Convenience Store Woman

“It all blends into the convenience store sound that ceaselessly caresses my eardrums.”

Throughout Convenience Store Woman, Keiko notes the noises that she hears in Smile Mart. While the noises would be jarring to most, she finds them soothing. This is because she alone can hear the voice of the store and appreciate its power over her.

“It is the start of another day, the time when the world wakes up and the cogs of society begin to move. I am one of those cogs, going round and round. I have become a functioning part of the world, rotating in the time of day called morning.”

At the store, Keiko has purpose; for the first time in her life, she feels like she belongs to society and has a role to fill. Without the store, Keiko is lost and feels like she contributes nothing. In the book, being a mere cog is a positive, despite the idea of a cog (one of many) often being negative.

“The time before I was reborn as a convenience store worker is somewhat unclear in my memory. I was born into a normal family and lovingly brought up in a normal suburban residential area. But everyone thought I was a rather strange child.”

Before Keiko took a job at Smile Mart, she felt like the world made no sense. But as a store employee, she feels reborn. Like a person who is baptized in a new religion, Keiko’s world suddenly makes sense as soon as she learns the clear structure and rules of the convenience store; this quote is one of several examples of religious imagery in the novel.