Everytime I open the front cover of one of his books and see the countless praises by literary critics I can't help but wonder whether they're applauding the original Japanese text (very unlikely) or the English translation of that text (very likely). Based on past experience I know that there is always something that is lost in translation, whether it be cultural cues, words with no direct translatable equivalent, etc., and although I am greatly enjoying his works right now, I'm sure they'll be just as enjoyable, if not more so, when read in the original Japanese language.