Japanese novelist, short-story writer, and essayist

Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the World Fantasy Award, the Tanizaki Prize, Yomiuri Prize for Literature, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Noma Literary Prize, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Kiriyama Prize for Fiction, the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize, and the Princess of Asturias Awards.

Born

1949

January 12

Died

Living

Era

1940s

Country

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About

Haruki, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1949 Born

Also on January 12

What else happened on this day, through history

475 Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
1528 Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned since his election in June 1523.
1554 Bayinnaung, who would go on to assemble the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, is crowned King of Burma.
1616 The city of Belém, Brazil is founded on the Amazon River delta by Portuguese captain Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco.

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The world in 1949

When Haruki arrived

april 1 Chinese Civil War: The Chinese Communist Party holds unsuccessful peace talks with the Nationalist Party in Beijing, after three years of fighting.
april 1 The Government of Canada repeals Japanese-Canadian internment after seven years.
april 18 The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force, declaring Éire to be a republic and severing Ireland's "association" with the Commonwealth of Nations.
april 20 Amethyst incident: The People's Liberation Army attacks HMS Amethyst (F116) travelling to the British embassy in Nanjing during the Chinese Civil War.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on January 12

Alasdair MacIntyre 1929– Scottish-American philosopher and academic (died 2025) Arif Yunusov 1955– Azerbaijani author, historian, and human rights activist. Chet Jastremski 1941– American swimmer and physician (died 2014) Edmund Burke 1729–1797 Irish philosopher, academic, and politician (died 1797) Farrah Forke 1968–2022 American actress (born 1968) Fevzi Çakmak 1876–1950 Turkish field marshal and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1876) Hande Yener 1973– Turkish singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Jusepe de Ribera 1591– Spanish painter (died 1652) Morton Feldman 1926–1987 American composer and academic (died 1987)

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1949

Alan García 1949–2019 Peruvian lawyer and politician, twice President of Peru (born 1949) Alla Pugacheva 1949– Russian singer-songwriter and actress Anna Wintour 1949– English-American journalist Beth Grant 1949– American actress Billy Joel 1949– American singer-songwriter and pianist Carlos the Jackal 1949– Venezuelan terrorist David A. Cherry 1949– American artist and illustrator Dominique Strauss-Kahn 1949– French economist, lawyer, and politician, French Minister of Finance Don Baylor 1949–2017 American baseball player (born 1949)

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More to explore

Haruki's birthday January 12 Haruki's zodiac Capricorn When Haruki arrived 1949