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South of the Border, West of the Sun (国境の南、太陽の西, Kokkyō no minami, taiyō no nishi?) is a short, melancholic novel written by the popular Japanese novelist, Haruki Murakami, in 1992 while he was a visiting scholar at the Princeton University in the United States.[1] The English translation by Philip Gabriel was released in 1999. Part of the title, 'South of the Border,' refers to the song as sung by Nat King Cole.[2]. However, there is no evidence that Nat King Cole actually ever recorded this song. The other half refers to an Inuit syndrome called Piblokto or Arctic (or Siberian) hysteria.

Imagine this. You're a farmer, living all alone on the Siberian tundra. Day after day you plow your fields. As far as the eye can see, nothing. To the north, the horizon, to the east, the horizon, to the south, to the west, more of the same. Every morning, when the sun rises in the east, you go out to work in your fields. When it's directly overhead, you take a break for lunch. When it sinks in the west, you go home to sleep.

And then one day, something inside you dies. Day after day you watch the sun rise in the east, pass across the sky, then sink in the west, and something breaks inside you and dies. You toss your plow aside and, your head completely empty of thought, begin walking toward the west. Heading toward a land that lies west of the sun. Like someone, possessed, you walk on, day after day, not eating or drinking, until you collapse on the ground and die. That's hysteria siberiana.

South of the Border, West of the Sun differs from the majority of Murakami’s work due to its seeming rejection of more fantastical elements. However, the story remains mysterious, as Shimamoto reappears filled with secrets and refusing to explain her actions. At the time of the couple’s reunion Hajime is 36, married with 2 kids and well-regarded by others. Despite this, he is filled with an unexplainable melancholy as he searches for meaning in his life, meaning he is convinced that Shimamoto could provide.