1.-japanese-literature 13.-supernatural 17.-dark-humor 18.-psychological-thriller 19.-metaphysical 1980s 2.-magical-realism 4.-surrealism a-wild-sheep-chase abstraction absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure alienation allegorical alternate-reality alternative-reality amnesia. animal-symbolism animals atmospheric bizarre character-driven chase coming-of-age consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature counterculture crime cult cult-classic cult-following cultural-references culture-clash dark dark-comedy dark-humor darkness david-mitchell deconstruction delusion 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 existential. existentialism experimental exploration fantasy fantasy-elements fate fiction folklore folkloric friendship haruki-murakami haunting identity identity-crisis imagination immortality individuality international introspection introspective isolation japan japanese japanese-culture japanese-fiction japanese-literature journey kafkaesque literary literary-fiction literary-thriller literature literature-in-translation loneliness loner loss lost lost-love love love-story lyrical-prose magic-realism magical magical-creatures magical-realism manipulation metafiction 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 noir nostalgia novel obsession parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-worlds personal-transformation philosophical philosophy ponderous pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodern-fiction postmodernism power-dynamics protagonist psychological puzzling quest quirky reality redemption romance romantic satire search-for-identity self-discovery sheep sheep-chase sheep-man social-commentary solitude speculative-fiction spirituality storytelling subconscious supernatural surreal surrealism surrealist suspense suspenseful symbolic symbolic-animals symbolism symbols talking-animals thought-provoking thriller tokyo transcendence transformation transformative translation uncanny unconventional unconventional-love-story unconventional-narrative unexplained-phenomena urban urban-fantasy urban-life whimsical wild-sheep yakuza