Haruki Murakami’s daily routine, as he told The Paris Review in 2004, is one day on repeat: in novel-writing periods he wakes at 4 AM, writes for five to six hours, runs 10 km or swims 1,500 m in the afternoon, reads, listens to music and is in bed by 9 PM, for six months to a year.
Key takeaways
- In a 2004 Paris Review interview, Murakami said that when writing a novel he gets up at 4 AM, works five to six hours and goes to bed at 9 PM, every day without variation.
- His quota is roughly ten pages of Japanese manuscript paper a day, about 1,600 English words by his own reckoning, and he stops at ten even on good days.
- Afternoons are for a 10 km run or a 1,500 m swim. By 2008 he had run 26 marathons by his own count; Japan’s Number magazine put him at 30-plus in 2011.
- Before writing full time he ran the Tokyo jazz bar Peter Cat and often wrote until dawn; as a novelist he switched to sleeping soon after dark.
- In a 2017 study of 61 Harvard undergraduates, the most irregular sleepers’ evening melatonin rose, on average, more than two and a half hours later than the most regular sleepers’.
What is Haruki Murakami’s daily routine?
Murakami’s routine is a fixed loop for the months he spends on a novel: write early, exercise in the afternoon, unwind with books and records, sleep early. He gave the clock times to The Paris Review in 2004; later essays fill in the rest.
| Time on My BodyClock | What is documented |
|---|---|
| 4 AM (2004) | Before dawn Wakes, brews a fresh pot of coffee |
| About 4:15 to 10 AM | Early morning Writes five to six hours, about ten manuscript pages |
| 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM estimated |
Late morning Errands that need little concentration (2008) |
| 1:30 to 3:30 PM estimated |
Afternoon Runs 10 km or swims 1,500 m, or both (2004) |
| 3:30 to 6 PM estimated |
Late afternoon Translation at his own pace, records playing |
| 7 to 8:30 PM estimated |
Evening Reads a little, listens to music |
| 9 PM to 4 AM | Night In bed at 9 PM (2004) |
Meal times are not in the record; the meals on My BodyClock are our estimates, built around the diet he described in 2008: mostly vegetables, with fish as his main protein.
It is a novel-writing schedule, not every day of his life. He told The Paris Review he holds to it for six months to a year, that the repetition works like self-hypnosis toward a deeper state of mind, and that it takes as much physical strength as artistic sensitivity.
What time does Haruki Murakami wake up?
In novel-writing periods, Murakami has said he gets up at 4 AM, the time he gave The Paris Review in 2004. In his 2008 New Yorker essay “The Running Novelist,” he described the regular life he began as a full-time writer in the early 1980s as up before 5 AM and in bed before 10 PM, and explained the timing simply: “I’m definitely a morning person. That’s when I can focus.” He adds that people are at their best at different times of day, the idea behind chronotypes.
He starts with coffee. In a Penguin excerpt from Novelist as a Vocation (English edition 2022), he says he wakes early, brews a fresh pot and works four or five hours straight. The hour shifts a little between accounts; the early pattern does not.
How much does Murakami write each day?
Murakami’s rule is roughly ten pages of Japanese manuscript paper a day, about 1,600 English words by his figure.
The quota cuts both ways: on a good day he stops at ten; on a hard day he keeps going until he gets there. A long novel, he argues, needs a steady pace, not a burst one day and nothing the next, so he works it like a shift: clock in, write ten pages, clock out. At that rate a first draft reaches about 1,800 pages in six months, and then the rewriting starts.
Why does Murakami run every day?
Murakami runs to balance a life spent at a desk. He took up running in the fall of 1982, at 33, soon after selling his jazz bar to write full time, and wrote that running every day without fail mattered more than speed or distance.
In 2004 he described the afternoon session as a 10 km run or a 1,500 m swim, sometimes both. In the 2008 New Yorker excerpt from his memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running he put his marathon count at 26. A 2008 Austin Chronicle review of the memoir describes years of annual marathons and triathlons, plus a 62-mile ultramarathon.
What does Murakami do in the afternoon and evening?
After the run, Murakami’s day winds down on purpose: he told The Paris Review he reads a little and listens to music, and in 2008 he wrote that his day ends with relaxing, reading or music.
He has listened to jazz since he was 13 or 14. At a Waseda University press conference in November 2018 he said he owned more than 10,000 records, and Waseda’s International House of Literature (The Haruki Murakami Library) notes that he plays records while he translates.
He is also a prolific translator, of Raymond Carver and F. Scott Fitzgerald among others (The Paris Review), and writes in Novelist as a Vocation that he often translates while drafting a novel, with no deadline, because it uses a different part of the brain.
The routine leaves little room for nightlife; he wrote in 2008 that declined invitations sometimes offended people.
Was Murakami always an early riser?
No. Murakami became a morning person when he became a novelist. Waseda dates his jazz café, Peter Cat, to 1974 in Kokubunji, while he was still a student; he later moved it near Sendagaya Station in Tokyo and sold it in 1981. Back then, he wrote, the club closed at midnight but clean-up and unwinding often kept him up until about 3 AM, and he wrote his first novels at the kitchen table, sometimes until the sky grew light.
As a full-time writer, he and his wife decided to go to bed soon after dark and rise with the sun, which they felt was a more natural way to live.
Which popular claims about Murakami’s routine don’t hold up?
Several details repeated online are inflated or unsourced:
– Over 40 marathons: we found no source. His own count was 26 in 2008.
– Exactly ten pages, about 1,500 words: he says roughly ten pages, about 1,600 English words.
– A run at 10 or 11 AM: in 2004 he placed it in the afternoon.
– The repetition quote: a version that has circulated online, including on an earlier edition of this page, changes a word of his Paris Review answer. The interview sits behind a subscription, so we paraphrase it.
– No news or messages on waking, avoiding night owls, hunting rare records: we found no source tying these to his routine, so we left them out.
What does Murakami’s routine teach about the body clock?
His day lines up with the cues the body clock runs on. The U.S. National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) says light and dark have the biggest influence on circadian rhythms, with food intake and physical activity also playing a part.
– Keep the same hours. In a 2017 Scientific Reports study, 61 Harvard College undergraduates kept sleep diaries for 30 days. On average, the 12 most irregular sleepers’ evening melatonin rise came more than two and a half hours later than that of the 12 most regular, and a model suggested different light exposure explained most of the gap. It was small and observational: an association, not proof.
– Move in daylight. His run falls in the afternoon, when a run outdoors brings light and movement together.
– Keep evenings dim. Books and records fill his last waking hours; NIGMS notes that light from devices at night can confuse biological clocks.
– Put coffee early. His comes at the start of a day that ends at 9 PM. For your own last cup, see Caffeine Cutoff Time: When to Have Your Last Coffee.
Copy the regularity, not necessarily the hour. If your energy peaks later, shift the whole pattern and keep it steady; the Body Clock Type quiz helps you find your timing. Compare other disciplined days: Stephen King’s Daily Routine, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Daily Routine and, for a runner, Eliud Kipchoge’s Daily Routine.
Your day on My BodyClock
The day above on My BodyClock shows a novel-writing day as Murakami described it in the 2000s, set in Japan: asleep from 9 PM to 4 AM, coffee, writing until about 10 AM, breakfast and errands, lunch, a run or swim, translation with a record on, an early dinner, reading and lights out. Wake time, writing hours and bedtime come from his own accounts; other block times are our estimates.
Notice what it protects: an anchor at each end of the day and the hardest work right after waking. Build your own version in Owaves and fit the blocks to your hours. Download Owaves: My BodyClock on the App Store, or join the Android waitlist. Owaves is the World’s First Wellness Planner, Powered by Your Body Clock.
FAQ
What time does Haruki Murakami wake up?
When writing a novel, he has said he gets up at 4 AM, the time he gave The Paris Review in 2004. A 2008 essay puts it at before 5 AM. He starts with a fresh pot of coffee and goes straight to his desk.
What time does Haruki Murakami go to bed?
He told The Paris Review in 2004 that he goes to bed at 9 PM during novel-writing periods. His 2008 essay says before 10 PM.
How many pages does Haruki Murakami write a day?
Roughly ten pages of Japanese manuscript paper, about 1,600 English words by his own figure. He stops at ten even when the writing flows and pushes on to ten when it does not.
How many marathons has Haruki Murakami run?
By his own count in a 2008 New Yorker essay, 26; Japan’s Number magazine put him at 30-plus in 2011. A 2008 review of his running memoir also mentions triathlons and a 62-mile ultramarathon.
Did Haruki Murakami own a jazz bar?
Yes. He opened the jazz café Peter Cat in Kokubunji in 1974 while a student at Waseda University, later moved it near Sendagaya Station in Tokyo, and sold it in 1981 to write full time.
Sources
- John Wray. “Haruki Murakami, The Art of Fiction No. 182.” The Paris Review, Issue 170, Summer 2004. https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2/the-art-of-fiction-no-182-haruki-murakami (archived full text: https://web.archive.org/web/20161209030518/http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2/haruki-murakami-the-art-of-fiction-no-182-haruki-murakami)
- Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel. “The Running Novelist.” The New Yorker, 2 June 2008. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/06/09/haruki-murakami-the-running-novelist
- Haruki Murakami. “Haruki Murakami: How I write my novels” (excerpt from Novelist as a Vocation). Penguin Books UK, 7 November 2022. https://www.penguin.co.uk/discover/articles/murakami-writing-process-novelist-as-a-vocation
- Waseda University. “Author Haruki Murakami ’75 provides his collection of materials for international research center.” 7 November 2018. https://www.waseda.jp/top/en/news/62196
- Waseda International House of Literature. “Jazz and Literature: Scoring Sound / Cutting Language.” 20 May 2022. https://www.waseda.jp/culture/wihl/other-en/2090
- James Renovitch. “Run, Haruki, run, you skinny Howard Roark!” (review of What I Talk About When I Talk About Running). The Austin Chronicle, 29 August 2008. https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/book-review-11741880/
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH). “Circadian Rhythms.” Content reviewed September 2023. https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/fact-sheets/Pages/circadian-rhythms.aspx
- Phillips AJK, Clerx WM, O’Brien CS, et al. “Irregular sleep/wake patterns are associated with poorer academic performance and delayed circadian and sleep/wake timing.” Scientific Reports 7:3216. 12 June 2017. DOI 10.1038/s41598-017-03171-4. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-03171-4
- Kan Yanagibashi. Haruki Murakami on running: interview afterword (in Japanese). Number Web, Bungeishunju, 31 May 2011. https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/127951
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