Before I went to Japan for the first time I used to spend a LOT of time in kinokuniya bookstore. Coin Locker Babies was the first book I bought there, followed by the Tao of Beauty. HE -Murakami wrote the way I did gear. It was instant love. I may have never found a Segway out of fabric into full logos without him & William Gibson. There are 2 Murakami authors that get translated into English. He was my Murakami.