On Women in Glass Boxes — Within and Without
“The time before I was reborn as a convenience store worker is somewhat unclear in my memory.”
Japanese author Sayaka Murata’s 2016 novel, translated to English by Ginny Tapley Takemori, opens with the brightly-lit glass box of the eponymous convenience store. We are introduced to a carefully structured microcosm by Keiko Furukura who happens to be very fond of this carefully structured space.
She knows at what time of the day rice balls sell best; she knows when the stacks of mineral water have to be restocked; she knows that cartons of barley tea will sell better in hot weather. The convenience store is a friend, a confidant, a partner. Keiko has spent eighteen years working here as a part-timer. She’s now thirty-six. Nothing has changed and she prefers it that way.
She is a unique conglomerate of quirks that is equal part startling as it is relatable. She wants a manual to tell her what “normal” really is. She sees herself as an amalgamation of all the people she has known — co-workers of present and past, her voice switching between people when the time calls for it. She has a sister she adores — a sister who wants to see her happy.
At a certain point in the book, there is a sense of stagnation, but it’s not unwanted. That is, there is stagnation until the indolent Shiraha becomes a part-timer at the convenience store and we, along with Keiko, are forced to face the possibility of change. A change that comes with its perks and its baggage.
Keiko is plucked from keeping her nails trimmed so she can work the cash register better and sucked into the baffling diorama of what the society wants and what she is able to give. It’s a tussle between self-realization and the pressure of conformity — an intricate concept explored in simplistic prose that makes the book a lovely read for a slow weekend.
“I have faith in the world inside the light-filled box.”
Complexities of trying to live as a functional cog of society bottled up in the carton of a heartwarming story, Convenience Store Woman is a bright tail-end of sunshine.
