Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, an accomplished translator and author whose works have been rendered into different languages for readers around the world, said in Shibuya, Tokyo, on Thursday that translation is "almost in the realm of a hobby" for him.
"I just find myself doing more and more (translations)," Murakami said at an event celebrating the publication of a new nonfiction work in which he reflects on his experience doing translations.
It is rare for Murakami, 68, to speak in public in Japan. But he seemed relaxed, clad in a T-shirt and jacket, as he gave a speech peppered with jokes to an audience of around 460 people.
Reflecting on his experience with writing novels and translating foreign literature, Murakami said he feels like his "mental circulation has improved greatly by keeping a good balance (between the two)."
He said that translating the works of American writer Raymond Chandler has made him realize he is "still developing" as a novelist.
"For people who create things, getting oddly settled into a fixed system is what's frightening," Murakami said. "Translation is like a window opened onto the outside."
Murakami got his start in translation work in 1981 and continued it as he penned his best-selling novels. Around 70 of his translations have been published.
His latest work touches on themes from American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose works are among Murakami's translations.
