I'm having a surprisingly hard time finding any fiction by 村上春樹 (Murakami Haruki) in audiobook form. http://www.febe.jp doesn't even list the guy! Am I looking in the right place?

BTW, my experience with 村上春樹 is typical: I'm having a hellish time finding anything recorded by a lot of major authors. I thought that http://www.febe.jp was supposed to be very good for this, but I'm having no luck with them. Is there a better source?

Living in Japan, I can't say I've seen a lot of audiobooks, if any. In America, audiobooks have become the domain of lazy people who don't like reading, but that trend hasn't caught on here. Here, they're still primarily consumed by those who are actually vision impaired, which lowers their demand. What you are seeking may not exist.

JimmySeal Wrote:In America, audiobooks have become the domain of lazy people who don't like reading, but that trend hasn't caught on here.

I'd speculate that this is also affected by the fact that commuting by car is much more common in the US. I'm guessing that people listening on their way to work is a big part of the mainstream audiobook market.

Quote:In America, audiobooks have become the domain of lazy people who don't like reading

Some of us find audiobooks entertaining and still read books. Audiobooks are especially nice when listened to in the car, since reading a book in the car would be dangerous.

What about the Japanese iTunes store? It should have an audiobook section.

Audiobooks for anything by Murakami do not exist. Audiobooks available in Japan are about 3% of what is available in the US, comparatively.

Japan actually made audiobooks for the first two Harry Potter books about 6 years ago but they never finished the series :\

Womacks23 Wrote:Audiobooks for anything by Murakami do not exist. Audiobooks available in Japan are about 3% of what is available in the US, comparatively.

Thanks. That certainly agrees with my experience today of not being able to find any of the titles are expected to be sure bets.

BTW, I would have never predicted this. If I had been asked to make a bet, I would have wagered that of the two countries, US and Japan, the one with a greater fraction of titles published in recorded would be Japan, because:

1. Japanese society seems to be more eager to adopt newer technologies;
2. It's easier to listen to a book than to read one when one commutes to work in a crowded train, as is the case for so many Japanese;
3. By all accounts, with each new generation the Japanese are finding increasingly difficult to read kanji.

Of course, I would have lost my wager. It's a good thing I'm not in the publishing industry.

gfb345 Wrote:

Womacks23 Wrote:Audiobooks for anything by Murakami do not exist. Audiobooks available in Japan are about 3% of what is available in the US, comparatively.

Thanks. That certainly agrees with my experience today of not being able to find any of the titles are expected to be sure bets.

BTW, I would have never predicted this. If I had been asked to make a bet, I would have wagered that of the two countries, US and Japan, the one with a greater fraction of titles published in recorded would be Japan, because:

1. Japanese society seems to be more eager to adopt newer technologies;
2. It's easier to listen to a book than to read one when one commutes to work in a crowded train, as is the case for so many Japanese;
3. By all accounts, with each new generation the Japanese are finding increasingly difficult to read kanji.

Of course, I would have lost my wager. It's a good thing I'm not in the publishing industry.

Don't forget that they love voice acting too!

gfb345 Wrote:1. Japanese society seems to be more eager to adopt newer technologies;

Completely inaccurate stereotype. If anything, they're slower to adopt new technologies and abandon old ones. I also wouldn't call audiobooks a "technology" any more than Steak on a Stick or Baconnaise is a "technology."

Quote:3. By all accounts, with each new generation the Japanese are finding increasingly difficult to read kanji.

All accounts? Seems to me the trouble is with writing kanji, not reading it. Otherwise I don't think they'd be increasing the joyo kanji list.

Here we go

Anyways, I really wish there were more.
I listen to podcasts, rips of movies, etc at work but its so sparse compared to a book you know?
If only...