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Shinchosha Publishing Co., Ltd. will release Haruki Murakami’s latest full-length novel, Kaho: The Tale of KAHO, his first in three years since the publication of The City and Its Uncertain Walls in April 2023. The novel will be available in both hardcover and digital editions simultaneously on Friday, July 3, 2026. The hardcover edition consists of 352 pages, equivalent to 650 manuscript pages, in a single volume.
Synopsis: First Female Protagonist
“To be honest, I’ve never met someone as ugly as you.”
Kaho, a 26-year-old picture book author, is suddenly told this by a man she meets for the first time.
She is neither exceptionally beautiful nor particularly smart, but simply a little more curious than most. Rather than feeling anger or shock, she is simply, purely surprised.
—What on earth is this man trying to say?
But from that moment, a series of strange and mysterious events begin to unfold around her.
The “Kaho” series, originally published in four installments in Shinchosha’s monthly magazine Shincho from the June 2024 to March 2026 issues, has been revised and expanded for this release. For the first time in a Haruki Murakami novel, the story features a female protagonist as the sole main character.
About the Author: Haruki Murakami
Born in Kyoto in 1949. Graduated from Waseda University, School of Letters, Arts and Sciences I. Made his debut in 1979 with Hear the Wind Sing (Gunzo New Writers’ Award). His major novels include A Wild Sheep Chase (Noma Literary New Face Prize), Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Tanizaki Prize), Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Yomiuri Literary Prize), Sputnik Sweetheart, Kafka on the Shore, After Dark, 1Q84 (Mainichi Publishing Culture Award), Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Killing Commendatore, and The City and Its Uncertain Walls. He has also published numerous short story collections such as Firefly, Barn Burning, and Other Short Stories, After the Quake, Tokyo Strange Stories, as well as essay collections and translations. His awards include the Franz Kafka Prize and Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award in 2006, the Jerusalem Prize in 2009, the Catalonia International Prize in 2011, the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award in 2016, the Cino Del Duca World Prize in 2022, and the Princess of Asturias Award for Literature in 2023.
- Special website: https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/special/kaho/
- Haruki Murakami Official Shinchosha Website: https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/harukimurakami/
Book Details
- Title: Kaho: The Tale of KAHO
- Author: Haruki Murakami
- Release Date: July 3, 2026
- Format: Hardcover with dust jacket
- Price: 2,860 yen (tax included)
- ISBN: 978-4-10-353440-2
- URL: https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/special/kaho/
Source: PR Times
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