Looking for Haruki Murakami’s novel Killing Commendatore? Look harder at Hong Kong’s public libraries
Book will only be available to readers aged above 18 after novel is given class two ‘indecent’ rating, and exhibitors at Hong Kong Book Fair are told to remove it from booths
Public libraries in Hong Kong will prevent readers aged under 18 from borrowing a novel by popular Japanese author Haruki Murakami after the book was classified as “indecent” by a legal panel.
The decision by the Obscene Articles Tribunal has raised eyebrows among publishers at the city’s annual literary highlight, the Hong Kong Book Fair, in its third day on Friday.
Event organiser the Hong Kong Trade Development Council ordered the book be removed from all shelves at the exhibition.
The novel, titled Kishidancho Goroshi, or Killing Commendatore, is sold in city bookstores with its cover wrapped and a warning about its content. Like much of Murakami’s work, the book includes occasional sex.
A spokesman for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department said all copies of the Chinese-language version in public libraries would also be coated with wrappers and warnings.