celebrity, I don't even speak out for my country. Haruki Murakami's behavior was greatly incomprehensible to the Japanese. So his own compatriots turned the spearhead against him.
Haruki Murakami's books were removed from the shelves of bookstores and online stores; Haruki Murakami's posters were painted beyond recognition by the Japanese; and Haruki Murakami's signing and press conferences were all forced to terminate. The Japanese called him a "traitor" and a "traitor," and they poked Haruki Murakami's spine with honor.
More seriously, everyone pulled out the address of Yoko Takahashi's coffee shop. So every day, waves of people go to the coffee shop to make trouble. At the door of Haruki Murakami's house, a large fork was also painted with red paint. When public opinion reached its peak, Haruki Murakami must wear a mask and a hat when he went out. If he had been recognized, he might have been beaten up on the main road.
However, despite the serious impact on his life, Haruki Murakami does not regret what he did. In his opinion, he did not betray his country. He was just on the side of justice and spoke with facts.
And we Chinese compatriots are very grateful to Haruki Murakami for her righteous words. His reputation in China has also reached a climax. As many Japanese as they bullied him, more Chinese supported him. We do not stand for him personally, but for justice and justice.
After the war, the father and son reconciled on their deathbed
The story of Haruki Murakami and his father, Chiaki Murakami, was told by himself.
In 2019, Haruki Murakami published a book called Abandoned Cats, When I Talk About My Father. In this book, Haruki Murakami makes a profound self-analysis. He dissected not only his own life, but also his own thoughts.
The identity of the son of the sinner who invaded China made Haruki Murakami put himself in chains. The sins that belong to the Father seem to say that blood has flowed to Him. Through his own investigation, he found more tragic truths. The harm that my father has done to the Chinese people, and the harm that Japan has done to the people of Chinese, are unforgivable.
In this book, Haruki Murakami also makes a profound post-war reflection. Japan's pervasive reflection on failure is completely meaningless to the hurt nation. What we need is Haruki Murakami's reflection on unjust warfare.
He understood that a peaceful world was the best; he also understood that there was a fundamental difference between a just war and an unjust war; and he understood even more that the party who started the unjust war should atone for his actions.
Peace is the main theme of world development, and the party that provokes the war is confronting this main theme. This is a challenge not only to the aggressed, but also to the rules of the world as a whole.
And Japan, after causing so much harm, even refused to admit its accumulated crimes. Logically, this is unacceptable.
Of course, Haruki Murakami's reflections on the war are not only reflected in this book. His works such as "Strange Bird Behavior" and "Kafka by the Sea" embody Haruki Murakami's anti-war ideas.
War is a harm to people, but also a destruction of human nature. Anti-war should become a universal value. Reflection on war should become a compulsory course for mankind.
In the book "Abandoned Cat", Haruki Murakami also mentions the final ending with his father. His father was not directly involved in the massacre of the Japanese army, which made his heart a little loose.
Before his death, his father finally admitted his mistake. Regarding Haruki Murakami's decision not to produce offspring, his father also expressed understanding.
Therefore, when Murakami Chiaki was about to die, Haruki Murakami reconciled with him. After so many years of father-son estrangement, there are finally signs of melting. Of course, to what extent this reconciliation will be, we do not know.
Perhaps for Haruki Murakami, the so-called reconciliation is just the last comfort to her father. He had the blood of sin on his body, but he could never reconcile with himself.
epilogue
Why is Haruki Murakami loved by so many people? This is not only because of his delicate writing and high-quality works, but also because of his positive three views. While denying that aggression against China has become the mainstream value identity of Japan, he bravely stood up and exposed everything.
He is firmly on the side of justice, even if it is the side that is opposed to the state and his fellow countrymen. Because for him, wrong is wrong. The kind of damage that destroys the decay will not disappear with time.
As victims of war, we would never have liked to see more people like Haruki Murakami. They use their social influence to speak out for justice. They oppose war and do not forget to reflect on the war that has already taken place.
That positive, bright human values will subtly affect more people. The more people like them, perhaps the dove of peace in this world will be able to fly higher.