Convenience Store Woman

Whenever Keiko wakes up early, she likes to walk the last few blocks to the store and watch the surrounding apartment buildings give way to office buildings. She likes the sensation that the world around her is eroding. Early in the morning, there is practically no one on the street; at night, the area is deserted. On Keiko’s walks, she likes to see if anything has changed in the neighborhood that will affect the store. Today, she notices a new building is almost near completion.

When Keiko arrives at work, she buys a sandwich and tea and finds the store manager in the back room (who worked the night before again). He is the eighth manager for whom she has worked, and she regards him favorably compared to previous managers—each of whom does not have a name, just a number. For 18 years, there has always been a manager, and Keiko often feels they are basically one creature. Manager #8 tells Keiko that he always feels good when she’s around and that they have a new employee, Shiraha. Keiko notes that Manager #8 speaks in a manner similar to Mrs. Izumi, but imagines that she affected his speech more than he did Mrs. Izumi’s. He thanks Keiko for coming in five days a week.

New employee Shiraha enters. He is tall and thin, and his shirt looks too big for him. Shiraha is shy and seems confused when Manager #8 tells him to ask Keiko for advice as she has been at the store since it opened. Sugawara enters just as the dynamic becomes awkward. Keiko is unnerved by Sugawara’s voice, it having grown in volume since the loud Manager #8 joined.

Manager #8 runs the morning meeting, telling the staff to focus on a frankfurter promotion. He then leads them in a chant of the workers’ pledge and six most important phrases. Shiraha mutters that the store is like a religion, and Keiko thinks the comparison is rather obvious. Upon being reminded that he should ask Keiko or Sugawara about anything he does not understand, Shiraha snickers that he could not possibly be confused about a part-time job at a convenience store.

Once the shift begins, Shiraha slacks off. He does not arrange the display case in the strict way that Keiko asks him to, and she finds him flipping through the training manual. He complains about the manual not being well organized and that convenience store work isn’t suited to men as they are hunters, not gatherers. Keiko reminds him that it is the 21st century, and that gender doesn’t matter in convenience store work. Sugawara grows to dislike Shiraha after he insists on placing orders on his first day. She tells Keiko how impressed she is that she didn’t lose her temper with Shiraha, noting that she has never seen her complain about anything. Keiko feels she is being accused of being fake and changes her expression to say that she does get upset—but does not let it show.

A regular customer, an old woman with a walking stick, announces to the workers that nothing ever seems to change in the store. Keiko agrees, though she notes that none of the workers or products were in the store when it opened. Everything is new, but in the same place as the products they replaced.

On her next Friday off, Keiko visits her sister at her apartment in Yokohama. It is her first visit since the birth of her nephew, Yutaro. When Keiko first saw Yutaro in the hospital window, he looked like an alien, but now he looks more human to her. Keiko’s sister comments that she should visit her nephew as often as she visits Miho and her child, but Keiko does not understand why one baby should be more important to her than another. To her, both babies look exactly the same, just as stray cats all look the same.

Keiko asks her sister for help coming up with new lies, but her sister says she’s being rehabilitated and won’t need them. Keiko’s sister notes that she has changed, and Keiko thinks her sister has too, pointing out to the reader that her sister now has crow’s feet and wears dull clothes. When Yutaro starts crying, Keiko imagines stabbing him with a cake knife to get him to stop. Her sister cuddles him instead.

The next day, the store seems tense when Keiko arrives: A strange man is walking around the store yelling at employees and customers. Keiko finds out this man is just a customer, not someone from the corporate office. After Keiko rushes to the register to replace Manager #8, the latter solves the problem without anyone needing to press an alarm. The store’s morning atmosphere normalizes, as if there was never a threat from the outside world.

Mrs. Izumi asks the manager who the strange customer was, but he says he’s never seen him before—and that he should be called should the man return. Mrs. Izumi then asks the manager to speak to Shiraha about his performance; Manager #8 admits that he had misgivings about hiring him. They both mention that he seems like a loser because he’s around 35 and has no other job prospects. Mrs. Izumi nudges the manager, and notes that Keiko is an exception to this perception. He agrees, noting that it’s different for men and women.

Manager #8 notes that he has seen Shiraha use his cell phone while working, which breaks one of the store’s rules. On the other hand, he noticed (via the store’s cameras) that Keiko never takes time off nor does anything less than outstanding work. Keiko is proud to be considered a “faithful disciple to the store” (49). As Shiraha enters, Manager #8 admonishes him for breaking the rules, and Shiraha accuses Keiko of spying on him. The manager explains that he watched the cameras and then takes Mrs. Izumi out to the floor to go over a display case. Shiraha tells Keiko that the manager seems to think highly of himself for someone who manages a convenience store. Keiko notes that she likes to look people in the face when they look down at her for her job. In Shiraha's eyes, she sees prejudice—albeit that of someone who repeats slurs without thinking, not someone who actually has deep-rooted hatred.

Shiraha keeps rambling about how all the employees are losers. Keiko recognizes that he is like her—someone pretending to espouse societal conventions. She asks him why he’s working there at all, and he tells her that he is looking to meet a woman suitable for marriage. However, he hasn’t found anyone among the employees (too old or too flighty) or customers (too domineering or snobby). Shiraha claims that women won’t look at him because he is not as strong as other men, noting it’s been the same since ancient times. Keiko tells him to get his uniform on and asks him if he realizes he’ll be fixed by the store, which normalizes everyone. He doesn’t hear her question.

On Monday, Keiko finds that Shiraha’s name has been crossed out on the shift roster. Manager #8 tells her that Shiraha stalked a female customer when she came in to retrieve an umbrella; he copied her phone number and tried to get her address. Shiraha had also tried to flirt with Mrs. Izumi and a girl who works the night shift.

Sugawara and Mrs. Izumi agree the store is better off without Shiraha and his sexism. Keiko joins in on calling him weird, but feels that she would be just as quickly dismissed should she ever appear too strange to be worth the trouble.

Keiko sees an old woman with a walking stick trying to pick up some jam. She helps and sees that the customer is like the first woman whom she greeted 6,607 mornings ago. That first old woman stopped coming years ago, but this other old woman was now a regular. She tells Keiko that nothing ever changes at the store, and Keiko agrees despite Shiraha being fired.

Keiko gets a call from home after having just agreed to help Miho with shopping for a barbecue. Keiko’s mother asks if she can visit on the way home from Miho’s party, noting that it’s been a while since they’ve seen her and that they didn’t see her on New Year’s either. Keiko declines, saying she needs to be in good shape to work the next day. Her mother asks how she is, and Keiko hears disappointment when she tells her that she is fine; she knows her mother would like her to conventionally advance in life.

Keiko looks at herself in the mirror, noting she has aged since the day she was reborn. While Keiko doesn’t care about her looks, she worries about growing too old to work at Smile Mart, as was the case for Manager #6. She has to stay in shape for the store.

The next morning, Keiko helps Miho with barbecue preparations. Around 15 people attend the barbecue, with only two others besides Keiko being single. While everyone else discusses new jobs or children, Keiko reiterates that her health is bad and this is why she has to work at the convenience store. Miho and Yukari’s husbands ask why she would stand on her feet all day if she has bad health and stare at her like she is an alien. Keiko notices Yukari’s husband’s spittle hitting some of the barbecue meat as he judges her. The men ask why she’s never been married, and Miho’s husband says it’s easy for women to find a man but difficult for men to find a woman. The women agree that they should try to set Keiko up with someone, and that she should post a picture on a dating site. They get distracted by a burning smell from the barbecue and eat the same meat that Yukari’s husband unintentionally spat on. They move away from Keiko, who thinks to herself that she has become an outsider like Shiraha.

On the way back from the party, Keiko feels the need to hear the sounds of the convenience store, so she stops by. The high school girl working is surprised to see Keiko, and the latter says she thought she’d place a few orders on her way home. The manager tells her that he already placed them. He also tells her that he still hasn’t filled their job opening and is being more careful about it since Shiraha’s dismissal. One man he almost hired was too old. Keiko notes that until she grows too old and needs to be replaced, she is still useful. She even agrees to take a last-minute shift and leaves the store, smiling.