Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey - Haruki Murakami

In Haruki Murakami’s Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey, Murakami posits a surrealistic scenario in which a monkey and a solo traveler converse in a decrepit inn. It is with this nameless monkey that the reader is meant to identify what it feels like to be lonely, an outsider in one’s community.

Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey begin with an aimless, wandering traveler who tries and fails to find evening accommodations for respite. Eventually, he stumbles upon dilapidated lodging that he deems suitable, at least for the night. It is there that our unsuspecting wanderer encounters a monkey. Not only is this monkey an employee at the inn, but it is also able to speak, and it initiates conversation with the man by offering to scrub his back as he soaks in the hot springs. After this initial interaction, the pair decide to continue their conversation later in the guest’s suite. That evening, when the monkey arrives at the room, they speak more about his background and upbringing.

As the monkey sheds light on his personal experiences, we learn that he has dealt with a great deal of loneliness in his lifetime. As he divulges about his past, it seems as though the man can sympathize with the primate, as he states, “it must have been lonely for you.” Indeed, we can speculate that as a nomad, he has experienced what it feels like to be an outcast, completely alone even in a noisy crowd, especially because he states that he enjoys traveling. As the monkey says, “isolation like that is heartrending.” It’s clear that the monkey serves as a lens through which we can perceive what it feels like to not fit in, in both physical settings and social groups. An outcast from both monkey and human societies, the primate known only as the “Shinagawa Monkey” says that “it was a harrowing existence” belonging nowhere. He describes being driven out of his former home by his fellow primate community after being told that he talked and acted funny, or different, than the other monkeys. Because his behavior was different from other monkeys, his community found him annoying and irritating. Amongst humans, he talks of being unable to find romantic love in both monkey and human partners, and how this has left him with the ultimate form of loneliness. Even as an employee at the inn, he states that the staff allows him to work under the condition that he stays mostly out of sight from guests. These exemptions from both social circles, along with not having a proper name, allow us to see that the monkey's lack of identity has prevented him from being situated anywhere, and likewise, our traveler exemplifies how not being physically situated can lead to one being unsituated personally. As someone who frequently travels, it can be both liberating and isolating to constantly need to establish new connections with people as either you or others, move on to new places. So, it is through this communication between the two that we sense that the two have finally found some sense of community—in each other. By bonding over their shared experiences of “otherness” and “loneliness” they have thus experienced inclusion and companionship.

What I admire most about Haruki Murakami’s writing is how unintentional it seems. Consistent throughout his works is the impression that he is but an observer documenting his surroundings. He doesn’t wish to leave an imprint or alter his surroundings in any way, thus he avoids flowery language and opts for simpler descriptions instead, with the goal of authentically relaying his perceptions. In a story about being an outsider, this choice feels necessary because, as one who is often alone, the lack of social interaction tends to make one more perceptive of their surroundings. Similarly, it can also make them more perceptive of their own melancholy. However, it is through Murakami’s writing that I actually feel a sense of communion. By portraying what it feels like to be an “other,” Murakami assures those who empathize that they are not totally alone in their lonesomeness and that they are indeed members of a community of outsiders alike.

Article edited by Lindsey Huddleston.