HARUKI MURAKAMI, one of Japan’s most acclaimed novelists, will host a radio special to try to lift the nation’s spirits as a state of emergency over the novel coronavirus lingers.

Murakami, whose breakout novel “Norwegian Wood” debuted in 1987, will play favorite songs and welcome listener comments during a “Stay Home Special,” the name evoking a plea from Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike for residents to avoid going out. “I’m hoping that the power of music can do a little to blow away some of the corona-related blues that have been piling up,” Murakami wrote on a web page promoting the special.

Murakami is a notorious recluse but has hosted his “Murakami Radio” show every couple months. As a teenager he developed a passion for jazz and spoke of writing to its beat. He and his wife, Yoko, opened a jazz club while still university students and ran it for seven years.

The show will be aired May 22 from 10 p.m. to 11:55 p.m. (1-2:55 p.m. GMT).(SD-Agencies)