Haruki Murakami's upcoming novel, The Tale of Kaho, will be published in Japan on 3 July, marking the first time the acclaimed author has written a full-length novel featuring a woman as the sole protagonist. The 352-page book centres on Kaho, a 26-year-old picture book author, and is based on a four-part series originally published in the literary magazine Shincho between June 2024 and March 2026, now revised and expanded.
The story begins with Kaho on a blind date where a man tells her: “I’ve dated all kinds of women in my life, but I have to say I’ve never seen one as ugly as you.” Murakami described Kaho as “a very ordinary girl, not so pretty, not so smart”, but noted that “so many strange things happen to her, around her”. In a February interview with the New York Times, he said writing from a woman’s perspective felt unfamiliar but natural, adding: “I became her.” He also described the novel as more optimistic than his previous work.
Murakami, 77, has faced consistent criticism for his portrayal of women, often accused of reducing female characters to sexualised or one-dimensional objects. In a 2004 interview with the Paris Review, he said: “In my stories, women are mediums – harbingers of the coming world. That’s why they always come to my protagonist; he doesn’t go to them.” His publisher, Shinchosha Publishing Co, confirmed that The Tale of Kaho is his first full-length novel with a sole female protagonist, though women have been main characters in his short stories and one of two protagonists in 1Q84.
The novel follows Murakami’s 2024 work The City and Its Uncertain Walls, published in the UK. In October, Penguin will release Abandoning a Cat, an essay about his father, translated by Philip Gabriel. A UK edition of The Tale of Kaho has not yet been announced. Murakami, one of Japan's best-known contemporary authors, has written 15 novels over 47 years, translated into about 50 languages, and is a frequent contender for the Nobel prize in literature.
