Haruki Murakami’s new T-shirt line proves it: he’s no recluse

The notoriously private author’s latest project, a stylish clothing collaboration with Uniqlo, marks the latest step in his opening up to the world

It may be time to stop calling the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami “reclusive”. Over the last few years, he has become a radio show host, a sort of literary agony uncle, and now a fashion icon, having collaborated on his own T-shirt line at Uniqlo.

The eight graphic T-shirts, which will go on sale in mid-March, feature all of the author’s favourite things: cats, birds, records, men sitting in bars (but not ears, for which he has shown a fascination). Delightfully, Murakami has given a lengthy interview to Uniqlo about his own fashion choices. “I try to wear plain clothes, the simpler the better. Jeans and a T-shirt, with a sweatshirt or sweater. Since I don’t need to show up at an office, I could wear anything I like. But I always wind up wearing the same thing. I’m not sure I can say why that is,” he reveals, somewhat unrevealingly.

Related: The Guardian view on modern writers: the myth of the reclusive author | Editorial

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