Japanese writer and filmmaker Ryu Murakami dies at 74

Japanese writer and filmmaker Ryu Murakami died at home on October 17, 2026, aged 74, his publisher Gentosha announced on October 23 in a statement reported by Deadline.

Murakami made his literary debut in 1976 while still a university student. His first novel, Almost Transparent Blue, won the 19th Gunzo New Writers’ Award and the 75th Akutagawa Prize. Deadline reports that its hardcover and paperback editions sold more than 3.5 million copies.

From prize-winning novels to cinema

His later novels included Coin Locker Babies, for which he received the third Noma Literary Newcomer’s Award in 1980. A World Five Minutes Later, published in 1994, imagines an alternate history in which Japan did not surrender in World War II. In 1997, he won the 49th Yomiuri Literary Prize for In the Miso Soup.

Murakami also wrote and directed film adaptations of his own works. Tokyo Decadence explores women’s lives in Tokyo during the bubble economy, a period of inflated asset prices. Kyoko follows a young Japanese woman’s relationship with a Cuban-American serviceman stationed in Japan.

Gentosha said a private family funeral had already taken place. In accordance with the family’s wishes, they are declining condolence visits, monetary offerings, floral tributes, telegrams and other gifts.