Ryū Murakami (村上 龍?), Writer and Japanese film director, born in Sasebo, Nagasaki, on February 19, 1952. His real name is Murakami Ryunosuke (村上 龍之介?). His prolific career as a novelist began in 1976 with almost transparent Blue, a work that made him a bestseller and earned him the praise of specialized criticism. His novels are usually characterized by the harshness in the descriptions and violence of the situations narrated. In addition, the fact of having lived near a US military base in his native Sasebo, allowed him to know in depth the North American culture and idiosyncrasy, which is observed in some of his works, as for example in Sopa de Miso. Ryu Murakami also started a career as a film director. Of his cinematographic works, Tokyo Decadence (1992). He was also a drummer in a rock band. Due to the coincidence of surnames with Murakami Haruki, in the eighties it would be frequent to speak of the "two Murakamis", although in reality they are not relatives nor they share much in literary terms.