Keiko, a 36-year-old convenience store employee in Tokyo, is the main character in Sayaka Murata’s poignant novella, Convenience Store Woman. She’s had the job for 18 years and is perfectly content with her life. The work gives her the structure she needs to feel valued – even though she’s the only one who sees it that way. She knows that she’s out of step with the rest of the world.
The problem is that her family and friends consider the job unsuitable for a woman Keiko’s age. They also question the fact that she’s unmarried and worry she has never had a boyfriend. This falls in line with the perception, both hers and others, that she doesn’t fit in. Yet, at the Smile Mart, she does. She’s a diligent, dedicated worker. She also has little to no social life outside the store. She’s unmarried, considered unskilled by those who don’t understand what she brings to the position and, perhaps most importantly, has no desire to conform.
When a new employee, Shiraha, is hired, Keiko is dismayed at his lack of motivation and disregard for company policies. Although he doesn’t last long at the store, he ingratiates himself into her life.
Murata provides a heartwarming glance into the power of believing in oneself, but not before having Keiko consider how culture and those around her, including the wormy Shiraha, make her question her self-worth.
This is a short work that’s long on ideas and feelings.
Convenience Store Woman
3.75 Bookmarks
Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
Grove Press, 2018
163 pages
The Blue Page Special 