I am a literary giant in Japan

"1Q84 (Official Edition)" mainly deleted the preface and foreword written by Hide Kitagawa, as well as the elements in the book related to sex, violence, blood, etc. that are not suitable for showing to teenagers.

In addition, some events related to the new religious group "Pioneer" based on the Aum Shinrikyo were also completely deleted from the book.

After all, everyone knows that the supporters behind Aum Shinrikyo are conglomerates, political leaders and some high-ranking members of Congress.

If it were presented exactly as Kitagawa-sensei wanted, almost half of Japan's upper class society would be involved.

At least the Prime Minister's cabinet represented by Keizo Obuchi and the Ministry of Education headed by Nobutaka Machimura should not support Mr. Kitagawa's "outrageous remarks" so blatantly.

Of course, the fact that "1Q84 (Official Version)" has undergone certain deletions has long been announced to the public. This is the bottom line required by Mr. Kitagawa, and they will definitely not violate it.

As for what the deleted content is, the public will naturally know when "Wenyi" and "1Q84 (full version)" are released.

To put it bluntly, Obuchi Keizo and Machimura Nobutaka are typical Japanese politicians in their thinking and behavior.

He wants both, and doesn't want to offend anyone for the sake of face, and then he clears himself of all blame.

It is precisely because of this political atmosphere and environment that Japanese politicians tend to act like cowards at critical moments. When it is time to be tough, they fall to their knees faster than anyone else!
After all, the salary is only a few hundred yuan, why would you risk your life for it?

You already have what you deserve, but you have to be alive to enjoy it.

Naturally, people would not associate or consider such a complex social situation.

Just like Jabami Rei who is sitting in the car with her feet up watching "1Q84 (Official Edition)" at this moment.

She had heard a little about the struggle between the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Democratic Party, but in fact, Jabami Rei had no idea who was who, who represented which party, and what the core political policies of the two parties were.

She is the kind of person who, when the election bus comes, follows the crowd, shouting and making a fuss.

Maybe today he is helping Keizo Obuchi to criticize the New Democratic Party, and tomorrow he will follow the New Democratic Party and shout "Keizo Obuchi step down."

There is a profession in the Werewolf game that is very suitable for the characteristics of people like them - mob.

So Jabami Rei is only concerned about why "1Q84 (Official Version)" has to cut content, and what content has been deleted?

"I'm so curious! Damn it! Can I really wait until the day after tomorrow for the full versions of "Wenyi" and "1Q84" to be released? Should I go find Xiujun and Yumeko earlier and ask them to give me spoilers?"

花了近三个小时一口气看完了《1Q84：BOOK1（4月-6月）（官方版）》的蛇喰丽这么想道。

I really want to know, I really want to know, I really want to know.

I really want to know what content was deleted from the official version!

Jabami Rei was so curious that she was going crazy. She really couldn't help but feel the urge to go find Kitagawa Hide!
There are many readers who share the same sentiment as her.

It should be said that as long as you see the big words "abridged version", it is impossible not to be curious about the complete version.

In addition, discussions about "1Q84" instantly dominated the Japanese Internet and literary criticism circles, and spread to all walks of life at a terrifying speed.

First, let’s discuss the title of the book: 1Q84.

At first, there were many different opinions, and readers held their own views and no one was convinced by anyone else.

It was not until Kitagawa Hide himself posted a message on the Yahoo Japan forum under the nickname "I just want to make money" that the debate about the book title gradually subsided.

“The story is set in 1984, of course, because of George Orwell’s 1984, and originally I was going to write a novel called 1985, which would be the year after 1984.
However, when Michael Radford, the director of the film version of "1984", came to Tokyo, he had a discussion with me and finally said that George Orwell had already used it in "1984" and it would not make much sense for you to use it again.

In fact, judging from the content of the novel, what is most closely related to the title is the cult group "Pioneer" in it, which is the Aum Shinrikyo that we are all familiar with.

For various reasons, we cannot say anything or express anything by name, and can only vent our emotions in an obscure way such as the plot of a novel.

They are clearly bad guys, yet they are protected by the law and the government. They are clearly victims, yet they suffer from "secondary disasters" that they should not have to endure.

Shouldn’t such a magical world and Japan be worthy of an equally magical book title?
So I used Q, which is the same pronunciation as 9 in Japanese, and that’s how 1Q84 came about.”

Kitagawa Hide's words once again directed the criticism at the Aum Shinrikyo cult, which was almost being ignored.

He mentioned the subway repeatedly in his novel, but with the appearance of the protagonists Tengo and Aomame, the subway became a safe place, and the two protagonists also thought so.

This finally gave a sense of comfort to the Japanese people who had been fearing terrorist attacks for many years.

The crowded Tokyo subway these days is the best reflection of the popularity of "1Q84".

But the subway is the subway, and the "pioneer" religious community in the novel still makes people feel sick. The strong physical discomfort repeatedly hits the readers, constantly evoking their painful memories.

Therefore, the second topic repeatedly discussed by readers is the problem of the deep-rooted cults mentioned in "1Q84".

Who controls the cult?
Who is trying to eliminate the adverse influence of Aum Shinrikyo?

Who else benefits from these things?
We are all Aomame and Tengo.

Is it true that ordinary people like this really have no room to survive in such a society?
The novel "1Q84" describes how terrifying the terrorist society in the future under the totalitarianism is.

Dictators use violence and thought control to imprison people in a closed and suffocating society. Those who want to escape and find a way out ultimately face only death.

This feeling of suffocation makes readers extremely uncomfortable.

But they just couldn't find the answer in the novel.

Similar society, similar environment, similar us.

It can be said that this is the first time in Japanese literary history that there is a novel in which readers are more inclined to discuss the real-life issues it reflects rather than just sticking to the plot and characters of the novel.

Kitagawa Hide answered these thoughts on society and human nature, as well as the various questions of the people, with just one sentence.

"Go check it out! I've written all my answers in the complete version of 1Q84!"

于是还有两天才正式上市的《1Q84（完整版）》在12月16日和17日便疯狂预售出了300万册！

This does not include the large number of readers who go to bookstores to pre-order physical books.

Kitagawa Hide's first hit novel, "No Longer Human", took three and a half years to write and has sold about 950 million copies. It should exceed 1000 million copies by the end of this year.

Two other best-sellers, "The Dancing Girl of Izu" and "Norwegian Wood", have sold 880 million and 710 million copies respectively to date.

At this sales rate, these three books will surely achieve the ultimate milestone of total physical book sales in Japan exceeding 1000 million copies!

This is the ultimate milestone that no Japanese writer has ever reached. Kitagawa Hide is not only going to complete three books in one go, but it seems that the fourth one is on the way.

The most outrageous thing is that on the next day, December 1998, 12, on the Oricon chart released by Oricon, "17Q1 (Official Edition)" directly rushed to the top of the quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily charts of physical book sales.

On the first day of printing, the book sold about 270 million copies.

This data, not to mention in the world of pure literature, even if it is magnified to physical books and all entertainment books, still stands out from the crowd and is unrivaled!
When "1Q84 (Official Version)" dominated the charts, a light novel writer named Shiguresawa Keiichi was inexplicably caught in the crossfire.

Keiichi Shiguresawa was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1972 and won the first Dengeki Bunko Game Novel Award this year.

His award-winning work is the now popular "Kino's Journey".

It was officially released in the middle of this year, and by the end of the year, the total sales of all paperback editions combined reached 300 million copies, instantly haunting a group of writers in the fields of comics, pure literature, popular literature, and mystery literature.

Dengeki Bunko Publishing also saw this opportunity and was thinking of promoting Shigure Keiichi into a benchmark figure in the Japanese light novel industry, while at the same time allowing him to take advantage of Kitagawa Hide's traffic.

Later on, even the fact that they were both born in 1972 was mentioned.

Later, Dengeki Bunko used 1972 as the dividing line, gathered together the famous figures born in that year, and created the "1972 Japanese Literature Golden Generation".

Originally, Shiguresawa Keiichi was happily enjoying the high traffic brought by the number one figure in the Japanese literary world, watching "Kino's Journey" reach the terrifying figure of 400 million copies sold in half a year.

But the sudden dominance of "1Q84 (Official Version)" instantly attracted the attention of countless Kitagawa Hide readers.

Subsequently, Dengeki Bunko’s shameless marketing article titled “The Golden Generation of Japanese Literature in 1972” was bombarded.

"What the hell? Do you think you can be on par with Mr. Beichuan?"

"With all due respect, Kino's Journey is a piece of crap."

"If you were born in 1972, you are only 26 years old this year. You should have just graduated from college and entered the working world a few years ago, right?

Didn’t the people at Dengeki Bunko realize that the powerful one is not 1972, nor 26 years old, but Kitagawa Sensei?”

Because of the excessive marketing of Dengeki Bunko, Shigureze Keiichi truly experienced what it means to be "guilty of being unworthy of one's position."

Seeing that readers were about to explode the article online, Kitagawa Hide quickly stepped forward and said a few words to help him, thus saving Shigure Ze Keiichi from an unnecessary disaster.

It was precisely because of this not-so-small episode that Japanese light novels, which had once been completely ignored by the literary world, officially entered the big stage of Japanese literature.

Years later, no matter which reference book records the development history of Japanese light novels, the first sentence of the opening is bound to be: "On December 1998, 12, Kino's Journey and Shigure Keiichi, which were almost destroyed by the Internet explosion, finally survived with the help of Mr. Kitagawa.

Without "Kino's Journey", there would be no countless light novels as brilliant as the stars in the future.

Without Kitagawa, there would be no Kino’s Journey.”

Of course, Kitagawa Hide helped Shigurezawa Keiichi and Dengeki Bunko not just because he didn't want a well-known author and a rising star company to fail for inexplicable reasons.

He started planning e-reading and light novels a long time ago.

Although these two things have repeatedly hit a wall in the board of directors of Kawaide Shobo, even Kawaide Shizuko, who has always supported him without thinking, is a little skeptical that they can succeed.

But Kitagawa Hide still insists on promoting electronic reading, believing that it will gradually replace physical reading in the future.

One of his plans is to allow Japanese light novels, which are closely related to e-reading, to develop normally.

I don't know why the president of Dengeki Bunko, Mishio Fukasawa, who is the top figure in the literary world and whose traffic is being taken advantage of, is still willing to help me, but I am very grateful.

So on the night of December 12, he rushed to Kitagawa Hide's house with generous gifts and Shigure Keiichi, and scared Yumeko, who was alone at home, half to death.

The two men stated their purpose and expressed their gratitude, and they were almost kneeling on the ground to thank Mr. Beichuan for not killing them.

Mengzi didn't understand what he heard, but she also watched Japanese light novels occasionally and liked "Kino's Journey" very much. She was relieved to see that Shigure Keiichi did not have a conflict with her husband.

After accepting the gift and thanking the guests, Yumeko made a phone call and asked Kinoshita's driver team to take them out of the community. She then called Kitagawa Hide who was attending a discussion meeting on the election of new members of parliament in Chiyoda Ward.

Tomorrow is the release date of the December issue of "Wenyi" and "12Q1 (full version)". Kitagawa Hide originally planned to continue writing BOOK84 at home and consider how to spend Christmas with his children.

Unexpectedly, before he could even sit down, Keizo Obuchi's secretary called him and asked him to go to the Diet Building in Chiyoda District, asking him to attend this damn new Diet election discussion meeting.

All those who attended the meeting were important figures in the political arena. Kitagawa Hide sat in the corner, and no one cared about him, so he was happy.

After a long time, Machimura Nobutaka finally arrived. After talking with him, Kitagawa Shucai understood the purpose of their calling him here at the last minute.

It turns out that "1Q84 (Official Version)" was so popular that the Japanese railway company, which was once a leader in the field of transportation, became the weakest among the weak.

The subway company that got the new piece of the pie belongs entirely to the Japanese government, and all profits go to the national treasury.

After completing the most important indicator at the end of the year, the re-election of the Obuchi Keizo cabinet was basically confirmed, and the one who benefited from it naturally included the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Minister of Education Nobutaka Machimura, who made great efforts.

Nobutaka Machimura is getting a promotion.

"The next Speaker of the House of Representatives? Congratulations, Minister Machimura." Kitagawa Hideya was surprised.

His limited political knowledge was not enough to enable him to understand the changes in Japanese politics. He only knew that the Obuchi Keizo cabinet seemed to have been re-elected until the millennium.

As for what happened to Nobutaka Machimura in the end, he really had no idea.

When he heard that Machimura Nobutaka would be directly promoted to Speaker of the House of Representatives because of this incident, he felt a sense of unreality.

He has always been writing books to influence society.

But after all, literature is literature and politics is politics. The people who truly hold power are the politicians in the political arena, and he can only criticize them with his words.

But this time.

I didn’t expect that “1Q84” would actually affect the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives!

Machimura Nobutaka, who believed that Kitagawa Hideka was the biggest contributor to his promotion, invited Kitagawa Hideka to attend the meeting in order to return the favor.

To put it simply, the discussion on the election of new members of Congress is to redistribute seats for the soon-to-be-reorganized House of Representatives.

The designated speaker naturally has the most say.

Machimura Nobutaka has already made up his mind to give a seat to Mr. Kitagawa this time! (End of this chapter)