3 Reasons Why ‘After Dark’ is Haruki Murakami’s Underrated Masterpiece

After Dark was released to the Japanese audience in 2004. It was then translated and published in English in 2007. This is Murakami’s attempt of bottling up the seemingly simple but infinitely complex nightlife of Tokyo.

This novel takes place, as you would guess, after dark; and has clocks at the start of each chapter indicating the time of night. This works to help set the atmosphere of the novel, which is encompassing and magical in a nighttime way— unique to this Murakami novel alone. The plot is very simple, but has magical elements trademark to Murakami mixed in, adding a mysterious veil around certain scenes and causing you to question whether they are dream or reality.

Although I have not read every Murakami book (far from it), I think it is his most fun read, yet it still deals with issues of self-identity among other things present throughout his work.

“Time moves in a special way in the middle of the night.”

-Haruki Murakami, from After Dark

Without further ado, we’ll hop into the 3 reasons why I think this is Murakami’s underrated masterpiece:

1: The Ambience

The ambience and atmosphere that Murakami creates using a relaxed plot, references to music and movies, and simple — almost tired sounding — dialogue, all work to create the encompassing experience I mentioned earlier. He mentions Hall & Oates and Pet Shop Boys! I would suggest that whenever a song is mentioned, look it up on YouTube (there’s also a Spotify playlist dedicated to this) and play the song, I found it made for a more enjoyable experience, that dragged me even further into the world.

There’s also a special spot on Murakami’s website dedicated to listing all the music he mentions in (most) of his books.

To add to the ambience, I’ve heard it suggested that you read the book in concurrence to the time of each chapter. So, for the first chapter (marked as occurring at 11:56pm) you would start reading at 11:56pm. This could be a fun overnight experience as it would take you to 6:52am, and presumably — depending on where you live and the season — the sun would be rising by then, and a new day would be in its youthful stages.

Although I have never been to Japan, this book makes me feel as though I had lived there for a certain, brief period of time. It captures the ease of a late night stroll through the quiet streets, and gives you a glimpse at the seemingly odd — but normal — people who work the graveyard shift. There’s just something distinct about it, different than what I experience on a daily basis which allows me to experience the novel as though I am visiting there.

2: Perspective

The novel is written in an odd perspective. Almost like we are a present bystander observing everything and telling the story to another person. Our perspective is like a drone, and Murakami allows us to fly to different places to see different things. This is extremely unique, and I’ve haven’t seen this perspective (which I still don’t know how to fully describe) displayed in another novel.

The perspective shifts multiple times throughout the novel. It follows 19-year-old Mari, her sleeping sister Eri, a business man named Shirakawa, and a jazz obsessed boy named Tetsuya. The main bulk of the story follows Mari, but the other perspectives intertwine and create a more complex story showcasing not just one person’s overnight experience, but multiple peoples whose lives get tangled up out of chance.

For how odd this book is, the perspective works (though I can’t see it working in any other book).

3: The Story

We start out with Mari, who’s reading in a quiet Denny’s, and how she gets tangled up in a string of events leading her to a love hotel, a jazz bar, and a train station, all while meeting a prostitute, gangsters, and various nighttime workers. And it all starts when someone she’s met only once before, Tetsuya, sits down across from her at a Denny’s booth.

The story to me feels like Murakami is trying to show how diverging our paths can be, and how being alone isn’t ‘bad’. There is both an interconnectedness and loneliness present in the narrative, which feels very relevant considering the pandemic (uhhh… boring). I think the night could also be interpreted as a cloak — a way to hide from things or fears in the past that still haunt characters. These two are both explored in the simple but elegant prose.

“In this world, there are things you can only do alone, and things you can only do with someone else. It’s important to combine the two in just the right amount.”

-Haruki Murakami, from After Dark

Overall, the story is very vague (traditionally found in Japanese novels) and open to interpretation. For this reason it’s fun. Regardless of if the night is meant to represent sadness, I found the book to be both interesting and calming. I must advise you and say that there are some weird parts — this is typical in Murakami novels — but he is a master of his craft.

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To summarize, I think you should read this book. It’s short; my copy comes in at just under 250 pages (I believe in some editions though it comes in under 200 pages). I think the book is best read at night for maximal enjoyment and to experience the full ambient.

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If you’ve read this book, or are going to read this, let me know what you think.