Lost Chapters in Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
ねじまき鳥クロニクル — 失われた章
Jay Rubin's 1997 English translation of Murakami Haruki's Nejimakidori kuronikuru (1994–95) cut approximately 61 of 1,379 pages — including three complete chapters and portions of a fourth. These omissions reshape key narrative threads and invite new readings of the novel.
I'm Kieran Maynard, a linguist. I translated the missing chapters and published my analysis in Pacific Asia Inquiry at the University of Guam. More than a decade later, there is still no unabridged English translation, so I'm making these available here for readers and scholars.
Wind-Up Bird Chronicle — Missing Chapters
Book 2 · Chapter 15
正しい名前、夏の朝にサラダオイルをかけて焼かれたもの、不正確なメタファー
The right name, the things burned with salad oil on a summer morning, a faulty metaphor
Kanō Creta loses her name; Tōru prepares to leave Japan; Wataya Noboru's political debut.
Book 2 · Chapter 17 (partial)
いちばん簡単なこと、洗練されたかたちでの復讐、ギターケースの中にあったもの
The simplest thing, the most sophisticated form of revenge, the thing in the guitar case
Tōru calls his uncle; a moonlit conversation about patience, time, and the meaning of revenge.
Book 2 · Chapter 18 (partial)
クレタ島からの便り、世界の縁から落としてしまったもの、良いニュースは小さい声で語られる
Tidings from Crete, the thing that fell off the edge of the world, good news is spoken by small voices
Tōru decides against Crete; the woman who was once Kanō Creta prepares to leave.
Book 3 · Chapter 26
損なうもの、熟れた果実
Damaging things, ripe fruit
Tōru faces Wataya Noboru across a computer screen in a final confrontation over Kumiko.
Blog
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Unstable Narrative in Murakami's Fiction
May 2026 · Essay — close readings of nested and metafictional narrative structure in Lederhosen, The Elephant Vanishes, Hear the Wind Sing, and The Second Bakery Attack.
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City Removes Monkey Cage Featured in Murakami's Debut Novel
February 2023 · Translation of an Asahi Digital article about the monkey cage at Uchide Park in Ashiya.
Other Translations
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Excerpt from Listen to the Wind Sing (風の歌を聴け, 1979)
Side-by-side Japanese original and English translation of Murakami's debut novel.
Many thanks to Dr. Mori Masaki (University of Georgia), Dr. Tim Cross (Fukuoka University), and the University of Georgia Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities for supporting this research. Errors are my own — corrections and comments are welcome.