If you are troubled, lost in life or just feel like discussing cats and Japanese baseball, visit "Mr. Murakami's Place" online. Beginning last week, author Haruki Murakami has been taking questions and responding as best as he can for the following two weeks.

A best-selling novelist and perennial candidate for a Nobel Prize in literature, Murakami is notoriously publicity-shy. But he wants some virtual interaction with his readers, says his publisher Shinchosha.

Murakami's latest ask-him-anything session opened on Thursday at "Murakami-san no Tokoro", or "Mr. Murakami's Place" - a website set up by Shinchosha Publishing Co Ltd.