Out

"Out" begins in a soulless situation, a lunchbox factory in industrial Tokyo, and it goes downhill from there. Four women who work together at the factory have become friends, partly out of necessity, because it's a grinding environment - men (the men who work in the factory are resident aliens, from Brazil) and women share a changing room where they dress in their work outfits (like scrub suits). Before going on the factory floor they're twice checked for contamination, clean their hands raw with scrub brushes, put their hair in weirdly shaped hats. They stand six hours straight on concrete, working constantly to keep up with the automated assembly line - one job per person: smashing down the cold blob of rice that's plopped out of a tube, over and over; or spreading out the slices of fish, over and over; or whatever. They can't go to the bathroom without first asking for a replacement, and it may be hours before the replacement arrives.

We don't find out until much later, but one of the women had worked in a more upscale place, a savings and loan, until she realized she would never get a higher position, no matter how competent she was, simply because she was a woman. This woman, Masako, becomes the main character in the book, taking charge of the grisly situation the four friends get into.

The book opens with Masako, on her way to work in the factory, thinking, "I want to go home." The thought surprises her, because she doesn't know what home is, let alone where. The things she does in the story ultimately seem like a kind of rebellion - anything, no matter how vile, is better than the hopeless life she leads as a proper woman in Japan. The ending chapter is almost surrealistically violent - but Masako walks away from it free, completely cut off from her past.

I was surprised by this book; it shattered any images I'd had of Japan-as-bonsai, cherry blossoms, silk, politeness. I had lunch with a Japanese friend after I read it - she says it's still true, even in modern Japan, that women are expected to accept situations that are deadening to their hopes. There really are lunchbox factories like that. And it's not just women; evidently Japanese society is undergoing huge changes. "Out" caused a sensation in Japan. It's possible to find an interview online with the author, Natsuo Kirino (accent on the first syllable of each name: NA-tsu-o KI-ri-no) where she talks about Japanese youth using violence as an escape from the traditional societal system.

I'm not recommending this book. It isn't enjoyable to read. But it is thought-provoking, and caused me to reflect on the factors that lead to human choices.