Kengo Kuma’s library devoted to Haruki Murakami opens in Tokyo

Designed by starchitect Kengo Kuma, the Haruki Murakami Library – officially called Waseda International House of Literature – opens next week in Tokyo at Waseda University, the writer’s alma mater. Devoted to the work of the famous novelist, the library was conceived to be an ideal spot for creative writing, cultural exchange, literary research and inevitably a gathering place for fans. It will boast also 3,000 of Murakami’s books, manuscripts, scrapbooks and other materials, including translations into 50 different languages, along with a part of his massive record collection. 

Visitors will enter in the building through a tunnel-like passageway. Kuma, one of novelist’s many fans, declared tunnels are his image of Murakami's stories, in which protagonists often travel between the real and the surreal. “I hope this will be a place where students can freely exchange and materialize ideas — a free, unique and fresh spot on the university campus,” said Murakami.