Murakami on morning rituals

Like Ozawa I also get up at four in the morning and concentrate on my work, alone. In winter, its still pitch dark …

I spend five or six hours at my desk, sipping hot coffee and single mindedly tapping away at the keyboard. Ive been living like this for more than a quarter of a century. During those same hours of the day when Ozawa is concentrating on reading his scores, I am concentrating on my writing. ….

It often occurs to me that this life of mine would not exist if I lacked the ability to concentrate. Without concentration, it would not be my life. I suspect that Ozawa feels the same way.

“If you remember me, then I don’t care if everyone else forgets“.

Absolutely on Music, conversations with Seiji Ozawa by Haruki Murakami