A temporary ‘ask-me-anything’-style website opened by author Haruki Murakami has received over 30,000 messages from fans in about two weeks since launching on Jan. 15. The website, titled Murakami-san no Tokoro (Mr. Murakami’s Place), stopped taking questions on Jan. 31 but the author is scheduled to continue posting responses until about late March.

“This number is way beyond what we imagined,” Mr. Murakami wrote and thanked the fans for the e-mails.

The author has already responded to questions on his Nobel Prize odds, same-sex marriage and iPhones, and continues to expand the variety of topics he chooses for the website.

In response to a question from a 17-year-old female fan on how to lose weight, Mr. Murakami said that there are only three ways to achieve the goal. “There is no need to read any manual on diet. It’s very simple,” he wrote, explaining that one has to eat less, exercise often or fall in love. “The final option is very effective,” he wrote.

One male student asked Mr. Murakami about the process of falling in love, in English.

“Basically it’s an accidental collision. It is unpredictable and inescapable. So, always fasten your seatbelt,” the author replied.

A 26-year-old female fan asked for advice on how to carry fewer items in her bag, to which Mr. Murakami answered that he had a similar problem.

Mr. Murakami said he carries books, an iPod, swimming suit in case he has the sudden urge to swim, an Amazon Kindle book reader, glasses, tooth brush, a Red Sox cap, and an appointment book among other items. I would like to travel light if only it were possible, he said.