Haruki Murakami is a renowned Japanese writer and translator. To pay tribute to his influential works over the past several decades, TKU's Department of Japanese has a research office dedicated solely to examing and analyzing the works of Murakami. On May 5, the Haruki Murakami Research Office held the 2013 Second Haruki Murakami International Symposium.

Department of Japanese professor, Dr. Tseng Chiu-kuei, noted that given last year's very successful symposium, the Department this year decided to continue the new-born tradition. The Symposium consisted of special lectures, thesis presentations, and round-table discussions - three main parts. Those presenting dissertations came from various countries, including Japan, Korea, Mainland China, and Taiwan. The language used during the conference was Japanese, and in order to try and promote Japanese culture among local students and scholars, the organizers arranged for TKU students from the Department of Japanese to assist by conducting simultaneous interpreting throughout the entire course of the conference.