Butter by Asako Yuzuki, Polly Barton (Translator)

Butter makes it better.

Or so I was often told as a child. An unlikely title for a novel, I would have thought, but I was intrigued enough to have the novel on my reading list for ‘one day’. Then my reading priorities were changed when this novel was chosen as a starting point for a book meme I participate in.

Where do I start? This novel was inspired by the real-life case of Kanae Kijima, or the Konkatsu (‘marriage-hunting’) Killer, as she was dubbed by the media. Kijima was convicted of three charges of murder in 2012 and has been on death row since 2019. In the novel, gourmet cook Manako Kajii is in the Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen. She seduced them, so it is said, with her delicious home cooking. Kajii’s case has captured the nation’s imagination, but Kajii has refused to speak with the press. That is, until journalist Rika Machida, keen to interview Kajii to learn more about the case writes to her asking for her recipe for beef stew.  Kajii writes back.

So, those are the key ingredients: a journalist trying to prove her worth in a male dominated world; a convicted serial killer; a series of experiences led (or enhanced) by food.  There are other ingredients as well: Rika’s friends and family as well as Kajii’s family become part of the mixture. Alas, once the ingredients are mixed, a compound is formed which is more than the sum of the parts and impossible to separate into its component parts.

The story is part mystery, part exploration of the part food plays in both culture and appearance, part exploration of the role of women, part reflection on how the past shapes the present. It is a dense compound; one I cannot fully analyse.

Did I enjoy the novel? Yes, once I realised that the detailed description (much like the abundance of butter) was an important part of the story.  I found it too rich to read and digest in large chunks, so was confining myself (mostly) to a chapter or two a day. Sadly, my discipline failed around the halfway mark, and I kept reading because I had to know how it would end.

Intriguing.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith