On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning (Haruki Murakami) by tanningtatum published on 2014-03-28T08:50:50Z ON SEEING THE 100% PERFECT GIRL ONE BEAUTIFUL APRIL MORNING by Haruki Murakami One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo’s fashionable Harajuku neighborhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl. Tell you the truth, she’s not that good-looking. She doesn’t stand out in any way. Her clothes are nothing special. The back of her hair is still bent out of shape from sleep. She isn’t young, either - must be near thirty, not even close to a “girl,” properly speaking. But still, I know from fifty yards away: She’s the 100% perfect girl for me. The moment I see her, there’s a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert. Maybe you have your own particular favorite type of girl - one with slim ankles, say, or big eyes, or graceful fingers, or you’re drawn for no good reason to girls who take their time with every meal. I have my own preferences, of course. Sometimes in a restaurant I’ll catch myself staring at the girl at the next table to mine because I like the shape of her nose. But no one can insist that his 100% perfect girl correspond to some preconceived type. Much as I like noses, I can’t recall the shape of hers - or even if she had one. All I can remember for sure is that she was no great beauty. It’s weird. “Yesterday on the street I passed the 100% girl,” I tell someone. “Yeah?” he says. “Good-looking?” “Not really.” “Your favorite type, then?” “I don’t know. I can’t seem to remember anything about her - the shape of her eyes or the size of her breasts.” “Strange.” “Yeah. Strange.” “So anyhow,” he says, already bored, “what did you do? Talk to her? Follow her?” “Nah. Just passed her on the street.” Genre story Comment by rosaly واو 2022-07-27T06:39:18Z Comment by sofew I wonder if this inspired Your Name 2018-08-09T14:48:23Z Comment by Sonia Belenok I love it <3 2018-05-06T12:03:02Z Comment by Douglas Ponton every time you fall in love, it is with the 100% perfect girl 2018-03-21T20:46:33Z Comment by Meyhemp thank you! 2017-10-20T09:12:00Z Comment by pandisko This was wonderful. You have a lovely narrative voice! I enjoyed this so much. 2015-12-14T02:47:02Z Comment by MAha Elsafy awesome ♥ 2014-11-26T22:29:42Z