Convenience Store Woman

by Sayaka Murata

Ginny Tapley Takemori (Translator)

The surprise hit of the summer and winner of Japan's prestigious Akutagawa Prize, Convenience Store Woman is the incomparable story of Keiko Furukura, a thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident who has been working at the Hiiromachi "Smile Mart" for the past eighteen years. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but in her convenience store, she is able to find peace and purpose with rules clearly delineated clearly by the store's manual, and copying her colleagues' dress, mannerisms, and speech. She plays the part of a "normal person" excellently--more or less. Keiko is very happy, but those close to her pressure her to find a husband and a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action.

A sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures we all feel to conform, Convenience Store Woman offers a brilliant depiction of a world hidden from view and a charming and fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.

• ISBN13: 9780802129628
• Publish Date: 17 September 2019 (first published 1 July 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Black Cat
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 176
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Convenience Store Woman was such a delightful read! I did not want to put it down, so I didn't, except for bathroom breaks. Which is actually easy since there are no chapters, it's super short, and Keiko's narrative is completely engrossing. Keiko was an odd child who grew up to be an odd woman. But really she might be the most normal person since she's extremely observant and continues to live a life that is comfortable for her without bowing to society's pressure to get married, get a real job, and have children. She's perfectly fine working in the same convenience store she's been employed at for the past eighteen years.

Convenience Store Woman was almost a five-star read for me, but it lost me a bit toward the middle when Keiko starts interacting with Shiraha. This guy is awful. He's also odd, and rebuff's society's standards. But instead of taking Keiko's approach to just living how she wants, he decides he wants to hide away from it all and "get revenge" on women. Ew. I felt bad for Keiko having to put up with him, but she was trying on the "normal" hat for size to get her peers off her back. It doesn't work though, and Keiko does what she does best. Greets customers, straighten shelves, and rings up groceries. Nothing wrong with that.

3.5

[kiracanread]

A very quick, fun read depicting the life of a convenience store worker in modern Japan, and the challenges faced by a female in her current life with a part time job and no husband, which aren't ideal for a Japanese woman in the current climate.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

The latest literary sensation seems to be Convenience Store Woman, this book is everywhere but maybe because it is currently WITMonth (Women in Translation Month). This is a dark comedy that explores the life of Keiko, who never felt like she fit in with society. She took a job in a convenience store and now eighteen years later she feels like this is where she belongs. Thanks to the convenience store manual she knows exactly how she is meant to act and behave.

Convenience Store Woman dives into society and starts questioning what we consider social norms. For Keiko she feels comfortable working in a convenience store. However for everyone else, they think something is wrong with her. To them, she should have moved on to a better job, gotten married and had kids. This is a brutal look at how damaging social norms can be as the reader follows Keiko dealing with these outside pressures that society have put on her.

The novel is constantly questioning this idea of what people call ‘normal’ and wants us to consider why it is so important. Keiko seemed like a happy person, she liked the structure and the routine of being a convenience store worker. She may be socially awkward or odd but why would that matter to everyone else in the world? We see the damage social pressure puts on this woman.

I loved this novel because it explored this important social issue so flawlessly. There is constant pressure put on people that is so unnecessary. For example, I have been married for almost nine years now and the question of children is always being asked. What if we do not want children? Or what if we cannot have children? I have witnessed this pressure and how damaging it can be. You are basically saying, ‘this person is not human because they will not conform to my expectations of what makes a person normal’. That whole attitude makes me so angry. People should be able to live their own lives the way that choose to do so.

As you can see, Convenience Store Woman has had an effect on me. It was such a pleasure to read this dark and humorous book but the feeling of anger still runs strong within me. I am pleased to see this novel getting so much attention, and I hope this is another small step towards allowing others to live their own true self.

Unrelated but I need to memorialise this event, when telling my wife that I had finished reading Convenience Store Woman, she thought I said I inconvenienced all women.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://www.knowledgelost.org/book-reviews/genre/contemporary/convenience-store-woman-by-sayaka-murata/