‘Indecent’ classification for Haruki Murakami’s Killing Commendatore will ‘bring shame’ to Hong Kong, online petition says
Adjudicator for Obscene Articles Tribunal calls for review of assessment system
More than 1,860 people have signed a petition demanding that Hong Kong’s Obscene Articles Tribunal withdraw its decision to classify a novel by popular Japanese author Haruki Murakami as “indecent”.
This latest development came as an adjudicator for the tribunal on Monday called for a review of the assessment system, suggesting changes such as recruiting adjudicators via random selection instead of self-recommendation, and increasing the manpower and time devoted to assessing a work.
The panel sparked an uproar earlier this month by classifying Murakami’s novel – Kishidancho Goroshi, or Killing Commendatore – as “indecent”. The rating means the work must not be distributed to anyone below 18 and must be sealed in a wrapper with printed warnings on the front and back covers.
The novel revolves around a portrait artist whose wife suddenly wants a divorce. He goes to stay at a famous painter’s house and discovers a painting in the attic that shares the book’s title. Like much of Murakami’s work, the novel includes occasional sex scenes.