In this photo from Shinchosa, author Haruki Murakami (right) speaks on stage next to author Mieko Kawakami in Tokyo on Dec. 17, 2019. (AP photo)
TOKYO: A monkey that confesses he steals women’s identity cards, causing them to temporarily forget who they are, was on Tuesday the star of author Haruki Murakami’s first public reading in Japan in nearly a quarter century, held to mark 40 years since his debut as a novelist.