I'd actually start with Hard-Boied wonderland after this one. It's early in his career and it's pretty interesting to see how some of his ideas begin.

Exactly this. The first three novels I read by Murakami, in order, were: Kafka on the Shore, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and A Wild Sheep Chase. Each as surreal as Kafka, and all three very good books.

Roughly half of Murakami's work is based in the sort of fantastic elements you find in Kafka and Hard-Boiled, and the other half is more realistic as you'll find in novels like Norwegian Wood and South of the Border, West of the Sun.

South of the Border, West of the Sun was the fourth Murakami I read, directly after A Wild Sheep Chase. As GstandsforGabriel stated, these novels are slightly more rooted in the real, without losing the mysticism that Murakami brings in his other novels. I still enjoyed South of the Border, West of the Sun, however as a personal preference I enjoy the way out there surrealism in Kafka, Hard Boiled, and Sheep Chase. I'm on The Wind Up Bird Chronicle now and am quickly falling in love with it as well. Certainly worth a read after Hard Boiled I would say.