Supermarket
A Novel
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A modern classic of literature in Japan, Supermarket is a novel of the human drama surrounding the management of a supermarket chain at a time when the phenomenon of the supermarket, imported postwar from the US, was just taking hold in Japan.
When Kojima, an elite banker resigns his job to help a cousin manage Ishiei, a supermarket in one of Japan's provincial cities, a host of problems ensue. Store employees are stealing products, the books are in disaray, and the workers seem stuck in old ways of thinking. As Kojima begins to give all his time over to the relentless task of reforming the store's management, a chance encounter with a woman from his childhood causes him to ask the age-old question: is the all encompassing pursuit of business success really worth it?
Sincere and naive in tone, Supermarket takes us back to a simpler, kinder time, and skillfully presents the depictions of its characters alongside a wealth of information concerning Japanese post WWII recovery and industrialization.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Azuchi's 1981 post-WWII novel, a perennial favorite in Japan, focuses on the then-new concept of the supermarket chain. Tired of toiling for big business, successful banker K jima Ry suke decides to trade in his job to work with his cousin Ishikari's burgeoning supermarket chain. As he begins to examine their methods and find new ways to sell products, K jima alarms the company's rank-and-file, in particular managing director Ichimura, who has his own agenda. Unbeknownst to K jima, select employees are meeting in secret to support Ichimura and ensure "he continues to be the guiding spirit." Working with a consultant, K jima soon discovers troubling departmental practices, including the sale of unsafe foods, contaminated work areas and employee theft, but his attempts to uncover the depth of the problem could put a halt to the company's expansion. This pleasing novel makes a revealing commentary on loyalty, trust and progress in a rapidly changing Japan.
