The Japanese clothing brand, Uniqlo has recently unveiled its Haruki Murakami x UT T-shirt collection, which celebrates Japan’s most celebrated modern author. The eight T-shirt designs are inspired by Murakami’s bestselling titles such as ‘Norwegian Wood’ and ‘1Q84,’ his philosophical musings, and love for jazz.
The Japanese author has a huge fan base all over the world for novels like ‘Kafka on the Shore’ and ‘A Wild Sheep Chase.’ This UT collection features graphic designs from Murakami’s famous works and Murakami Radio-themed iteration.
Ode to literary works
The collection hails the literary works of Haruki Murakami with eight different styles of short-sleeved T-shirts in muted color palette. Murakami’s famous quotes from his novels, such as “Don’t let appearances fool you” and “Understanding is but the sum of our misunderstandings” elegantly grace the designs, with additional graphics acknowledging each novel.
The minimalist designs are a treat for literary fans. While the ‘Norwegian Wood’ T-shirt has the simplest design with the author’s name and the title of the book, other tees have more elaborated designs. The one about ‘Kafka on the Shore’ features a silhouette of a bird with a quote from the novel in Japanese, whereas the ‘1Q84’ shirt has a small yet powerful excerpt rendered in backward text.
Other T-shirts feature some of the distinguished works of Murakami such as ‘Dance Dance Dance,’ ‘Pinball, 1973’ and ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’ with graphic artworks to sum up the titles.
Depicting love for music
Many of the fans may not know that before Murakami started writing, he used to run a jazz club and is a huge jazz enthusiast. The new UT collection also glorifies Murakami’s love for music. Two of the tees reference the author’s ongoing radio project, Murakami Radio. One features the illustration of a cat at a writing desk, same as the one used to advertise the author’s live Tokyo FM radio show, while the other includes a quote from the man himself.
The quote reads, “For me, the trick to writing a novel, or shall I say elements, is the same as music. First, there must be a rhythm. Then you need harmony. And improvisations. These three elements are extremely crucial for me.”
All the T-shirts from the collection will be available for ¥1,500 ($14.50) each on the Uniqlo online store, starting March 8. Moreover, three different pin badges will be available for ¥590 ($8.04) each, along with a set of ‘Murakami Radio’ stickers for ¥390 ($3.65).