芦屋市、公園のサルのオリを撤去へ 村上春樹さんデビュー作にも登場
Ashiya city to remove the monkey cage that appeared in Murakami Haruki's debut novel
Feb 9 Asahi Digital by 真常法彦; translated by Kieran Maynard
作家・村上春樹さんのデビュー作「風の歌を聴け」に登場する「猿の檻（おり）のある公園」のモデルとされる打出公園（兵庫県芦屋市）のサルのオリについて、市は撤去を決めた。一方で、今も村上さんのファンが訪れることから、市はオリのフェンスの一部を再利用してモニュメントを制作し、オリがあったことも記録として伝えていくという。
The Japanese city of Ashiya in Hyōgo Prefecture has decided to remove the monkey cage from Uchide Park. The cage is thought to have been the model for the "park with a monkey cage" that featured in Murakami Haruki's debut novel Listen to the Wind Sing (1979). Considering that Murakami fans sometimes come to visit, the city will reuse a part of the fence to create a monument that commemorates the monkeys.
市はこれまで地元住民に意見を聞く場を複数回設けてきたが、「撤去はやむをえない」という意見が多かったという。市道路・公園課の担当者は「公園改修にはオリの撤去が必要。地域に愛され、村上さんのファンにも引き続き愛される公園になるよう改修を進めたい」としている。
The city held multiple meetings to hear from local residents, but ultimately most were of the opinion that there was no choice but to remove the monkey cage. A representative from the city's roads and parks division said, "The removal of the cage is necessary for the renovation of the park. We plan to improve the park such that it will continue to be loved by the community and Murakami fans alike."
今年6～7月に公園を閉鎖してオリを撤去。モニュメントは公園名を示すもの▽公園利用のルールを示すもの▽オリの歴史や村上さんの作品との関わりを伝えるものの3基制作する予定という。
The park will be closed in June or July and the monkey cage will be removed. The monument will display the name and rules of the park, as well as information about the history of the monkey cage and its connection to Murakami's work.
市は公園と隣接する打出教育文化センターの改修事業費として3億9576万円を2023年度当初予算案に計上する。うち公園改修費約8234万円にオリの撤去費やモニュメント制作費が含まれる
The city will budget 396 million yen for the renovation of the adjacent Uchide Education and Culture Center, of which 82 million (US$611k) is included for the removal of the cage and construction of the monument.
Comments: The whole story is very meta, like something that would appear in a Murakami work. It's like "The Elephant Vanishes" meets "Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey."
Murakami's debut novel was one of the first I read cover to cover in Japanese, painstakingly with a dictionary, in 2011. I learned the words for "cage" and "installment payments" from that passage (where the narrator and Nezumi crash their car into the cage). So I'm sad to hear the monkeys will go. Sentimental and biased, yes, but Murakami's literary world is sentimental and biased. I wouldn't be surprised if Murakami himself is following this story. Maybe the monkeys will make another appearance in a Murakami novel after 44 years.