Novelist Haruki Murakami and the 32-year-old performer both embrace the simplicity of the run.
What does a 77-year-old, award-winning Japanese novelist have in common with a 32-year-old Grammy-winning pop artist? Surprisingly, a lot more than you may think. But the biggest thread connecting Haruki Murakami and Harry Styles has to be a shared love for the activity that’s a source of self-reflection and inner trust for both of them: running.
So perhaps there was no person more perfect than Murakami to interview Styles as part of our latest feature on the Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally singer’s relationship with running, music, creative process, and more. And if you were unaware of Murakami before reading his conversation with Styles, let us introduce you to him. A runner and author of dozens of published works, Murakami is a familiar figure to many within the running community — even though he’s a self-proclaimed “ordinary guy.” In fact, his choice to share through writing his mundane-yet-empowering experience training for a marathon has resonated with runners around the world — including Styles — making him much more than ordinary in the eyes of many.
Murakami’s 2007 memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running consistently ranks among the best running books ever published, up there with other popular works like Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run and John L. Parker Jr.’s fictional tale Once a Runner. In his book, Murakami explains how both of his passions — writing and distance running — intersect, and ultimately give him insights into navigating life goals and purpose. He documents his training block for the 2005 New York City Marathon, which runs parallel to his novel-writing process.
Perhaps what makes him so beloved is his ability to explain what it’s like to be the “normal runner,” stripping away all the superficial glitz and glam and getting to the core of what makes running a universal language. That realistic storytelling drew Styles into Murakami’s work, he explains in our story, and he even credits Murakami’s memoir for helping him believe he could tackle a marathon. Styles went on to run the 2025 Tokyo Marathon in 3:24:07, and then broke the three-hour barrier with a 2:59:13 effort at the Berlin Marathon later that year. Murakami has finished over 25 marathons, and picked up running in 1982 when he was around the same age as Harry is now.
But Styles’s love for Murakami’s stories doesn’t begin and end with What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. The New York Public Library highlighted some of the books the artist has read, talked about, or been seen carrying (affectionately calling it “Harry Styles’s House of Books”), a list which includes Murakami’s popular tales The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Norwegian Wood. Murakami’s full writing repertoire includes over 40 published books, spanning fiction, non-fiction, and short-story formats.
So when Styles sat down with Murakami for our story, he used the interview as a time to not just speak with one of his artistic and running role models, but thoughtfully pick his brain and learn more about the “ordinary guy.” Because at the end of the day, even someone who has spent the better part of life in the limelight can relate to the real human connection that comes with running, something that Murakami has shared with the running community through his writing. “What I like about running is that it’s a very solitary thing, but only in a way. You’re alone, but then you’re also with other runners, with a vague kind of boundary between you,” he explains in his discussion with Styles. “My book about running was translated into many languages so wherever I go in the world, if I’m on a run, other runners recognize me and call out my name. So wherever I go, I have a friend. ”
You, too, can dive into Murakami’s works to inspire your own running journey, beginning with his iconic memoir. Read the complete conversation with Styles and Murakami by heading to our full feature, and explore how else Styles’s running can inspire your own path, whether it’s to head out for your first run, master the marathon, or take down the three-hour barrier.
