Translated by Paul Warham
St. Martin's Press
First U.S. Edition February 2009

“Supermarket,” written by Satoshi Azuchi, was first published in Japan in 1981. A consistent bestseller, “Supermarket” is now considered a contemporary literary classic. It is a shame that it has not received more attention in the U.S. Satoshi Azuchi took a degree in law at the University of Tokyo, and went on to work at the Summit chain of supermarkets. His first novel was initially entitled “Distribution Industry.”

The novel takes place in post WWII Japan, the years in which the Japanese took on new endeavors to rebuild. One of these endeavors was to develop an American institution, the supermarket.

The subject of the supermarket does not seem the stuff of a great, good, or even mediocre novel. A supermarket is not a subject of interest — not very sexy. But I was taken by the first lines of the novel: “It was nine forty-five in the morning when the PA system sparked to life and the voice of Manabe, the store manager, came over the speakers. All employees to the cash registers on the first floor, please. Something was obviously up.”

The story follows Kojima, who leaves prestigious work in a bank to find something more effective than sitting in an anonymous cubicle. He accepts a job, offered by his cousin, as a manager of a small supermarket chain.

Kojima is hired to help rescue the slowly failing business. He discovers the obstacles of gossip, embezzlement, cooked books, an entrenched rival, familial loyalties and staff resistance to modernization. Pretty much everything. The story is moved forward by Atuchi as he slowly reveals the lives of the supermarket’s employees, from the lowly produce guy to the disinterested owner of the company. All play roles in the demise or solvency of the company. Kojima gets to know them all.

Kojima is a hero. Even with his doubts, he is honest and treats all with respect and interest. He researches the best ways to improve the chain of stores to work towards its survival, not its end. He does not come to hasty conclusions and is non-judgmental. And his challengers are not painted as simply evil — they are often not what they seem nor are they necessarily his enemies. This is a work of fable brought to the complexities of modern life. It is not just naïve or a simplistic view of the past. Don’t be fooled by the elegantly streamlined style.

You can’t help cheering him on: The Lone Ranger in a suit, no mask.