Therefore, Keiko decides that even if she is judged by society, she’d rather have it be for who she is - a Convenience Store Woman.

Being truly happy with oneself is being successful. However, constancy is not equivalent to stagnancy. She remains confused, questioning why she shouldn’t be allowed to live the way she is now. When Keiko goes to meet her friend Miho, she gets a jolt of reality.īeing one of the two unmarried women in a crowd of fifteen people, she’s told how they’re “the only ones here who can’t hold heads up high”. Unfortunately, even in the 21st century, the majority of the world expects only three things from women - to get married, have children and spend the entirety of your life taking care of them. However, people are still not happy with her. Thus, she is very content with the simplicity of her life. The job gets her a salary that allows her to afford food and a place to live. She speaks of the store like one speaks of their partner, describing it as the “world of sound” that “ceaselessly caresses my eardrums”. Though Keiko is reprimanded for not having a lover, the most beautiful love story of the novel is between her and the convenience store. As a consequence, she stumbles upon a job at the convenience store. Unable to be accepted for who she is, she deduces that the only way to satisfy those around us is to become a robotic cog in the wheel of society. Her family is ashamed of her, repeatedly claiming that she needs to be “cured” so as to be normal. Since childhood, she fails to understand social cues and relays symptoms of development difficulties, which remain unconfirmed and undiagnosed throughout the novel. Keiko, the main protagonist, is extremely quirky and naïve. It is, simultaneously, a subtle but strong commentary on gender double standards and womanhood. This book entirely reshapes the definition of success and what it means to be “normal”. Being a single, unmarried and childless woman, she gets constantly criticized for being a burden on society. The story, a stellar tale of womanhood, success and society, revolves around Keiko Furukura, a thirty-six-year-old woman who works at a convenience store, a job she has had for the past eighteen years. Convenience Store Woman is a Japanese novel by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.

Convenience store woman review