Recently, it occurred to me while I was fishing YouTube’s streams for information on clamshell lighting and Clone Wars trivia that, maybe, the video-sharing site held answers to bigger questions—questions about relationships, sex, and sexuality.

Back in January, surrealist Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami announced his intention to start an advice column on his website that would allow him to correspond directly with readers, and possibly help them solve their life's problems. Since then, your quirky uncle Haruki has done just that, answering more than 5,000 questions about everything from love to food to pop culture.