Japanese novelist Ryu Murakami dies aged 74

TOKYO — Japanese author Ryu Murakami, whose edgy works heavily featured sex and violence and were translated globally, has died, his publisher said Friday. He was 74. "We are deeply and unbearably saddened to learn of the premature death of Ryu Murakami, who spent his career continuously releasing shocking works meant for a younger audience," publisher Gentosha said in a statement Friday. Among the writer's best-known works is his debut "Almost Transparent Blue", which depicted the depravity of youths steeped in drugs and sex and won him one of Japan's most prestigious literary awards in 1976. His 1980 novel, "Coin Locker Babies", featured children abandoned in baggage lockers and their subsequent survival, while the 1997 "In The Miso Soup" portrayed a tourist's plunge into Tokyo's red-light district. "We pray for the peace of Murakami, who raced his way through life as the frontrunner of an era," Gentosha said.