1.-japanese-literature 13.-supernatural 14.-crime 17.-dark-humor 18.-psychological-thriller 1980s 2.-magical-realism 4.-surrealism a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure alienation allegorical alternate-reality alternative-reality amnesia. animal-symbolism animals atmospheric bizarre character-driven character-transformation chase coming-of-age consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature counterculture cult cult-classic cult-favorite cult-following cultural-references culture-clash dark dark-comedy dark-humor darkness david-mitchell deconstruction destiny detachment detective detective-fiction detective-story dream-like dreamlike dreams dreamscape dystopia dystopian east-meets-west eccentric eccentric-characters enigma enigmatic escape escapism existence existential existentialism experimental exploration fantasy fate fiction folklore folkloric friendship friendships haruki-murakami haunting identity identity-crisis imagination individuality intelligence introspection introspective isolated isolation japan japanese japanese-author japanese-culture japanese-fiction japanese-literature journey kafkaesque literary literary-fiction literature literature-in-translation literature-translation loneliness loner loss lost lost-love love love-story magic-realism magical magical-creatures magical-realism manipulation metafiction metamorphosis metaphysical metaphysics mind-bending missing-person modern modern-classic modern-fiction modern-literature modernism murakami murakami-style music mysterious mysterious-animals mystery mystical myth mythology narrator noir nostalgia novel obscurity obsession parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-worlds personal-transformation philosophical philosophy ponderous pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodernism power-dynamics protagonist psychological puzzling quest quests quirky reality redemption romance romantic satire self-discovery sheep sheep-chase sheep-man social-commentary solitude speculative-fiction spirituality storytelling subconscious supernatural supernatural-elements surreal surrealism surrealist suspense suspenseful symbolic symbolic-animals symbolism symbols talking-animals thought-provoking thriller tokyo transcendence transformation translation uncanny unconventional unexplained-phenomena unique-narrative unique-narrative-style urban urban-fantasy urban-life wild-sheep writing yakuza