日本未上市先轟動，畢竟這本書距離上一本長篇已經相隔近四年。這幾年村上作品陸續有英美歐洲俄國韓國中國版本出現，也都很快受到各地讀者的喜愛，在當地深化成不同樣貌的村上流行，這樣的待遇幾乎可以說是當代作家第一人。

　　因此村上的新長篇幾乎是全世界等著出版，同時他自己也說經歷阪神地震與東京地下鐵事件衝擊後，自己也對日本有了不同看法，也使得老讀者更加期待這部小說。新書描寫四國鄉下的十五歲少年，因為成日待在圖書館而發生的奇特啟蒙經驗。

　　書名有卡夫卡，村上表示這是他非常喜愛的作家，作品與卡夫卡的聯繫，則要看過小說由讀者自己體會。

　　★本書中譯版《海邊的卡夫卡》由時報出版。

　　Kafka on the Shore follows the fortunes of two remarkable characters. Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy. The ageing Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his highly simplified life suddenly overturned. Their parallel odysseys - as mysterious to them as they are to the reader - are enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerising dramas.

　　Fish tumble in storms from the sky; cats carry on conversations with people; a ghostlike if familiar pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since WWII. There is a brutal murder, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle. Yet this, as all else, is eventually resolved, even as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually unravelled.