is a roman à clef

Roman à clef

Roman à clef or roman à clé , French for "novel with a key", is a phrase used to describe a novel about real life, overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the nonfiction and the fiction...

 novel by Ryu Murakami

Ryu Murakami

is a Japanese novelist and filmmaker. He is colloquially referred to as the "Maradona of Japanese literature".-Biography:Born as Ryūnosuke Murakami in Sasebo, Nagasaki on February 19, 1952...

. It was published first in 1987. It takes place in the year 1969, and tells the story of some high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 students coming of age in an obscure Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese city who try to mimic the counter-culture movements taking place in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 and other parts of the world.

Synopsis

Thirty-two-year-old narrator Kensuke Yazaki takes a nostalgic look at the year 1969 when he, as an ambitious and aspiring seventeen-year-old, living in Sasebo

Sasebo, Nagasaki

is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...

, in western Kyushu

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

 where he gets into antics with his equally ambitious and enthusiastic best friends, Iwase and Adama.
Their priorities are girls, cinema, music, literature, pop culture, organising a school festival "The Morning Erection Festival", bettering teachers and enemies, and finding a way to change the world somehow.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The 2004

2004 in film

The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...

 film 69

69 (film)

69 is a 2004 film adaptation of Ryu Murakami's novel 69.-Cast:*Satoshi Tsumabuki as Kenichi Yazaki*Masanobu Ando as Tadashi "Adama" Yamada*Yuta Kanai as Manabu Iwase*Asami Mizukawa as Mie Nagayama* as Kazuko "Lady Jane" Matsui...

is based on Murakami's novel.

Release details

• 1987, Japan, ? (ISBN 4-08-772616-9), Pub date 1 August 1987, hardback (First edition)
• 1993, Europe ?, Kodansha Europe (ISBN 4-7700-1736-7), Pub date 1 September 1993, hardback (Eng. trans.)
• 1995, Europe ?, Kodansha Europe (ISBN 4-7700-1951-3), Pub date ? March 1995, paperback (Eng. trans.)
• 2006, Europe ?, Kodansha Europe (ISBN 4-7700-3013-4), Pub date 7 February 2006, paperback (Eng. trans.)
• 2004, Germany, Suhrkamp Verlag (ISBN 3-518-45633-4), Pub date 30 September 2004, paperback

External links

• "69" review Japanzine By Zack Davisson