I just finished this book and while I have other drafts of book reviews sitting in my blog, I thought it would be nice to end this mini-streak of Japan-related book reviews and posts with one last translated work!
The Convenience Store by the Sea is, in some ways, a very typical example of the Japanese cosy fiction example. Other books with the same vibe (to me) are: The Kamogawa Food Detectives, What You’re Looking For Is In the Library, and Kamusari Tales Told at Night (Before The Coffee Gets Cold would be another example but that one didn’t really enchant me).
What makes The Convenience Store by the Sea stand out to me was the fact that it was set in Kyushu – Mojiko, to be exact. I’ve visited Mojiko quite a few times, so while there weren’t that many examples/descriptions of the city apart from the red bricks, just seeing Kitakuyshu, Nagasaki, Hakata, etc mentioned made me smile.
Perhaps as expected, The Convenience Store by the Sea has a nicely quirky cast of characters. The book follows the customers and employees of Tenderness, a fictional Kyushu-only convenience store chain. This particular branch has an absurdly handsome store manager with his own fan-club, a part-time employee who’s a housewife that also draws manga for fun, and a string of other employees. I think what helped the book feel less overwhelming (because Before the Coffee Gets Cold also had a lot of characters) was the fact that the book focused on two employees and the people connected to them – namely family and three customers. It sounds like a lot when I write it out, but the customers were introduced one chapter at a time, and they tend to be connected so I felt like I was getting to know everyone at a normal pace.
I also enjoyed how the book distinguished between doing things you love and turning it into a money-making endeavour in one chapter. It’s not the main focus by any means, but I wanted to share this passage which I particularly liked:
“”Thanks. But I’ll never be a professional. My pictures don’t have whatever it takes to make the cut at a commerical magazine.”
“Mogi’s words came back to him and a wave of sadness washed over him. Mogi had been hard on him, certainly, but he wasn’t wrong.”
“”I don’t get it,” said Tsugi, tilting his head in confusion. “Making it your job, or making a meal out of it, or uh … making the cut at a commercial magazine – are those things that important?”
“Well aren’t they?” Yoshiro raised his voice as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Isn’t that the way it works? I always dreamed about drawing a manga that all the kids were crazy for, and so – “
“”And so…” Tsugi broke in, “are you saying your dream is equal to all that other stuff?””
Overall, this was a fun, cosy read. I enjoyed getting to know the employees and customers of Tenderness and I think this would be a great book for anyone who’s looking for something uplifting to read.