The title is a play on the Japanese pronunciation of the year 1984, a reference to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The letter Q and the Japanese number 9 are homophones, which are often used in Japanese wordplay. The events of 1Q84 take place in Tokyo during a fictionalized 1984, with the first volume set between April and June, the second between July and September, and the third between October and December.
Description:
The title is a play on the Japanese pronunciation of the year 1984, a reference to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. The letter Q and the Japanese number 9 are homophones, which are often used in Japanese wordplay. The events of 1Q84 take place in Tokyo during a fictionalized 1984, with the first volume set between April and June, the second between July and September, and the third between October and December.