Haruki Murakami's Women and Colorless Protagonist

CONTENT WARNING: mentions of sexual assault, spoilers for Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage novel, graphic sexual description

edited 2026/29/03 22:31

In a previous post, I talked about Kazuo Ishiguro and how he moved Haruki Murakami’s spot from my top favourite author on magical realism. If you were a Harukist—Murakami’s fan—you would say that’s bollocks. I can agree. But consider: Kazuo Ishiguro does not objectify his (fictional) women. That alone is already a large win over Murakami’s works. 

Today, the topic will delve a little bit deeper into that part of Murakami’s writings. I found a thesis by Kristina Mallabo on Google Scholar that compiles and summarises exactly what the problem is and why it is a problem. Moreover, this will be quite a long and technical post. So get comfy and prepare your eyes to continue reading.

My Harukist days

I read Haruki Murakami’s books, admittedly, a little bit too young. The prose, the subject matter, and my own situation at the time align with the very deep, dark and lonely place that Murakami reached into when he wrote[1] that is undoubtedly present as a theme in every one of his books. Back then, I called myself one of his hardcore fans. Nowadays, with a much more mature mind and outlook, I could not help but separate myself from this part of my past likes. 

I do still love the way he (or the translator) places words in order. The prose, the theme, and the picture Murakami’s diction painted: surreal, dark, and at the same time touching. But then the objectification and male-gaze-y narration scenes pop up. It seems Murakami put sex as the ultimate bridging connection between a couple or people. That’s why it’s always there. 

But in this age, I already have a sort of disdain and tiredness over seeing the same type of sexualised objectification that only the women characters ever experienced. When I re-read some of my favourite work (with number #1 being Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage—referred henceforward as Colorless), there is an “ick” element. I wondered how the young me had read them and thought it was the greatest thing ever. 

Books I have read

To make my claim as a former Harukist much more credible—even if nobody has the authorisation to verify it—I will list and rank some of the books I have read. I will also include if they are currently on a re-reading progress or stay as a memory. You know, it would be funny if somebody out there did have authorisation to verify you as a Harukist. 

Well, without further ado, here is the ranked list:

1. Colorless ------- [re-reading in progress]
2. After Dark [re-reading in progress]
3. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World 
4. The Elephant Vanishes (anthology) [re-reading #3 in progress]
5. Kafka on the Shore [re-reading in progress]
6. Norwegian Wood [re-reading in progress]
7. 1Q84
8. Wind-up Bird Chronicle [re-reading in progress]
9. A Wild Sheep Chase
10. Sputnik Sweetheart
11. What I talk about when I talk about running [DNF]

Condensed impressions

Everything you need to know about what fascinates me about Colorless compared to other titles is detailed below. So, we then move on to the number two: After Dark. That book took a unique point of view and unfolded over a single night. I am still in the early chapters, but if memory serves, the whole book doesn’t have any sexually charged scenes. That aspect is very important for my enjoyment, as again, the sexual scenes only focus on the sexualised objectification of women. 

Hard-Boiled, I remembered, as something fun and unexpected, completely unlike what I thought Murakami would write. I do remember the journey I took to find this particular title, as it is an old book by Murakami, so the print demands must be low. The Elephant Vanishes is an anthology I hold dear. I can’t choose a favourite story from within it. Now, I can confidently say all those titles are my favourites, and I recommend everyone to read them with a CW as described above.

The low rankers

Now, from Kafka and everything after, they have the same problem: the sexually charged scenes. And again, only the women who are so sexualised through the male gaze, it is actually hard to read. It makes no surprise to me that Murakami ended up in the r/menwritingwomen subreddit from the sheer determination to objectify his (fictional) women. 

Sputnik Sweetheart, though. I barely remember anything about it. By looking up the summary on Goodreads, I can say I did read it, but it doesn’t leave a single trace. 

Mallabo’s analysis of Murakami’s female character objectification

The next topic I will discuss is Kristina Mallabo’s thesis. The three objects of interest in Mallabo’s thesis are: Kafka, Wind-up Bird, and Norwegian Wood. Two of which I happen to be re-reading. All three are also popular books, especially among the fans. Most importantly, the three are very sexually charged. However, Kafka took it slower than Wind-up Bird and Norwegian. Kafka’s protagonist is still a minor, after all. 

The thesis, IMO, brilliantly encapsulates women in Murakami’s works: how they are dynamic and drive the plot in comparison to the insipid male protagonist. At the same time, they can never escape being sexualised, no matter what trope they appear to be set in. In the conclusion, Mallabo cannot objectively say whether this way of writing about women is right or wrong. Instead, she reiterates that Murakami’s writing encompasses the grey space between both sides.

Fortunately, this is a personal blog. I can and will be subjective. Personally speaking, I think how Murakami portrays the women in his works is downright gross and rape-y at times, which makes it “wrong”. But do I still marvel at his writing skills and the theme behind everything? Yes. This one glaring flaw is a flaming hellhole, but he is still a remarkable author. 

Colorless: Subversion or confession? 

So then came for a review and slicing the portrayal of women in Colorless, my favourite book of all time. I enjoy the theme of the story: someone who sees himself as ordinary and “colourless”. Yet he has a set of colourful friends. But then he was cast out of said group and dealt with the loss and grief following it, which follows him to his adult days.

The writings about grief, about depression, and the near-death experience without any actual self-deleting action are sublime. While reading this book, I was at one of the lowest points of my life. Tsukuru, the protagonist of Colorless, mused about death and how he was then reborn through the experience of depression. That resonated with me. The metaphors, allegories, and other figures of speech hit me hard. Then, like Tsukuru, I also undergo just your ordinary metamorphosis, though the grief and depression follow in the shadows. 

Admittance of the fantasies/other realities as violent crime

Now that the reason I liked this book is out of the way, we should talk about how the women are portrayed. Just generally, a lot of the writings can still deserve a spot in r/menwritingwomen. The way sexual scenes are depicted focuses explicitly on the women, through a male’s gaze: perverse, graphic, and narration-admittedly, rape-y. That is one thing that seems to set the book apart from the other works.

Tsukuru struggles and refuses to have any sort of fantasies about his friends, admitting that it was the same as r*ping them (Colorless, p. 137). His inappropriate dreams about his two friends, though, started way back and, in some way, were triggered by the appearance of Mr Grey in his life. Mr Grey’s name aligned with other thematic names in the novel. That is a notable point, as the two women in question each were coded as White and Black. 

Subversion of the scene

Now, what triggers Tsukur’s start of wet dreams is actually an out-of-body experience involving Mr Grey. The novel finally introduced us to the “other reality” concept of the story. Much expected from a Haruki Murakami novel. 

However, this out-of-body experience is immediately followed by a graphic wet dream (the first time) with Tsukuru’s two (former) women friends. But a Mr Grey subverted the scene by appearing during the climax. Narration implied he did fellatio on Tsukuru while the two imagined partners disappear. Even though the partners switched from two women to one man, the narration carries on as you would only expect from a porno. That, I think, is a way for Murakami to subvert once more what has been established–this time, the pattern/tropes from his own works.

Back at it again

But at the very end, Mallabo’s one of many analyses shows itself again. Despite the “one step forward” that Murakami took with the involvement of Mr Grey in the first and foremost graphic sexual scene, what follows is back to the old tunes. Just sexualised women and the pleasure of a man who then grappled with guilt about it. Hence, one step forward and two steps back. 

But there should be an acknowledgement. While Kafka, Wind-up Bird, and Norwegian Wood feature their main female leads—in both romantic and other forms—whom the narration often attributes graphic scenes to, Colorless swerved away from the formula. The main romantic partner for Tsukuru barely has any graphic scenes with her. Barely. There was one, but not with the same details as when Tsukuru had his "r*pe" imagineries with the two women. Moreover, it was short, ending with him unable to perform. Wink wink.  

Final thoughts

Overall, Colorless delivers a subversion (or confession) of Murakami’s usual pattern in sexualisation and objectification of women. The novel admits that those scenes are unnatural and the protagonist is cast out. Instead of painting the sexual scenes as some ultimate harmony of people’s connection or an important, vital, essentiual ritual, Colorless paints them as a violent crime right down to the end of the book. 

What about you? Do you have any moment where you're reading novels and goes, "Wait a minute—"? Comment below, I would love to hear your thoughts. 

References

[1] Roland Kelts. (2012). The Harukists, Disappointed. The New York Times. 

Haruki Murakami. (2014). Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Kristina Mallabo. (2023). Always Sensual, But Never The Self: Beyond the Objectification of Haruki Murakami’s Female Characters. Thesis. Department of English, University of Michigan.