Murakami Ryu’s works are characterized by detailed description of violent and cruel scenes, which does not correlate with the realities of Japan. The purpose of this study is an attempt to identify the functions of violence and crime phenomenology in the works of the author. To achieve the goal, the following tasks are solved: consideration of semantic content of violence and justification concept, its necessity for the plot, analysis of a real criminal case that became the basis of the story “In the Park”, determination of its role in the work. In the course of the work it was revealed that through the description of cruelty the author wants to show the reader the need to spill out aggression. A number of social problems were highlighted, which in the writer's opinion deserve the indignation of the Japanese. The study showed that by mentioning real crimes the author expresses his opinion about them, thus emphasizing the social vices of Japan.