Photo/Illutration Writer Haruki Murakami (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Haruki Murakami’s novel “Machi to Sono Futashikana Kabe” (The City and Its Uncertain Walls) won an Italian prize that honors contemporary Japanese works translated into Italian.

“I myself love the work of translation,” Murakami, a novelist also known as a translator of American literature, said in a speech at the award ceremony in Tokyo on Oct. 8.

“Translation is the ultimate form of close reading, and I can keep refining my own writing style by converting something written horizontally into a vertical format.”

The “Tokyo > Roma Parole in Transito” (Japan-Italy bridge of words) prize was established in 2022 by La Fondazione Italia Giappone, or the Italy-Japan Foundation, to promote contemporary Japanese literature in Italy.

Murakami and translator Antonietta Pastore were named joint winners of the fourth annual prize.

“As both a novelist and a translator, I am deeply honored to receive this award,” Murakami said.

Murakami spent a period in the 1980s living in Italy and Greece. At the time, his books had not yet been translated into local languages, and he recalled feeling a sense of loneliness because he could not share his works with people he met.

“Now, not only my own books but also works by many Japanese authors line the shelves of bookstores,” Murakami said. “It feels like a dream.”

Previous recipients of the prize are essayist Noriko Morishita, writer-translator Aoko Matsuda and novelist Yuya Sato, along with their respective translators.