Butter by Asako Yuzuki | book review

A literary 7-course tasting menu challenging society's expectations of women, with a bit of murder

Oct 25, 2024

Where do I start with this? Is it a murder mystery if we don’t care who the victims are, if the accused committed the murders, or if any murders happened at all, yet can’t stop reading? Is it a very detailed food memoir making me salivate at every page and want to melt hunks of butter over fluffy white rice and a dose of soy sauce?

Butter by Asako Yuzuki is a masterpiece. It is slightly off-kilter, yet grounded in reality, much like convicted murderer Manako, who is loosely based on the real-life ‘Konkatsu Killer’ case in Japan. It is told from the perspective of Rika, a journalist trying to get inside Manako’s mind. In the process, she savours the food Manako directs her to, even a late-night rendezvous for ramen after a highly specific activity. Rika tries to understand this woman’s existence: her self-confidence, utter love of self and love, and her erratic relationships with fellow women.

I experienced some whiplash reading Butter. First, we are wary of Manako (as rightly we should be, given her criminal record), then we are lured in by her magnetism. Then we’re not quite sure how to feel about her again—disillusioned slightly, but still fascinated. And back and forth again, until we are released at the end.

The confusion, however, is part of the point. Just as Rika is taken along on the journey by Manako, so are we, the readers. Manako, after all, has captured the attention of the whole country with her round refusal to succumb to the fat-shaming that plagues her and gleeful rejection of societal expectations on her as a woman. This subversion reminds me of Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi.

There are smart observations of a woman’s place in society throughout, without being overtly dialectic. There are many touch points for this: Rika’s changing relationship with her boyfriend (whom I first thought was a great partner for a feminist career woman), her parents’ relationship before and after their divorce, and her best friend Reiko’s marriage spring to mind.

Speaking of Reiko, her friendship with Rika is palpable. It is complex and beautiful; strained, yet inexplicably tied together. We see each woman and the friendship from both perspectives—a helpful reminder that there are many truths, and the value of a beloved friend.

Butter is a bit of a long read, slightly like a 7-course tasting menu: Delicious, you never really want it to end, but… we’ve been sitting here for hours now and what’s for dessert?? I would love to read it again and dissect it slowly, but at 464 pages, I’m afraid it might take a while to get back to. When I do though, I will savour it as it deserves.

As a fun fact, this reminds me slightly of Brothers Sun, perhaps with how it blends grittiness with delicious food.

Brb while I read up on the Konkatsu Killer case…

Book information

Title: Butter

Author: Asako Yuzuki

Translator: Polly Barton

Published: 2017; 2024 in English

Length: 464 pages

Description

The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Center convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer," Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.