Writer Ryu Murakami dies at age 74 ``Blue as close to transparent as possible''

Ryu Murakami (real name Ryunosuke), an Akutagawa Prize-winning author known for bestsellers such as ``Infinitely Transparent Blue'' and ``Coin Locker Babies,'' passed away on the 17th. He was 74 years old. The funeral was attended by close relatives.

Author Keigo Higashino dies at age 68, ``Byakuya Gyou'' and ``Suspect X's Devotion.''

Born in 1952 in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture. In 1976, while a student at Musashino Art University, he won the Gunzo Prize for New Writers and the Akutagawa Prize for his debut novel ``Limited'', which depicts young people living in a military base town, and the work became a bestseller with approximately 3.5 million copies sold. In 1981, she won the Noma Literary Newcomer Award for ``Coin Locker'', which took the motif of an infant abandonment case.

This work examines the stagnation and fragility of modern society, and uses a precise writing style to capture the loneliness and anger of people who are in the minority. He won the Yomiuri Literary Award in 1998 for ``In the Miso Soup,'' and the Noma Literary Award and Mainichi Publishing Culture Award in 2005 for ``Escape the Peninsula,'' which depicts the military invasion of North Korea.

In addition to serving as the main interviewer for the TV program ``Cambrian Palace'' for about 20 years, he also published a work guide for children called ``Hello Work for 13 Year Olds'' (2003), which became a bestseller. From 2000 to 2018, he served on the selection committee for the Akutagawa Prize. Together with Haruki Murakami, who debuted at the same time, he was also known as ``Double Murakami''.

Many of his works have been made into films, including the autobiographical novel ``69 Sixty Nine,'' directed by Lee Sang-il and starring Satoshi Tsumabuki. He has directed films such as ``Limited'', ``Topaz'', and ``KYOKO''.