Murakami says writing is what he can do for disaster sufferers

He should go to Gaza for inspiration.

Yeah, writinggood fiction is gonna help those people immensely NOT.

Angling for that Nobel prize. - hes saying all the right things.

The best thing he could do is donate a certain percentage of his royalties to disaster relief agencies. Claiming anything else is the best he can do is a fine example of intellextual dishonesty.

@chip. You bet me to that comment.

@chip. You bet me to that comment.

I hope I beat everyone to that comment because "it goes without saying."

Chip Star:

The best thing he could do is donate a certain percentage of his royalties to disaster relief agencies

How do you know he does not do that already?

I will not be happy if I were one of the victims and if he has to sacrifice his writings. I'd rather see him do what he does best: writing. I do not think I am alone in thinking that way. It's rather one of established cultures of mutual help here: you don't divide people into the benevolent and the helpless.

As if they haven’t suffered enough without reading his tripe.

socrateos; How do you know he does not do that already?

If he does, I am most positive that it would have been included in the article.

How do you know he does not do that already?

Since 1981 answered for me.

And on what basis do all you cynics assume you know anything about his private donations? I could assume that you might be looking for ways to excuse your own lack of generosity when it comes to making donations, but I don't assume that, because what do I know about what you do with your money?

If Murakami made donations, the article would have mentioned it because of the topic. It could be shite reporting.

Underground was brilliant. I was on the subway that morning, during the event. Rode through the deserted Kasumigaseki station on the last train before everything was shut down. It was terrifying once we started to learn what was going on and it continued to be confusing and terrifying for months.

Journalists write to sell papers, get views. They tend to be overly dramatic.

 Underground was brilliant. Very deeply researched and simply but beautifully written. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.