Haruki Murakami, His Translator Win Award for Japanese Literature Published in Italy

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, October 10, 2025

Haruki Murakami described translation as an ultimate close reading during an award ceremony at the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Wednesday.

Murakami and Antonietta Pastore, who translated his novel “Machi to Futashika na Kabe” (“The City and Its Uncertain Walls”) into Italian, are the winners of the fourth edition of Il Premio Tokyo-Roma: Parole in Transito (the Tokyo-Rome prize: Words in transit), which is awarded to the author of an accomplished work of Japanese literature published in Italy and its translator. Organizers of the award include the Fondazione Italia Giappone (Italy-Japan Foundation) and The Yomiuri Shimbun.

“Translation is an ultimate close reading, and I’ve learned many important things from that,” Murakami, 76, said.

Murakami, who lived in Italy and Greece in the mid-1980s, also looked back on how things were those days.

“At that time, my novels weren’t published in Italy yet. But now, many excellent translators have arrived, and novels by me as well as other Japanese authors are available at bookstores in Italy. It feels like a dream,” Murakami said, looking deeply moved.

Murakami, an able translator himself, has translated many works, such as “The Great Gatsby.”

“I feel unsettled unless I write down something every day,” he said. “By translating great texts, I can learn various writing techniques.”

Pastore sent in a video message to the award ceremony.

“Mr. Murakami’s works speak to readers across the world without ever losing purity,” she said.