--- “One of the main purposes of cultural exchanges,” he said, “is to bring about an understanding that we are all human beings who share emotions and inspirations, even if we speak different languages.”
“That is, so to speak, the path through which souls can come and go beyond national borders. You soon sober up after the buzz of cheap liquor passes. But the path for souls to come and go must not be blocked.”
--- Mr. Oe and Mr. Murakami were part of a group of Japanese intellectuals who last week issued a call for Japan to reflect again on the postwar history of the region, saying “Japan, South Korea and China are important allies and partners in building regional peace and prosperity.” (Japan is also in a dispute with South Korea over the Takeshima islands, known internationally as the Dokdo islands.)
The group, according to a report in the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh, “stressed Tokyo’s need to build on the Murayama Statement of 1995, acknowledging and apologizing for misdeeds during Japan’s colonial rule.”
Haruki Murakami 4/1 Mo Yan 8/1 William Trevor 10/1 Bob Dylan 10/1 Cees Nooteboom 12/1 Ismail Kadare 14/1 Adonis 14/1 Ko Un 14/1 Assia Djebar 14/1 Peter Nadas 14/1 Dacia Maraini 16/1 Philip Roth 16/1 Cormac McCarthy 16/1 Amos Oz 16/1 Tom Stoppard 16/1 Milan Kundera 16/1
Haruki Murakami 3/1 Mo Yan 8/1 William Trevor 10/1 Bob Dylan 10/1 Cees Nooteboom 12/1 Ngugi wa Thiog'o 12/1 Ismail Kadare 14/1 Adonis 14/1 Ko Un 14/1 Assia Djebar 14/1 Peter Nadas 14/1 Dacia Maraini 16/1 Philip Roth 16/1 Cormac McCarthy 16/1 Amos Oz 16/1 Tom Stoppard 16/1 Milan Kundera 16/1