Photo/Illutration A signboard set up at the Uchide Koen park in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, also reads, “Osaru Koen” (monkey park), on April 10. (Naoyuki Mori)

ASHIYA, Hyogo Prefecture--It is known as the “park with a monkey cage,” except it doesn’t have one anymore.

Uchide Koen park here used to have a monkey house that featured in Haruki Murakami’s debut novel, “Hear the Wind Sing,” in 1979.

But the cage, which measured 4 meters wide and 5 meters long, was eventually dismantled after all the animals it had housed died. Bits of the enclosure were used for a monument set up in the space.

The park, created in 1952, is located about 150 meters north of Hanshin Uchide Station.

In 1989, the park had eight species of animals, including monkeys and squirrels.

The last monkey died in 2003, and by spring 2010, the monkey cage was empty.

For the next decade or so, it was preserved at the request of residents because it appeared in Murakami’s 1979 novel.

After the media got wind of the story, the park became a pilgrimage site for avid fans of the 75-year-old author, a local son.

Mao Danqing, 62, a professor of Japanese culture at Kobe International University who has translated Murakami’s books into Chinese, recalled visiting the park before the COVID-19 pandemic with a Chinese magazine editor on a business trip to Japan and a Danish translator of the writer’s works.

With playground equipment falling into disrepair, the cage was removed during repair work that began in July last year.

It was replaced by a new monument measuring about 90 centimeters wide and standing 1.9 meters tall.

The monument featuring a silhouette of a monkey reads, “It is also famous for being featured in a scene in Haruki Murakami’s debut novel ‘Hear the Wind Sing.’” 

A QR code displayed on the monument can be scanned with a smartphone to access a website on the park’s history.

Koji Konishi, 75, a member of private research group Nishinomiya-Ashiya Kenkyujo who is well-versed in Murakami’s works and the history of the area, took note of a signboard newly set up at the entrance that reads, “Osaru Koen” (monkey park).

“I initially thought the cage should be preserved, but when I looked at the signboard and the monument, I realized it would be easier for visitors to realize that it served as a locale for his work,” he said.

Mao added: “I left feeling it is a good park that has gone to great effort to ensure Murakami’s novel is passed down to future generations. I hope foreign tourists who are also Murakami’s fans will visit the park.”

Related News