Author: Sayaka Murata
Reviewed by Ahmad Fattahipour
Convenience Store Woman, a novel by Japanese author Syaka Murata, won the Akutagawa Prize in 2016. Based on the author’s personal experience working in a convenience store three times a week, the book captures the familiar atmosphere of convenience store life in Japan.
Keiko (or Kuko) Furukura works as a convenience store clerk and uses the store as a microcosm of Japanese society as a whole, where men are considered and treated as superior to women and dictate the rules of behavior. She mentions that people are judged on two grounds: occupation and marital status. Keiko is a college graduate, but chooses to work as a clerk. She is not physically very attractive and has a history of clashing with her school authorities. Keiko’s sister is anxious to find her a husband, but she gives up after seeing Keiko with a man who shows interest in marrying her.
Keiko’s counterpart in the novel is a man named Shiraha who is fired from his job at the store and becomes financially dependent on her. After a while, Keiko looks for another job, but soon changes her mind. Why? How does she make her living and deal with a host of other issues facing her in a society which puts a high premium on work? Keiko believes Japanese society has passed the capitalistic stage of growth. What does she mean by that? The novel explores this concept and provides a fascinating discussion point.
Convenience Store Woman is going to be translated into Farsi. It is highly recommended both as a novel and an educational work.
