1.-japanese-literature 14.-crime 1980s 20.-lifes-meaning a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure alienation allegorical alternate-reality alternative-reality animal-imagery animal-symbolism animals atmospheric bildungsroman bizarre brain-science burialvaults character-driven chase cognition cognitive-linguistics cognitive-science coming-of-age communication concepts conceptualization consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature counterculture crime cult cult-classic cult-following cultural-models culture-clash dark dark-comedy dark-humor darkness destiny detachment detective detective-fiction detective-story dream-like dreamlike dreams dystopia dystopian eccentric eccentric-characters embodiment enigma enigmatic escape existence existential existentialism experimental exploration fantasy fate fiction folklore friendship haruki haruki-murakami haunting horror horrortales identity identity-crisis imagination individuality introspection introspective isolation japan japanese japanese-culture japanese-fiction japanese-literature journey kafkaesque language linguistics literary literary-fiction literature literature-in-translation loneliness loner longing loss lost lost-sheep love love-story magic-realism magical magical-creatures magical-realism manipulation metafiction metamorphosis metaphorical-thinking metaphysical metaphysics mind-bending missing-person modern modern-classic modern-fiction modern-literature modernism murakami murakami-style music mysterious mystery mystical myth mythology noir nostalgia novel obsession parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-world parallel-worlds perception philosophical philosophy pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodernism power-dynamics protagonist psychological puzzling quest quirky reality reasoning rebellion redemption romance romantic satire self-discovery semantics sheep sheep-chase sheep-man social-commentary social-constructs solitude speculative-fiction spirituality storytelling subconscious supernatural surreal surrealism surrealist suspense suspenseful symbolic symbolic-animals symbolic-thought symbolism symbols talking-animals thought thought-provoking thriller tokyo transformation translation uncanny unconventional understanding unexplained-phenomena unique-narrative urban urban-fantasy urban-life wild-sheep yakuza