Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

She sees that the store is not as regulated and immediately begins rearranging the merchandise and assisting the staff. On the way to the first job interview, Keiko and Shiraha stop at a konbini. She stays home doing nothing, and only at Shiraha's insistence applies for steady jobs. They decide that by pretending to be a couple, they can avoid problems with families and a society that expects them to have romantic relationships, children, and stable jobs.Īs part of the plan, Keiko eventually quits her job in the konbini, though she immediately feels that her life has lost purpose. While they have no affection for each other, Shiraha eventually moves in with Keiko. Keiko meets Shiraha, a man who cannot hold a steady job and lives on the fringes of society since he doesn't conform to 'normal' expectations. Keiko maintains some friendships and a relationship with her sister, but finds it increasingly difficult to explain why, after 18 years, she is still single and working as a temp in a convenience store. She models her behaviour, dress style, and even speech patterns on those of her coworkers.

The highly regulated world of the konbini, where each action is prescribed by the corporate manual, allows her to maintain an identity acceptable to those around her and a sense of purpose. She has known since childhood that she is 'different' and that expressing her own views and actions is inexplicable and distressing to others, and causes problems. Keiko Furukura is a 36-year-old woman who has been working part-time at a convenience store, or konbini, for the last 18 years. The book has further been translated into more than thirty languages. The translation, by Ginny Tapley Takemori, was released by Grove Press (US) and Portobello Books (UK) in 2018. The novel has sold over 1.5 million copies in Japan and is the first of Murata's novels to be translated into English.

It was first published in the June 2016 issue of Bungakukai and later as a book in July 2016 by Bungeishunjū. Aside from writing, Murata worked at a convenience store three times a week, basing her novel on her experiences. The novel won the Akutagawa Prize in 2016. It captures the atmosphere of the familiar convenience store that is so much part of life in Japan.

Convenience Store Woman ( Japanese: コンビニ人間, Hepburn: Konbini Ningen) is a 2016 novel by Japanese author Sayaka Murata.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata