Japan never really had the equivalent of the Angry Young Man phenomenon - the beat and psychedelic movements largely passed it by, and in the 60' and early '70s student radicals were more concerned with Japan-US defense pacts than with turning on and dropping out. From that time, however, a small group of writers gained fame both at home and abroad, thanks to their works questioning materialism and searching for alternatives. The two most well-known proponents are Murakami Haruki and his unrelated namesake, Murakami Ryu.

Born in Nagasaki in 1952, Murakami Ryu came to Tokyo to enroll in the Musashino University of Art, but dropped out when he discovered that he was better suited to being a writer. He attracted literary attention with his debut novel, 'Almost Transparent Blue'. The novel won the Akutagawa Literary Award in 1976, and went on to sell over two million copies. Murakami wrote and directed the film version of the story in 1978.

"Almost Transparent Blue" is a brutal tale of lost youth in a Japanese port town close to an American military base. Murakami's image-intensive narrative paints a portrait of a group of friends locked in a destructive cycle of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll in 70's Japan. Representing a sharp and conscious turning away from the introspective trend of postwar Japanese literature, this book polarized critics and public alike and soon attracted international attention as an alternative view of modern Japan.