Murakami vs. his influences

 While it's very clear that Murakami takes inspiration from a number of different authors and novels (most of which being Western), there's an element to his works that seem to stand out to the works he's been influenced by. Lots of similarities can be seen between Murakami's Boku and Chandler's Marlowe, varying from their internal monologues are written to aspects of their personalities: they both linger on meditative, repetitive activities that most authors choose to leave out of their descriptions in action novels; they are both driven by their own unique moral code that clearly contrasts with the characters around them; they both seek answers and justice for the sake of doing the right thing; etc. Murakami himself has specifically stated that he read and was influenced by Raymond Chandler. Murakami's work is unapologetically influenced by Chandler.

There is a certain aspect of Murakami's works and his writing style that differentiates his works from Chandler's, and other influences. His works have their own unique voice, and are cohesive throughout his portfolio. In a word, I would sum up Murakami's writing as dreamlike, whether he delves into absurdity (severed whale penises, sheep-people, magically seductive ears, raining fish, talking cats) or dissociative states that bend time, space, and reality (stair landings, elevators, mirrors, the spirit world, abandoned pits in abandoned temples, living in a tv screen). Murakami is not afraid to take his readers into another world, a vague world that he doesn't always explain to us, where Chandler keeps his readers grounded in reality. Something in Murakami's prose uses descriptions and absurd dialogues to pull the reader away from grounded thought, and this something is almost exclusive to his works.

Hayao Miyazaki, another Japanese artist, is known to bring this dreamlike quality to his works. When asked why he devotes so much time and care into showing his characters in their mundane lives doing routine, mundane things, he says recognizes this particular aspect of his works.

I told Miyazaki I love the "gratuitous motion" in his films; instead of every movement being dictated by the story, sometimes people will just sit for a moment, or they will sigh, or look in a running stream, or do something extra, not to advance the story but only to give the sense of time and place and who they are.

"We have a word for that in Japanese," he said. "It's called ma. Emptiness. It's there intentionally."

Is that like the "pillow words" that separate phrases in Japanese poetry?

"I don't think it's like the pillow word." He clapped his hands three or four times. "The time in between my clapping is ma. If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it's just busyness, But if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension. If you just have constant tension at 80 degrees all the time you just get numb."

 Is this ma a uniquely Japanese concept? By adding ma to his works, is this how Murakami Japanifies the Western fiction he loves and is inspired by? Moments when he pauses the story to have Boku make a cup of coffee, or scrounge up all the leftovers in his fridge to make dinner, or admire the view of the mountains outside his home, suggest that it may be. However, Chandler uses moments like making a cup of coffee and making dinner in The Long Goodbye, but it seems to have the opposite effect that Murakami's use does. Chandler adds in his narrating protagonist's commentary, which cues the reader into the character and what's happening to him, while Murakami leaves space between his words to leave it open to interpretation. Perhaps that may be a reason why his protagonists are always nameless; the space where his name should be is ma.

Juliana