Review: Butter by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton

The hype around Butter as a cult Japanese bestseller got my attention and I pre-ordered it. It was nearly a DNF that took me nearly two months to finish.I guess I would put it into the “not for me” category because I don't have a problem with the story or writing. The cover blurb calls it “A novel of food and murder” and it’s half right. Lots of food, no real murder.

Rika, a female reporter For the Shumei Weekly, becomes fascinated with the case of Manako Kajii who detention awaiting retrial standing accused of murdering three me she had been exploiting. When she wrangles a interview with Kajii the editorial desk is thrilled; Manako Kajii has the public's attention and she had refused all interviews. This night be Rika's path to getting a story published under her own name.

Kajii has one stipulation, she won't talk about her case. Kajii has a strong, commanding personality and her main passion is food, especially butter. She is derisive of Rika's lack of interest in food and gives her dining tasks to perform and report her feelings back to Kijii.

Rika wants to gain favor with Kajii so she performs those food related tasks but she begins to embrace food as an end unto itself and not merely a measns to survive. Rika begins to add kilos in weight with the rich diet Kajii encourages.

Butter isn't really about murder. Murder is just a mechanism to motivate Rika on a path to self-discovery, to grow as an individual, to learn to take control of her life. The Manako Kajii story begins to consume her, causing her much inner turmoil and conflict and forcing her to confront her troubled relationship with her parents.

Rika's obsession manifests itself in her physical and mental wellbeing causing her best friend Reiko to try to intervene to save her friend. As Reiko gets involve, she too is forced to confront the possibility that what she perceives as her role in life isn't what she needs as an individual. I see the main story as the tense, emotional rollercoaster these two women find themselves upon.

I would say that potential readers should forget about murder and expect a deep exploration of friendship, self-realization, body shaming, confronting one's past, challenges to societal expectations of the role of women, psychological manipulation and, of course food.

If you are a westerner interested in Japanese culture then I think you'll enjoy this book. The descriptions of food are interesting and very different to my western palate. One food described I can make is Ochazuke (green tea over rice with toppings), and I plan to try it soon. The worship of butter does get a bit tiresome, though and I think I gained a kilo just reading about it.

The main theme of Rika and Reiko discovering things about themselves and bringing out their inner strengths is solidly explored. But I would say that the book is way too long coming in at 465 pages. I embrace long books so that isn't a factor when I say that it could easily 150 pages, maybe more. It wasn't until I was a little over half way through (chapter 10) the book that I started to think it was going somewhere and finished it in a day. The author brings all the themes together in a way that I enjoyed and gives the reader a satisfactory ending.

Key words: Japan fiction, Japanese culture, food in fiction, friendship, self-discovery, self-realizationbody shaping, manipulation, societal expectations