All of Murakami's novels are best sellers, and he is perhaps the most recognized and noted Japanese author in the U.S. and around the world.

There are six stories which are all related to the devastating Kobe earthquake of 1995.. The stories are set in the months between the natural disaster and the poison gas attacks that occurred in Tokyo's subways. Both of these events dramatically changed the physical and social landscape of Japan. For each of the characters in these stories, the earthquake's emotional aftershock set off an unreal chain of events.