2025/09 Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

[Jack]

This is one of our two group reads for September 2025, tied with Strange Houses.
This is a second time for the Japanese Literature Forum but a first for many members.
It will be a great read or reread.

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More as we get closer to September.

[Den]

Love this one . What’s important is that we haven’t started preparing the chicken skewers yet!

[Jack]

I found Murata’s story about Keiko’s life interesting and that it thoughtfully engaged my interest in the exploration of non-conformity and asexuality. After the first time reading it, I was motivated to explore her other novels and short stories in translation. (This may be the most “normal” one…) I still need to read Vanishing World, which I think was published just before this one.

Konbini ningen (Convenience Store Woman) (2016), was Murata’s 10th novel, and won the Akutagawa Prize.

[Charlotte]

I finished this about a week ago and really liked it! It made me laugh out loud several times. It reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine except the narrator is much more self aware than Eleanor is. I wish it had been longer though. It felt like I was just really getting into it when it ended.

[X]

An insightful and quite fun story. A perspective on the pressure to conform to societal norms and different ways the people who don't really fit the norm deal with it - contrast Keiko's adjusting approach to Shiraha's bitter resentment (and where you can see echoes of some dangerous elements of today's fringe groups)..

[Ana]

Loved this one, very funny at times. I admired how the main character deals with the pressure to fitting into society.