What the bookmaker is thinking, when Haruki Murakami turns into a coffee specialty, have a cup of "Norwegian Forest" artwork | Haruki Murakami | Coffee
Talking about loss, depicting loneliness, and exploring the inner subtleties of urbanites... The strong individualistic tendencies, iconic urbanism, and lonely atmosphere in the works of Japanese author Haruki Murakami have influenced a generation of Chinese readers. From today's perspective, the portrayal of popular culture in Murakami's works still resonates with the discussion of lifestyle among young people today.
Shanghai Translation Publishing House has launched the "Revised Edition of Haruki Murakami Hardbound Series" this year, with a particular emphasis on adjusting popular culture and lifestyle language to keep up with the times, such as changing "Celebrity Talk" to "Talk Show" and "Thick Blue Cloth Shirt" to "Cowboy Shirt"; At the same time, the names of the music pieces appearing in Murakami's novels were uniformly corrected to the conventional translation method, and corresponding music lists were attached for each work. These subtle adjustments are aimed at making the work more in line with the current reader's life context, facilitating readers to understand the character traits and attitudes conveyed by the author through popular elements.
So, can you touch the real Haruki Murakami style in urban life? Yongpu Coffee's offline stores, "City is CITIBORING," Yongjia Road and Yuyuan Road, have recently transformed into Murakami Haruki themed pop-up stores. Inspired by Murakami's works, these specialty drinks and decorations showcase the charm of Murakami Haruki's novels as popular cultural symbols, inviting readers to immerse themselves in the "100% Murakami World" amidst the mellow aroma of coffee and the charm of cocktails.
"Drink beer in summer and whiskey in winter."
"On a refreshing Sunday morning, turning on the speaker, boiling water and making coffee, is truly a great happiness in life."
Haruki Murakami's love for coffee and wine is often reflected in his works. The pop-up store has developed 5 exclusive specialty drinks, including 2 coffee options "Norwegian Forest" and "1973 Pinball", 3 cocktails "Let's Listen to the Wind" and "The Adventure of Searching for Sheep", and "The End of the World and the Cold Wonderland". The 5 special tunes strive to present the stylistic features of the Murakami works they represent. For example, the butter flavor of "Norwegian forests" reminds people of the famous line in the book "I love the tigers in the entire world's forests melting into butter"; "The End of the World and the Cold Wonderland" presents a chilling sense of sadness through mint leaves and floating ice.
Collection of 5 cups of special drink Shi Chen Lu
Writing about popular culture is an important label of Haruki Murakami's works. In the past two decades, Haruki Murakami's influence as a popular cultural symbol has not diminished but increased, and his unique depiction of urban life is still discussed and loved by young readers today. Co founder and CEO of Yongpu Coffee, Kuriko Mao, talked about the impact of Haruki Murakami's works on his life philosophy and even his career path - from liking premium wine and coffee to establishing his own coffee brand, these choices are all influenced by Haruki Murakami's works.
In the pop-up store event, the publisher hopes to showcase the popular elements loved by Murakami and the lifestyle of his characters through a series of characteristic exhibitions featuring hidden Easter eggs. For readers who have not been exposed to Murakami's works, this may become an entry point for them to enter the world of writers; "Murakami fans" can discover their familiar "Murakami imprints": a cup of coffee that Murakami drinks before work, iced whiskey that he can't give up even in winter, music he loves to listen to while running, vinyl discs collected from old record stores
In addition to coffee pop-up stores, Shanghai Translation Publishing House has also collaborated with NetEase Cloud Music to release "Murakami Color Spectrum" and limited edition "Murakami Haruki Color Blind Box Book", and has exhibited "dopamine book walls" made up of color blind boxes in multiple bookstores. Behind the diversified gameplay of transforming literary flavor into beverage flavor, transforming textual emotions into color emotions, and transforming fictional imagination into real experiences, lies the publisher's understanding of the connotation of the work and the recognition of reader needs.
Based on paper books, not limited to them, from "managing" works to "managing" writers, from providing reading products to providing reading services, we aim to create a richer reading experience for readers, increase the "channel" for readers to meet writers and works, and more importantly, use innovative gameplay as a fulcrum to leverage the interest of a wider audience in reading. The person in charge of the event expressed that after checking in and drinking coffee, they hope more readers can start their reading journey.