Sayaka Murata; trans. Jinny Tapley Takemori
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated from the Japanese by Jinny Tapley Takemori, is a delightful novella told in the first-person point of view of Keiko Furukura.
The novel opens with an eighteen-year-old Keiko recalling incidents in her childhood. Even as a young girl, Keiko finds it challenging to conform to or understand society’s precepts for normal behavior. At the age of 18, she finds part-time employment at a convenience store. Here, Keiko is at peace. She adheres to the convenience store manual with meticulous precision and takes her cue on “normal” behavior by mimicking other employees’ speech patterns and imitating their style of dress. Although she and others are unaware of it, it becomes increasingly evident that Keiko is autistic.
Eighteen years later at the age of thirty-six, Keiko is still a part-time employee at the convenience store with no ambition to do anything else with her life. She feels perfectly at ease in the enclosed, safe environment where she knows exactly what to say, when to say it, and what to do. She is a model employee, perceptive, adept at reading facial expressions, and courteous. The only discomfort she feels comes from friends and family who pressure her to find a mate and seek what they consider to be a more appropriate career for a woman her age. Eventually, Keiko succumbs to the pressure. She invites a slovenly former employee to move in with her in order to appease society by appearing to have a boyfriend. Facing even further pressure, she quits her job at the convenience store.
Since she can no longer regulate her daily schedule or behavior by relying on the convenience store, Keiko loses perspective. She is deprived of the one thing that endowed her life with meaning and purpose. She becomes lethargic, refusing to get out of bed, bathe, or eat. But when her roommate forces her to go on a job interview, Keiko enters a nearby convenience store and immediately begins performing the duty of an employee. She basks in the familiarity of the surroundings and decides to pursue her notion of happiness even if it means defying societal expectations. She applies for the position of part-time convenience store employee.
In this quick and easy read, Sayaka Murata portrays a courageous, modern-day heroine. Keiko withstands enormous social pressure to get married, have children, and pursue a lucrative career. She rejects expectations she doesn’t understand or seek by exercising her choice to define a successful, happy life on her own terms. She returns to an environment where she feels secure, appreciated, and knows all the rules. The novella is as much a heart-warming accolade of Keiko as it is an indictment of society’s enormous pressure to conform to outmoded standards of behavior.
A charming, delightful novella about an unassuming heroine.
Highly recommended.