Asako Yuzuki: I'm very far from the ideal Japanese woman'

"Based on the 2009 real-life Konkatsu Killer case (konkatsu means marriage hunting), in which 35-year-old Kanae Kijima was convicted of poisoning three men, Butter follows the relationship between journalist Rika Machida and Manako Kajii, a serial killer and gourmet cook, through a succession of interviews in Tokyo Detention Centre."

"The result is an irresistible mix of social satire and feminist thriller, dripping with descriptions of buttery rice and soy sauce. Although the 44-year-old author has written more than 20 novels in Japanese, her publishers savvily decided her 2017 novel Butter was ripe for an anglophone market, where there was a growing appetite for translated fiction by female Japanese writers."

"Hits from Sayaka Murata (Convenience Store Woman), Mieko Kawakami (Breasts and Eggs) and Hiromi Kawakami (Strange Weather in Tokyo) suggested female authors had replaced Haruki Murakami for a new generation of foreign readers. These stories of alienated young women also chimed with English literary fiction's vogue for novels of female interiority and friendship."

Asako Yuzuki is a Japanese novelist whose novel Butter became an international bestseller, selling over 300,000 copies in the UK alone. The book is based on the 2009 Konkatsu Killer case involving Kanae Kijima, who poisoned three men. Butter follows journalist Rika Machida's relationship with Manako Kajii, a serial killer and gourmet cook, through interviews in Tokyo Detention Centre. Yuzuki attended the same high-class cookery school as Kijima for research. The novel combines social satire and feminist thriller with rich food descriptions. Publishers strategically released Butter to the anglophone market, recognizing growing demand for translated fiction by female Japanese writers, following successes by authors like Sayaka Murata and Mieko Kawakami.

Read at www.theguardian.com