BookLife Review: Convenience Store Woman, by Sayaka Murata

Japan, Tokyo, single woman, auditory giftedness, quirky talent, learning differences, convenience store woman, peer pressure, social pressure to succeed.

Try something a little different, and surprisingly short, with Japanese writer Sayaka Murata’s quirky but philosophically powerful novel, Convenience Store Woman.

Keiko Furukura is an unusual young woman, uninterested in traditional careers, marriage, childhood, relationships, friendships or even sex. One might reasonably infer that she lives with some form of spectrum disorder. She is self-aware, decisive and gifted in an extraordinarily unusual niche. She has an highly attuned sense of sound and an ability to recognize the patterns and rhythms that emerge in the daily operations of a small Tokyo convenience store, which appears to be somewhat similar to a 7-11. Keiko describes herself as ‘becoming normal” and “becoming human” by virtue of her success as a convenience store worker.

Not surprisingly, Keiko’s talents are not widely admired or recognized by her family or acquaintances. She is also taken advantage of by less devoted co-workers and even some managers. Intolerance, peer pressure and bullying arise, yet Keiko navigates them successfully. There is an air of willful ignorance from Keiko’s family about her obvious Aspberger-like traits and learning differences, but suspending that artifice allows Keiko’s story to evolve. It took me a minute (or several) to jump on the suspended ignorance bandwagon, but once I did I enjoyed the ride. I strongly recommend this read, a gem from another country, and an artful humanization of an often marginalized community.