Back to the trend of the day: Ryu Murakami, the writer behind Almost Transparent Blue, has died at 74 (in Japanese)

Poly Rating · from the trend of the day

Ryu Murakami books ranked: where to start (October 2026)

Almost Transparent Blue sold about 3.5 million copies in Japan, yet on Goodreads it is his lowest-rated major book at 3.28, and readers abroad start with In the Miso Soup instead.

No. 1: In the Miso Soup
10 places
Current as of October 23, 2026, 07:44 EDT

01Final list

The leading AIs each built their own list of ten independently. Here is one result that is easy to check: every place has a reason, a source, and the list of AIs that included it.

Order: from most to least AI agreement.

A bright badge means this AI put the entry on its list. A dim badge means it did not.

1
In the Miso Soup
His most-read book abroad: 51,028 Goodreads ratings (3.61), twice any other title, and the 1998 Yomiuri Prize from a Japanese jury.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Wenxin, Kimi.
In their lists: Claude: 1 · ChatGPT: 2 · Grok: 2 · Gemini: 1 · Wenxin: 4 · Kimi: 2
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 1
  The most-rated Ryu Murakami book abroad: about 51,000 Goodreads ratings, twice as many as any other title. It also won the Yomiuri Prize.
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 2
  A Tokyo nightlife guide becomes a portrait of dread; its 1998 Yomiuri Prize gives this compact thriller unusually strong literary credentials.
  Source ↗
- Grokplace 2
  The book English readers rate and list most (51k ratings), the one Japanese juries also singled out with the Yomiuri Prize.
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 1
  The ultimate cultural crossfire thriller where Japanese nightlife meets American psychopathy in Kabukicho, boasting over 33,000 international ratings.
  Source ↗
- Wenxinplace 4
  The 1997 crime novella that became a 2024 TV sensation and bridged his fanbases in one stroke
- Kimiplace 2
  51,028 Goodreads ratings — five times the readership of Coin Locker Babies abroad — make it the one book both a Tokyo commuter and a Brooklyn reader hand over first.
  Source ↗
6 AIs put it here
Source ↗
2
Coin Locker Babies
The best Goodreads average of his major books (3.79 from 10,145), the Noma New Face Prize, and 8,737 Bookmeter registrations on one Japanese edition.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Wenxin, Kimi.
In their lists: Claude: 2 · ChatGPT: 1 · Grok: 3 · Gemini: 2 · Wenxin: 3 · Kimi: 4
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 2
  The top Goodreads average among his well-known books (3.79), from a smaller readership of about 10,000 raters.
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 1
  Two abandoned infants become a surreal, violent reckoning with the society that rejected them; the strongest all-round starting point for readers seeking Murakami's imaginative range.
  Source ↗
- Grokplace 3
  Highest Goodreads average among his major novels (3.79) and the Noma New Face winner that Japanese punks still name bands after.
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 2
  A sprawling 500-page dystopian tour de force that established Japanese cyberpunk literature a decade before the western boom.
  Source ↗
- Wenxinplace 3
  The 1980 cult novel that spent 40 weeks on bestseller lists and spawned a 2005 Korean film
- Kimiplace 4
  The highest Goodreads average of his major novels — 3.79 — belongs to Japan's own establishment pick, the Noma New Face winner Bookmeter readers shelve beside Blue.
  Source ↗
6 AIs put it here
Source ↗
3
Almost Transparent Blue
Japan's start: Akutagawa winner with 3.5–3.67 million copies sold. Abroad it is his lowest-rated major book at 3.28 from 14,553 ratings.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Wenxin, Kimi.
In their lists: Claude: 5 · ChatGPT: 4 · Grok: 1 · Gemini: 3 · Wenxin: 1 · Kimi: 1
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 5
  Japan's best-selling Akutagawa winner in hardcover plus paperback, at 3.5–3.67 million copies. Yet it has the lowest Goodreads score of his major books (3.28).
- ChatGPTplace 4
  The debut that won two major prizes and sold millions remains essential, even though its fragmentary, bleak narrative is less universally liked than its reputation suggests.
- Grokplace 1
  Japan’s most-printed Akutagawa winner at 3.67 million copies by 2015, yet Goodreads gives it only 3.28 from 14.5k ratings.
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 3
  The 24-year-old student's nihilistic debut that shattered postwar literary decorum, selling 1.31 million hardcovers within months.
  Source ↗
- Wenxinplace 1
  The 1976 Akutagawa shocker that sold millions in Japan and made a dead writer live forever in translation
- Kimiplace 1
  The jury fought for two hours and passed it 4.5 votes to 2 — Japan then bought 3.67 million copies, more than any Akutagawa winner before or since.
  Source ↗
6 AIs put it here
Source ↗
4
Audition
25,046 Goodreads ratings for the book (3.61), but Miike's 1999 film is the better-known version, rated 7.1 on IMDb.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Wenxin, Kimi.
In their lists: Claude: 4 · ChatGPT: 3 · Grok: 4 · Gemini: 4 · Wenxin: 2 · Kimi: 3
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 4
  The short novel behind Miike's 1999 film: 25,000 Goodreads ratings, and a film that people abroad know better than the book.
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 3
  A dating scheme turns into psychological horror, and its film adaptation makes this the easiest Murakami novel to connect to a wider screen audience.
  Source ↗
- Grokplace 4
  The novel that became Takashi Miike’s 7.1-IMDb film, the entry point for most readers outside Japan.
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 4
  A deceitfully gentle psychological trap that gave birth to Takashi Miike's J-horror cult film classic.
  Source ↗
- Wenxinplace 2
  A 1997 horror novella whose film made 7.3 on IMDb and sold the book abroad as his only name
- Kimiplace 3
  The book scores 3.61; Miike's film scores 7.1 from 101,000 IMDb voters and 83% on Rotten Tomatoes — the movie drags the novel up every starter list.
  Source ↗
6 AIs put it here
Source ↗
5
69 (Sixty Nine)
The light, funny pick a Japanese reader hands a newcomer, with a 2004 film. Abroad it has a 3.66 average but only 4,401 ratings.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Wenxin, Kimi.
In their lists: Claude: 3 · ChatGPT: 5 · Grok: 6 · Gemini: 5 · Wenxin: 6 · Kimi: 5
What each AI noted 6
- Claudeplace 3
  The book a Japanese reader hands to a newcomer: a funny high-school memoir with a 2004 film. Abroad it has only about 4,400 ratings, though they are high (3.66).
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 5
  A more approachable, comic coming-of-age novel offers a useful counterweight to the author's reputation for transgression.
  Source ↗
- Grokplace 6
  The lighter, semi-autobiographical high-school novel that still draws solid 3.66 from 4.4k English readers.
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 5
  Murakami's warmest and most infectious coming-of-age romp, capturing high school rebellion in 1969 Sasebo without a trace of cynicism.
- Wenxinplace 6
  The 1987 coming-of-age epic set in 1969 that Japanese schools still assign and Goodreads calls his most human novel
- Kimiplace 5
  4,402 ratings abroad for his gentlest book — the 1969 teen comedy that Japanese critics rate above most of his 'serious' novels.
  Source ↗
6 AIs put it here
Source ↗
6
Piercing
Strong abroad: 22,317 Goodreads ratings at 3.68, close to Audition. No Japanese prize was found for it.
Included it: Claude, Grok, Gemini, Wenxin, Kimi. Did not include: ChatGPT.
In their lists: Claude: 6 · Grok: 5 · Gemini: 6 · Wenxin: 5 · Kimi: 6
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 6
  A short, sharp novel with 22,000 Goodreads ratings and a 3.68 average. This puts it level with Audition among readers abroad, but I found no Japanese prize for it.
  Source ↗
- Grokplace 5
  Second-highest volume of English ratings after Audition and Miso Soup, a compact psychological entry for newcomers.
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 6
  An 80-page double-edged razor blade of mutual sadomasochism that Hollywood converted into a 2018 neo-noir feature.
  Source ↗
- Wenxinplace 5
  A 1994 novella where violence meets mathematics — lesser known at home, beloved by Western readers
- Kimiplace 6
  Read in one evening, remembered for years: 22,317 Goodreads ratings on one of his shortest novels, and a 2018 Hollywood remake that kept his name in genre circles.
  Source ↗
5 AIs put it here
Source ↗
7
From the Fatherland, with Love (Hantō o Deyo)
The Japanese juries' favourite of his later career, with the Noma Prize and the Mainichi award in 2005. Abroad it has only 709 Goodreads ratings (3.90).
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Kimi. Did not include: Wenxin.
In their lists: Claude: 10 · ChatGPT: see list · Grok: 7 · Gemini: 7 · Kimi: see list
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 10
  The Japanese juries' favourite of his later career: the Noma Prize and the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award in the same year.
- ChatGPT
  Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
  see list
- Grokplace 7
  The North-Korea-invasion epic that earned both the Noma Literary Prize and Mainichi Publishing Culture Prize.
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 7
  A titanic two-volume geopolitical prophecy where North Korean commandos seize Fukuoka while Tokyo's bureaucracy freezes in paralysis.
  Source ↗
- Kimi
  Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
  see list
5 AIs put it here
Source ↗
8
Popular Hits of the Showa Era
A satire of a gang war between two groups that gets a steady 3.61 from about 2,700 Goodreads readers. No Japanese prize.
Included it: Claude, Grok, Gemini, Wenxin, Kimi. Did not include: ChatGPT.
In their lists: Claude: 9 · Grok: 8 · Gemini: 8 · Wenxin: 7 · Kimi: 8
What each AI noted 5
- Claudeplace 9
  A satirical novel of a youth war between two groups. It is rated 3.61, but by only about 2,700 readers.
  Source ↗
- Grokplace 8
  A mid-tier English favorite (2.7k ratings) that captures his generational satire without the heaviest violence.
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 8
  A pitch-black satirical bloodbath where a gang of karaoke-loving slacker boys and a squad of suburban divorcees annihilate each other.
  Source ↗
- Wenxinplace 7
  A 1997 sprawling dossier on memory that split critics — and sold strongly enough to keep printing
- Kimiplace 8
  2,659 ratings abroad for a deadpan pop-satire killing spree — the palate cleanser that proves he wrote more than gore.
  Source ↗
5 AIs put it here
Source ↗
9
Parasites (Kyōseichū)
Won the Tanizaki Prize in 2000, yet abroad it has just 491 Goodreads ratings (3.45). This is the widest gap between the jury and readers abroad.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Kimi. Did not include: Gemini, Wenxin.
In their lists: Claude: 7 · ChatGPT: 6 · Grok: 9 · Kimi: see list
What each AI noted 4
- Claudeplace 7
  The Tanizaki Prize winner is the book the Japanese juries chose that readers abroad rarely list.
- ChatGPTplace 6
  A reclusive young man and his fixation on violence make this the most direct bridge between psychological horror and Murakami's social diagnosis.
  Source ↗
- Grokplace 9
  The Tanizaki Prize winner about a hikikomori, still more discussed in Japan than abroad.
  Source ↗
- Kimi
  Named differently in its own list: open the full list.
  see list
4 AIs put it here
Source ↗
10
Tokyo Decadence / Topaz
3.69 on Goodreads, but from only 1,735 ratings. Murakami directed the 1992 film himself.
Included it: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini. Did not include: Grok, Wenxin, Kimi.
In their lists: Claude: 8 · ChatGPT: 9 · Gemini: 9
What each AI noted 3
- Claudeplace 8
  A 3.69 average from a small readership (1,735 ratings), and it was the source of a 1992 film.
  Source ↗
- ChatGPTplace 9
  Its exploration of sexuality and control is important to understanding the author's transgressive style, but its intensity narrows its appeal as an introductory read.
  Source ↗
- Geminiplace 9
  A fearless, neon-drenched exploration of urban isolation and taboo intimacy through the eyes of an upscale Tokyo dominatrix.
  Source ↗
3 AIs put it here
Source ↗

More about the top three ↓

02More about the top three

The ranking is above. Here is more about the three places at the top: what they are, why they are here, and what is worth knowing.

The three are judged on different measures: Goodreads scores come from very different numbers of raters, and the prizes and sales figures are from Japan.

1In the Miso Soup

No. 1 — In the Miso Soup. On the lists of 6 of 6 AIs; median place there: 2. The AIs chose it because far more readers abroad rated it than any other Murakami book, and it also won Japan's Yomiuri Prize.

Did you know

Before it was a book, In the Miso Soup ran in installments through 1997 in the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun. It was then revised and published as a book that same year.
Source ↗

What it is: A short thriller about a guide showing an American around Tokyo's nightlife.
Its edge: It has the most Goodreads ratings, and a Japanese literary prize too.
Who it suits: Suits thriller readers who can handle gore; not those who dislike violence.

Goodreads ratings and prizes51,028 ratings, 3.61

Wikipedia · Wikidata

Keep in mind

Some critics found the gore too much. Wesley Yang called Murakami "a purveyor of sleazy sensationalism", and the review site found the plot hard to believe and the American character overdrawn. Its overall grade was B-.
Source ↗
A scholar, Yoshiko Yokochi Samuel, called the final chapter "the weakest part of this otherwise effective horror story". Wikipedia says it is criticized for its static setting with no action.
Source ↗

What people say

"a collaboration between Stephen King and Michel Houellebecq, with off-key karaoke going on in the background." — Sandi Tan, LA Weekly
Source ↗

Where to go further

Open the Goodreads page to read reviews and see how readers rate it. Start with the first chapters: Kenji guides an American through Tokyo's nightlife, and his suspicion of his guest grows from there.
Source ↗

Video: How did this Convict escape Prison using Miso Soup? (Strange Stories) · Simple History

Compare the top three ↓

2Coin Locker Babies

No. 2 — Coin Locker Babies. On the lists of 6 of 6 AIs; median place there: 2.5. The AIs valued its top Goodreads average among his major books, plus the Noma New Face Prize, even though fewer readers rated it.

Did you know

The Japanese band The Pillows was first called "The Coin Locker Babies" from 1986 to 1988, after the novel. The creators of the video game Silent Hill 4: The Room also said the book influenced them.
Source ↗

What it is: A novel about two boys abandoned in train station lockers as babies.
Its edge: It has the highest Goodreads average of the three.
Who it suits: Suits readers who want a big, strange, dark novel; not the squeamish.

Goodreads ratings and prizes3.79 from 10,145 ratings

Wikipedia · Wikidata

Why it is here

After the 1980 publication, Murakami won the 3rd Noma Liberal Arts New Member Prize, a Japanese prize for new writers. The English translation by Stephen Snyder came out in 1995 and Pushkin Press reissued it in 2013. — Wikipedia
Source ↗

History

Murakami said in a 2011 interview that, in the years before he wrote the novel, several babies had been abandoned in coin lockers in Japan. Those real cases are where the book's story began.
Source ↗ ✓ confirmed by several AIs

Keep in mind

Kirkus calls Murakami "a scholar of drugs, speed, violence, gore, and Tokyo's teenage underground". Expect dark, shocking scenes, including a plan to kill Tokyo's people with a chemical agent.
Source ↗
Kirkus says the English translation keeps "much of" the shock, beauty and pathos. That suggests some of the original's effect may be lost for readers outside Japan.
Source ↗

Where to go further

Open the Goodreads page to see reader reviews. Start with the opening: two boys are left in train station lockers at birth, and their two paths run side by side through the story.
Source ↗

ChatGPT put it first. What they saw in it

ChatGPT: Two abandoned infants become a surreal, violent reckoning with the society that rejected them; the strongest all-round starting point for readers seeking Murakami's imaginative range.

Compare the top three ↓

3Almost Transparent Blue

No. 3 — Almost Transparent Blue. On the lists of 6 of 6 AIs; median place there: 2. The AIs placed it here because it is Japan's big prize-winning bestseller, yet readers abroad rate it lowest of his major books.

Did you know

Murakami also made the 1979 film of his own novel. It was his directing debut. He wrote the script too, and the article says he was 26.
Source ↗

What it is: A bleak debut about young friends near a US base in a Japanese port town.
Its edge: It sold the most copies in Japan and won the Akutagawa Prize.
Who it suits: Suits those curious about Murakami's start; not readers wanting a clear plot.

Goodreads ratings and prizes3.28 from 14,553 ratings

Wikipedia · Wikidata

Why it is here

It won the Akutagawa Prize in 1976, the same year it came out. It had also won the Gunzo Prize for New Writers earlier that year. Nancy Andrew's English translation was published in 1977. — Wikipedia
Source ↗

History

Murakami sent this novel to the Gunzo debut contest in 1976. It won first prize, and the same year it also won the Akutagawa Prize, Japan's top literary honor.
Source ↗ ✓ confirmed by several AIs

What people say

"what renders the whole thing so disturbing is not the explicitness of it all, but the joylessness." — Meike, Goodreads
Source ↗

Where to go further

Open the Goodreads page to see reader reviews. Start with the friends in a port town near an American base. Notice the mood of boredom and alienation that reviewers say runs through the book.
Source ↗

Grok, Wenxin, Kimi put it first. What they saw in it

Grok: Japan’s most-printed Akutagawa winner at 3.67 million copies by 2015, yet Goodreads gives it only 3.28 from 14.5k ratings.
Wenxin: The 1976 Akutagawa shocker that sold millions in Japan and made a dead writer live forever in translation
Kimi: The jury fought for two hours and passed it 4.5 votes to 2 — Japan then bought 3.67 million copies, more than any Akutagawa winner before or since.

Compare the top three ↓

The top three side by side

	In the Miso Soup	Coin Locker Babies	Almost Transparent Blue
In the AIs' lists	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6
Goodreads ratings and prizes	51,028 ratings, 3.61	3.79 from 10,145 ratings	3.28 from 14,553 ratings
Put first by	Claude, Gemini	ChatGPT	Grok, Wenxin, Kimi

Places with the same number of AIs are ordered by their average place in the AIs' own lists.

03Worth knowing

What the AIs noticed while building the list.

Two reading publics: abroad the order is set by In the Miso Soup (about 51,000 ratings), Audition and Piercing. At home the book most tied to him, Almost Transparent Blue, has 3.5 million copies sold but rates 3.28 abroad.

Noticed by:

Included it: Claude, Grok, Kimi. Did not include: ChatGPT, Gemini, Wenxin.

01Final list

In the Miso Soup

Coin Locker Babies

Almost Transparent Blue

Audition

69 (Sixty Nine)

Piercing

From the Fatherland, with Love (Hantō o Deyo)

Popular Hits of the Showa Era

Parasites (Kyōseichū)

Tokyo Decadence / Topaz

02More about the top three

1In the Miso Soup

Did you know

2Coin Locker Babies

Did you know

3Almost Transparent Blue

Did you know

The top three side by side

More ratings

03Worth knowing

04Questions people ask

05How we counted

1The question

2Why this topic

3Where it applies

4What we looked at

5Who ranked

6How the places were set

06Each AI's own list

What Claude noticed

What ChatGPT noticed

What Grok noticed

What Gemini noticed

What Wenxin noticed

What Kimi noticed