Just as in Russian literature there are two Erofeevs and several Tolstoys, so in Japanese there are two Murakamis who have no relationship with each other. Haruki is more popular outside of Japan, but Ryu Murakami is much more radical, a kind of hooligan from Japanese literature. The novel “69” is the story of a generation that read Kesey, listened to Jimi Hendrix, smoked marijuana and believed that the world could be changed for the better. For this book, Murakami was awarded the Literary Prize. Akutagawa. “A combination of exoticism, eroticism and stunning writing technique,” the Washington Post wrote about the novel.