Revisiting Convenience Store Woman (does it hold up?) 

Yep, Keiko is autistic. As an autistic woman, one of the things I loved about this book was how it highlights how uniquely vulnerable we are to this type of "see, you're different too, so you get me" approach.

For me, the focal point in the book was the reaction of the normative, secondary characters towards Keiko's relationship with Shiraha. It betrays two unfortunate facts about not just Japanese but any society, both of which I vehemently disagree with: 1) Normative behaviour is way more important than individual well being and accomplishment. 2) If you as a woman do not fit the social requirements, be grateful that there IS a man who's interested in you, even if he's violent or toxic or, as I think is the case with Shiraha, has an Antisocial Personality Disorder. (Of course, the latter point can be adapted to any kind of identity, not just the binary sexes, I was only being specific to fit the book's content) Brilliant book!

Shiraha is probably also neurodiverse, most likely autistic. Also, not only are there multiple examples of heteronormativity, but amatonormativity as well, which is something that people who are aromantic and/or asexual (and pretty much everyone) also have to deal with. Keiko is aroace, and I won't accept anyone telling me otherwise. This comment could turn into an essay of me just rambling, so I'll stop now. 😅

She's definitely autistic, I related so much to her. I have a list of characters that I'm convinced are autistic even though it isn't explicitly mentioned in the book and it all started with this one lol.

Pausing the video to answer your question: Yes, she is autistic! :D

I'm autistic - she 100% is autistic in every way possible. It's not just a list of common symptoms, but the way she exists and functions as a person in her mind and in the world. Something that annoyed me when the book started becoming more popular in the online book community was how many people said it was a "quirky romance" or claimed it showed how anyone, including autistic people, can find love. What a load of shit lol. They don't have a romance. They have a convenient life together that works. It's a tragic story of an autistic woman who is constantly pressured by her family, co-workers, and peers to find a husband, change her style, and be anyone other than herself. Every part of her autism is looked down upon. She doesn't understand societal rules, yet, when she finds ways to follow those rules she's still looked down on. "Find a job, any job!" "No, not that job!" She feels so much pressure to fit into an allistic world that she choses to be with someone she doesn't actually like, is a misogynist, an incel, treats her like shit, and makes her life harder, just so people leave her alone. Why does she choose that life with him? She can exist without masking in front of him. Maybe not fully, but she knows he would be understanding and accepting of, or more realistically not give a shit about, everything that makes her different. She can go about her routines unbothered. She connects to his outsiderness. He lets her be autistic in small ways and doesn't criticize or expect a response like everyone else does. She can add him to her routine if it means her family and the rest of society stops judging her for being single. If it stops the questions while she's trying to hyper-focus on work. She can find peace in the stress he causes her because routine stress is easier than societal stress. Having to clean up after someone who is lazy and will rant about things you don't care about is mentally easier than having a conversation where you're asked the same questions and your answers are never listened to and are never enough. Convenience Store Woman is a tragedy, especially if you're autistic. You see her struggling so much to fit in and it never being good enough. You see her give up her only safe space, her home, as an attempt to fit in more. You leave it knowing that she'll never have a place to truly unmask and be herself. Her entire life is now spent around people and their expectations. He might not expect her to fit into strict societal norms the way everyone else does, but he still has expectations due to his misogyny. She still has to work to keep him satisfied so her new routine is unbothered. People who view this as a romance are disgustingly mistaken. This isn't a happily ever after romance. There's nothing romantic about changing your life and yourself to fit in. Her happily ever after would be if people leaved her alone and allowed her to live her life the way she wants. It would be her finally giving up on fitting into a world not made for her. It would be her realizing her life is worthy outside of society's expectations. It would be her standing up for herself. Her ending is masking until death. It's misery ever after. People who think this is a romance probably thought Midsommar was a "good for her" movie lol.

The way you talk about books is so captivating!! I just finished Eliza Clark’s Penance after watching your video, and I loved it! Can’t wait to read this one as well

I read this early this year (thanks to another one of your videos where you mentioned it) and it instantly became one of my favorites! I'm not autistic so I can't really give insight into that but what I think makes this book work so well is that it is extraordinarily kind. It's not just that we are in her perspective and see her "strangeness" through her own eyes, but that the text itself never falls into the tendency of making characters like her an "Other". Different in a way that the system does not desire? Yes. But still not foreign or alien. She's human in every sense of the word. And that SHOULD always be the standard anyways ... but it still shouldn't go unremarked that Sayaka holds our protagonist gently and kindly through every word either. Also, since I was reading this at the height of Andrew Tate's popularity, the themes about patriarchy stood out to me quite strongly too. Even though that wasn't necessarily the vibe that the book was going for ... I was so anxious the entire time he was in her house! 😂

As an autistic person, I absolutely loved this book! I would love for the characters being explicitly autistic , but i think the idea of the book is that she does not know (or does not take it to account, or share it with others), that she is autistic, so the whole book is her living her normal life without referencing it as “my autistic traits”. She just go like “idk why everyone does that, but they find strange that i dont so i will try to copyl

Great review. I loved this book. It is relevant to much of the modern world, but with the societal pressures of Japan seemingly heightening their experience.

Convenience Store Woman was totally unlike any autustic-point-of-view book I have ever read. I usually find them fascinating because there is so much honesty in autustic thinking, it seems to me, and that is usually portrayed in a very kind light. This book had that honesty but it showed the consequences of that way of viewing life, in Japan at least. Yikes! I was uncomfortable all the way through until she settled back in to what she truly wanted.

This video really highlights why rereading literature can be so incredibly valuable. It’s tempting to constantly get swept up in the next new shiny novel (and that’s not necessarily a bad thing) but it can be extremely rewarding to revisit novels you’ve already experienced. Very interesting video!

This book sounds like it will definitely be a comfort read for me, im quite similar to the main character from the sounds of it. books I can relate to always bring me so much joy, it’s so affirming and vital to find books and other art pieces with these kinds of messages !!

I’m reading this book at the moment. Although I read it in Japanese and it’s a slow read, I’m more than half way through. I was so angry at Shiraha for his beliefs. Now that I watched your video I think I can understand his point of view a little bit more.

I really love Convenience Store Woman! That being said, I feel Earthlings does the same thing plus touches on several other subjects even more effectively. I feel required to mention for anyone who hasn't read Earthlings to check the trigger warnings before they go into it. I didn't, and I almost had to put the book down in chapter two. It is A LOT, but it is worth the effort!

The whole of my library is made up from all your recommended books! Even though we don’t have the same taste I enjoy watching you! I can not skip any of your videos! You are the most favourite video creator! Keep going on!

such an interesting analysis! I totally dismissed him when I read it

super excited that you revisited this book-also pausing the video after your question to say: A friend recommended this book to me and said I might relate, and at that time I did not know I was autistic. After I read it, I started the self-diagnosis to clinical diagnosis path because of how seen I felt by Murata’s writing. I was obsessively watching reviews of the book to see if anyone else felt similarly which is how I ended up subscribing to you! TLDR; yes I think Keiko is autistic !

As an autistic human who just read this book…yes. Keiko is autistic. And wonderfully so. Her relationship with her sister made my heart ache, I felt so sad for Keiko because I relate to her so strongly. We don’t need to be cured. We all just need to find a way to make life palatable and enjoyable for us! And she did - the convenience store. And that should be celebrated!

Read it a couple of days ago with my book club, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your review ❤️

Same! It’s so hard to make time to reread!

Thank you for introducing Murata ❤❤❤ can we appreciate how immersive and provocative her writing is? I'll be reading more. Just got Earthlings because I'll go on a rampage read of her books 🤭

Heyy Willow! I came to know of this book exclusively through your recommendation (as i tend to for all my japanese lit ventures, it's become a fast favorite genre) and just have finished reading it. First thing i do is search up the title and find your video! This comment section feels like i've found my clique. as an aroace, it might be the rare comment section on yt that talks about aromanticism and amatonormativity (in addition to heternormativity) normally. And yk not in the obscure way without even uttering the words. As i was reading the book, i just went 'he's just every incel eh' and went on, eager to see how their 'relationship' (for lack of a better word) would develop since he basically word for word spewed out what Keiko thinks in one of his rambles, about the society not tolerating 'foreign objects'. Watching you talk about it makes me more conscious of the parallels that exist b/w them tho! And how it looks vastly different (i.e. for men and women) by virtue of the patriarchy. Great video as always, keep going

Hi. Sayaka Murata is one of my favourite writers. You are right that there are so many layers to her stories that they need to be reread to appreciate it all. I found the relationship with Shiraha interesting too and I think you are spot on with your analysis of him as a character. Sayaka has shown the consequences of men struggling with their identity in relation to how they expect to be treated. It was lovely meeting you on Saturday and I am loving Diary of the Void. Take care

I read this yesterday and it was great to see you had a recent review up for it. It is interesting looking at this through the perspective of the patriarchy and the recent exposé’s into Russel Brand. It is like the inverse of the characters here, that a male figure - sexual predator - is help up and handed these things through the media and wider culture. It shows that the patriarchy impacts negatively on men in both sides of the spectrum. But then you have our protagonist here, who has to deal with the intersection of her neurodiversity AND her gender. I teach at an all boys high school and our Year 9 are still studying the archaic Lord of the Flies. What an outdated, patriarchal way to think about the world. This would be such a better fit for teenage boys. Thanks for the video.

I just finished reading the book. So beautifully written. Love your in-depth thoughts on it! ❤

I discovered your channel one week ago and I’m now watching all your video 😍 a huge hug from Italy

Finished reading it a couple days ago and I'm still in awe, my second favorite novel for sure, it was splendid and Keiko is my very personal heroine, I feel I learned so much from her. These are my personal thoughts: I think that the key difference between Keiko and Shiraha is that Shiraha rejects societal conventions as a defense mechanism, deep down he actually internalized the same rules and conventions he's says to be against of as a way to color himself as a rebel, but he's constantly looking ways or lucubrate stupid plans to be accepted by the society he longs to be part of. As for Keiko, she couldn't care less of being actually accepted or belong, the real and refreshing twist of her character is that she's actually in good terms with her "abnormality" and supossed mediocrity, but the people around her just will not leave her alone, because she HAS to find a husband, have sex, have children, find a stable job, etc. Shiraha isn't in good terms with his status and I think that's why his character is so important, he's the perfect foil to Keiko. Keiko started her own little rebellion by being "mediocre" without knowing it whereas Shiraha thinks himself as a rebel but the way the actually thinks, just keeps perpetuing the status quo... like any other incel. Of course, Keiko is not a perfect rebel either, I think she attached her identity too much to the konbini and without it she feels lost, but that's brilliant character writing, because that's how it feels when you rely too much on your comfort zone. But yeah, she's way more inconformist and rupturist than Shiraha thinks of himself (and her). Anyway I loved Keiko so much is unreal, my favorite protagonist of any fiction ever. Thanks for your reviews and recomendations, can't wait to read more of Sayaka's work but sadly, this is the only novel from her available in spanish. Greetings!

I've reread this book 4 times now. I love it so much!

Going to be my next read. I'm also autistic and based on what you've said, it sounds very much like she is as well. Sounds a little close to home with my own path with jobs and other opinions on what I should be doing instead. Found your channel from Jack Edwards and love the videos you make and insights into the books you read!

I could easily re-read this. It's a book I still think about months after reading it for the first time. I think it's a brilliant.

Starting to read this now. Thanks for covering it in so many different contexts. Love the way you think!

I quickly grabbed a copy of this book because of your review years ago! Same goes for Mieko Kawakami's books! All the best!

2 themes within the novel are the feeling of alienation and ostracization. When perusing and analyzing the book we can see the alienation that dually affects the convenience workers such as the Keiko, as well as individuals like Shiraha. Alienation refers to the condition of workers in a capitalist economy, resulting from a lack of identity with the products of their labor and a sense of being controlled or exploited. Ostracization will refer to the feeling individuals have when they are excluded due to their “ineptness” to conform to societal conventions that people desperately affix themselves and cling to such as marriage, work status, fulfillment, neurotypicalness, and family. The two themes compliment each other in the novel. But both of these themes bounce off the idea of autonomy. Do we truly have real autonomy? Ironically Keiko is perfectly fine with her religious adherence to the convenience store and the doctrines of the manual. This ascetic dedication to the store flows seamlessly into her life as her sleep schedule is not for her own recuperation but rather as a means to service the store. The nourishment she supplements herself with are vital for her body to physically perform within the convenience store such as greeting the customers, moving articles of items, restocking, etc. While this sense of routine provides safety not only in terms of being able to present a veneer of a functioning human, but it comforts Keiko due to how disorienting it can be for her to perform the charade of being a human in terms of socializing, and keeping face. In my reading of the book, it has shown how our lives have revolved solely around work to the point our lives are completely structured around it. While Keiko views work as her salvation, others may view it as an exhaustive rat race which is emotionally and physically toiling hence facing alienation. When Keiko was unemployed the stringent routine she follows fell apart as she didn’t know why she was resting or eating anymore. Was her eating for her self nourishment or was it more towards work efficiency performance. Some things that come to mind would be “you need to eat if you need to work,” “if you don’t get good sleep it’ll affect your work.” Contrary to Keiko’s reverence for her work, Shiraha showcases the symptoms of alienation through his apathy toward the work he feels “forced” to do. His languid demeanour, his scorn for the labour he has to partake in exhibits a paradox what we consider autonomy under our current system. While he did opt to work in the convenience store, is that necessarily a choice borne out of his own volition considering he is expected to have a job, needs money to finance himself, etc. What is the idea of autonomy and choice when we view it from the empowerment that Keiko feels and how Shiraha picks the job but ends up being let go. Without employment Shiraha is dually alienated and ostracized as he lacks the commodity of production which seems irreconcilable with the pressure to work and produce, and he is socially chastised for his lack of discipline, motivation, and independence. I’d argue his incel personality is another point of ostracization given his peripheral view of women and their purpose to be compliant to men. What I noticed about his character is the desperation to fit in, but when he’s rejected on multiple accounts he rationalizes it through his pontification as to how we are still in the stone age. The patronizing attitudes of Keiko’s social circle provides glimpses into estrangement that outliers of society poignantly feel. If you speak to people who are neurodivergent, the homeless, queer individuals, people involved in the prison system, and social delinquents you’d be provided a window into the disillusionment they may find in the ways certain “truths” are in conflict with their experience. Heteronormativity and the emphasis placed on the roles of cis men and women are explicit in the book. The idea that a woman has to produce children, settle down, be courteous, feminine is met by Keiko a woman whose personality is a foil to such arbitrary concepts. Through Keiko we can see how exhausting these expectations are, and how they are often imposed due to the conditioning that other people have towards such values. Keiko herself is a character that questions the mundane and banal as with each interaction has to have an underlying purpose and function. She often rationalizes things like work, marriage, and being a social chameleon as a means to fit in. She scours the actions for their utility. From the mechanical way she acts in the convenience store, to her parroting of people’s personalities, to copying the fashion senses of her coworker, she cleverly illuminates how we often are susceptible to such acts as a means to fit in. I suspect she might be aromantic which can be confusing given all the messages she receives about the purpose of marriage and relationships which she only views as transactional (she opted to have a fake marriage with Shiraha only to get people off her back). Aligned with popular beliefs about love, there are themes of salvation and “fixing.” In being in a relationship people no longer have to “worry” about her, to question her purpose in life, and how it symbolizes that she is “cured.” It would be skewed to call their “concern” as something done out of benevolence but rather they are simply following the “manual of life” as Keiko would put it just as Keiko would follow the manual of the convenience store. It is done with an unfaltering, unskeptical attitude. The imposition of status through “meaningful” jobs, being hitched, having kids, is them trying to reconcile their own personal anxieties about how people ought to act as opposed to how people want to act. It’s analogous to how people often purport to care about fat individuals due to their health, but it’s to veil their fatphobic attitudes of how they view the person as unattractive, undisciplined, and morally repugnant (people often impose moralistic values based on how people appear whether if it’s their skin colour, size, state of their body such as the tidiness of their hair). There is no concern for what Keiko desires, rather they project their own consternations of loneliness, happiness and fulfillment onto her. Her sister reveals that Keiko is still not “cured,” which reveals more about her perceptions about Keiko rather than what Keiko sees as curative. In response to her sister’s outburst Keiko in turn internalizes this and digests what her sister says as truth. The themes of curing are not lost on neurodivergent people. Autistic individuals are seen as “cured,” when they can socialize, make friends, and work which is seen as having a huge integrative factor. People with depression are seen as “cured” when they are able to work and socialize with others and overcome their depression. Where does genuine concern delineate itself from the push for neorutypicalness? I would argue that mental illness and autism are disabling due to society’s perception, and treatment of it through the push for integration and normalcy. Keiko’s job status is scrutinized consistently near the end of the book because we are supposed to seek fulfillment in our job status, and as such minimum wage work is seen as trite, and unbecoming of someone. But the tone in which it is conveyed broadcasts to the readers that the insults are supposed to be acts of “concerns.” She eventually leaves the haven of rigidity that is the convenience store as she realizes despite the employees having the bible of the manual to follow, the store itself is a microcosm of society where the themes of womanhood, marriage, and purpose still manage to penetrate her bubble. Her coworkers still embodied the attitudes of her social circle, showing the inevitability and futileness of trying to escape social convention. While the ending somewhat resolves one of the main issues such as purpose and meaning in life, she truly embodies the metaphor she spoke about adamantly in the beginning. She is a cog, a mechanical appendage to the capitalist machine. A happier cog, but a cog nonetheless. There are parallels to Shiraha’s myopic view of femininity wherein the women’s power resides in her capacity to mate and to bear children to produce worth and Keiko’s power in her capacity to provide value through her work. While we can see the ending of the book as a rebuke of societal expectations on women in regards to their fertility, supposed purpose of childrearing, and appeasement being the focal point of their life, it still bears the question of what is autonomy truly? If a woman makes a choice to have a child what part of it originates from her innate desire to the desire of others who wish for her to have a child. If a woman has plastic surgery to change part of herself due to the sexist remarks or propagation of beauty ads and marketing, is that really a choice she made on her own. When Keiko chooses the sanctuary of the convenience store is it an autonomous decision to diverge from the societal pressures from her sister and her social circle when she reclaims her life for the sake of the convenience store.

Hi Willow! Thank you for all your hard work! I enjoy your channel a lot. It’s not a request in any way shape or form, more of a question, do you have any plans on making a video about your book collection? You always have such beautiful shelves in the background ❤

Thank you for this review! Loved the book & your commentary:)

Wonderful review! I loved this book

Great review and explanation, I just finished the book and loved the Keiko and her experience and ability to find happiness on simplicity but I really was struggling with the male character and how disgusting he is, I just did not understand his purpose but I think that you explain it very well. Thank you !

I've only read Earthlings from her and even though it sort of an esoteric book. But I was pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed it and that I'm quite interested in fictions that explores the themes of societal expectations as well as some of the 'taboo' things that is mentioned in the book which is quite rare to find out of the horror genre.

I listened to this a couple years ago and loved it. I really wanted her to kick his ass. I remember being astounded by the pressure on her to buy designer fashion items to fit in. The cultural societal pressures were very interesting to this Canadian.

Yes for rereading!! I’m planning to reread Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco this fall and The Luminaries next winter…maybe I’ll do a whole Eleanor Catton January.

I love your book reviews, I read Frankenstein after hearing it was your favorite book, and I Gota say it was so incredible sad and tragic, nothing like how i imagined it to be. Now I gota read this one! I also love the cover

This makes me want to read it again too, I loved it so much. 🖤

I really like your review of this book, in many reviews the character of shiraha is described as just annoying and misogynistic, which he is.. but I did feel like it was her “perfect match” cuz it was the male version of a weirdo who doesn’t fit social norms. Being different and weird makes people treat u different, but they also expect and treat y different if u are a male or a female weirdo and that was an incredible exploration and critic from my perspective.

My class and I had a discussion if Keiko is autistic or a sociopath. I’m leaning more towards autistic as sociopaths tend to have high self esteem and want to advance themselves by any means, which Keiko does not. Also, autistics tend to be rule oriented and committing crimes goes “against the rules”. Sociopaths know right from wrong, but simply do not care.

I’m not autistic but I really relate to Keiko, so much so I’m now wondering if perhaps I am autistic after all 😅

Well said:)

As a autistic woman this book was so relatable. So yeah Keiko is autistic I think.

Brilliant

On the male ‘incel’ character being furious that women won’t sleep with him… I think that some men were more accepting of not having sex before the advent free internet porn. Now they are watching this (artificial) world of people having great (cold, choreographed) casual sex on camera and this creates huge FOMO

Where can I purchase this cover of the book? I love it!

Oh interesting look at those two.

Couldn't disagree more with your takes on this book or society but I do love this book.

I think the portrayal in the book and even yours about men and patriarchy is cartoonish and is focused on a certain particular society and elitist at that. I am a man, and I don't see myself that way.

From what I heard from you it sounds like Aspergers Syndrome.