Murakami's "Colorless Tazaki" becomes bestseller for 2013

Writer Haruki Murakami's new novel "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage" was the best-selling book in Japan during the 12 month period through November, selling an estimated 985,000 copies, according to information company Oricon Inc.

The story revolves around a lonely 36-year-old man, who feels empty and tries to find out the truth behind an event that deeply hurt him in his adolescence. Murakami won the first bestseller title in four years since the 2009 release of "1Q84 Book 1."

Novels were strong in the reporting period -- from Nov. 19, 2012 and Nov. 17, 2013. Other top 10 entrants in the general category included Naoki Hyakuta's "Kaizoku to Yobareta Otoko" (the man who was called a pirate), and Jun Ikeido's "Rosujene no Gyakushu" (the lost generation strikes back).

The comic division's top four spots were held by Eiichiro Oda's popular manga series "One Piece."

==Kyodo