Ryū Murakami was a Japanese novelist and filmmaker, best known for Almost Transparent Blue, which won the Akutagawa Prize in 1976, and Coin Locker Babies (1980). He died at his home on 17 October 2026 at the age of 74.
Born in Sasebo, Nagasaki, on 19 February 1952, he studied at Musashino Art University. His novels In the Miso Soup and Audition reached international readers, and Takashi Miike’s 1999 film of Audition became a cult classic.