Supermarket

Supermarket

Satoshi Azuchi, Paul Warham

Language: English

Pages: 250

ISBN: B0043RTBFG

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


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 disarray, 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.

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kids are my family. I thought about it all day, but I kept coming to the same conclusion. This is my family, this is my home, this is where I belong. And then you come home and act like I shouldn’t be here.” Kôjima hadn’t been expecting this at all. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I was being inconsiderate. I didn’t mean it that way.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, pull yourself together and get dinner ready. If you don’t want to cook, I don’t mind having one of those cans of curry.” Takako’s

difference really what we think, Kôjima-san. It’s already been decided. If Ichimura’s against the proposal, it’s got no chance. The only point of these board meetings is to bring everyone around to Ichimura’s opinion.” “How do you mean?” “Take this case. Ichimura might start out by listing all the good points of the site, so it seems like he’s all in favor of the idea. Then some other board member, who’s been primed by Ichimura before the meeting, comes out with the opposite point of view. They

or fish or something, but who needs something like this for vegetables?” “Did the consultant give a reason?” “Oh, he had all kinds of reasons. He was going on about how cooling stuff meant you dried stuff out too. So if you had this expensive ‘regenerator’ thing, stuff wouldn’t dry out. At least that’s what he said.” “And what’s different about this refrigerator?” “It’s supposed to keep the vegetables humidified or something. Get this—the word he used was the vegetables would be reborn!

closer eye on things. He should have looked at the merchandise more carefully. Why had he always neglected stocktaking? His one big weakness had crept up behind him and bitten him in the ass. Ichimura got back to the office to find a message saying that Ishikari Seijirô wanted to see him. “Have you heard these rumors about Kôjima and my secretary?” Ishikari asked. “I’ve heard what people are saying, of course.” “This is turning into a real mess. What should I do?” “Why do you need to do

like that from a certain point of view? Horiguchi sat in silence, turning his thoughts over and drinking his way through a couple more highballs. If Manabe and Sugai hadn’t left the bar themselves, Horiguchi would probably have carried on drinking till he fell off his stool. He stumbled out into the late-night streets, his feet unsteady. “Flames of passion? What bullshit. It doesn’t make any sense,” Horiguchi mumbled out loud now, spitting the words as though this could help sober him up. What

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