So that might not technically be true, but the contenders scrapping for the chance to publish the Korean version of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage have been locked in a bidding war for months.
But like the Highlander, there can be only one and Minumsa Publishing Group accepted the necks of opponents Gimm-Young Publishers, Munhak Sasang, and Munhakdogne Publishing.
While no one knows for certain how much Minumsa paid for the Japanese bestsellers’ latest, the Korea Times reports an industry insider as putting the figure at around 150 million yen ($1.47m USD). The same article also posits that if true, it would be the highest royalty payment ever made to an overseas author.
It comes at an interesting time for Korean publishers, who are generally believed to be cash-strapped and facing the challenges of courting a declining readership. According to Publishing Perspectives, 39,767 new titles were published in South Korea last year with a print run of 87.97 million. It’s the first time since 2000 that fewer than 100 million books were printed. South Korea is a country of 49.78 million people.
Publishing Perspectives quotes an official from the Korean Publishers Association as saying: ‘The reason for the decreased number is regarded as due to the worsening economic situation both inside and outside of the nation, the decreased number of the reading public and increased book costs.’
However, when you consider Murakami’s publishing history in South Korean the huge price tag isn’t surprising. His previous novel 1Q84 sold more than 2 million copies. Taking account of that, and the apparent price, Minumsa would be hoping for at least an equal volume of sales for Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.
Only six days after its mid-April release in Japan, Murakami’s latest had sold more than a million copies. Before it was even published the book smashed the country’s Internet pre-order record and people lined up through the night to snag it. The New Yorker reports ‘the mania was déjà vu in Japan—a near-replica of the reception that greeted Murakami’s last novel, 1Q84, three years ago’, though The Korean Times points out that 1Q84 took 12 days to sell a million copies, demand for Colorless seemingly higher.
Minumsa announced that acclaimed translator Yang Eok-kwan would translate Colorless. He has previously translated Norwegian Wood, Murakami’s 1987 book that is reportedly the most stolen book in America besides J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.
