Fans of Haruki Murakami lined up at bookstores from the wee hours of Friday morning to be the first to get their hands on the famed author's much-anticipated new novel.

“Shikisai wo Motanai Tazaki Tsukuru to Kare no Junrei no Toshi,” (“Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage”) — the first novel penned by Murakami since his "1Q84" trilogy was released from 2009 to 2010 — already has a prerelease print run of half a million copies.

"I must be at work at 7:30 a.m., so I have about an hour to start reading. I will probably spend my lunch break reading the book as well," a female Murakami fan, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Japan Times.