Haruki Murakami is loved by many readers, but not by the residents of a small Japanese town.

In his story ‘Drive My Car’, set in a real town called Nakatonbetsu, a character sees someone toss a lit cigarette out a car window and muses, ‘Probably this is something everyone in Nakatonbetsu commonly does.’ This offended the inhabitants of Nakatonbetsu, who take pride in their management of litter and questioned why Murakami depicted their town less favourably. Murakami responded with an apology, and by changing the name of the town when the story was republished.