The Convenience Store by the Sea (2020) by Sonoko Machida #JapaneseLitChallenge19

🛒 This book brings us to the seaside town in Japan: Mojiko, Kitakyushu, where you'd find one of the convenience store chain called Tenderness. Now, while I might not be able to relate to a library - in which many heartwarming stories have been set - a convenience store is my day-to-day existence. You see, I live in the second biggest city in Indonesia, where you won't find many libraries (except in universities), but convenience stores scattered abundantly on almost every corner of the streets. We have three in my apartment building, and they are, indeed, very convenient. From fresh fruits and (not so fresh) vegetables, to groceries; hot dumplings and coffees, to ATM machine, you'll find everything in these convenience stores. Let's say, you're moving to your new apartment, bringing nothing but yourself, well, you can find practically everything you'd need to survive in a day or two - food & drink, toothbrush, towel, even underwear, from these stores.

🛒 The story has no plot, but constructed from several interconnected short stories, all related to Tenderness and the main characters, who works at the store. In a way, you can say that the convenience store is a character itself. The first and last stories are told from Mitsuri's POV. She's a mother of a teenager, a passionate worker at the store, and quite a successful manga writer. Hers served as a starting point of the story, revealing about the store and its workers, and the conclusive end of it, tying the lose-end bits. The rest are told from third person's POV, usually about patrons of the store or families of the workers. They all have struggles in either self-acceptance or identity crisis, but all found comfort from the convenience store - well, maybe not the store itself, but the workers. 🛒 Two of these are brothers: Shiba and Tsugi. The first is a handsome and affectionate manager, whom Mitsuri called the Pheromone Manager; basically a magnetic creature who seems to attract everyone around him. It would be okay if it stops there. But making this Shiba guy a sort of celebrity with a few fan clubs, always being surrounded by ladies when he's on duty - well, it seems very off. Why must the writer create such a perfect character that seems inhuman? It was one element that made me sick, but apart from that, it's a cute and heartwarming story.
🛒 What I loved most is how the store provides a dining space next door to the store, so that customers can buy ready-to-eat food and eat them on the spot. As the store is located on the lower part of an apartment building for senior citizens, it makes sense that it caters the elderly people with ready-made breakfast or lunch. It provides an amazing space for people to socialize, and indeed, many of the characters find comfort and friendship from the cozy place. The convenience store on my apartment building also recently provided a little dine-in space on its second floor, but only a long table by the window with several chairs. But still, it was an improvement. And while the food they sell are not as varied (and delicious) as in imagined in Tenderness, it is convenient indeed. All in all, this turned out to be a book I could well relate to, but too soppy for my liking.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

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Japanese Literature Challenge 19

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