I heard : "comments here and here that suggest the origin of their conflict may go well back to the time when Haruki refused Yasuken and other prominent novelists' offering to get his "Pinball 1973"(1980) compiled in "Showa Bungaku Zenshu (Showa Era Literature Collection)," causing its editor to commit suicide. Haruki himself recalled it as an unfortunate event in his essay collection published in 1999.
One thing sure about Haruki, is that his power has outgrown so much, as to make some people live in fear in Japan's lit society."