Takase Junko
Hutchinson Heinemann
20 February 2025
133
eBook - PDF
Contemporary Fiction
ARC via NetGalley
In their Saitama office, Ashikawa is the kind of woman Nitani knows he will likely marry: sweet, obliging, and determined to wean him off his addiction to instant noodles. But he finds himself increasingly unable to respect her – or the sugary treats she shares around the workplace, winning their colleagues’ affection with baking rather than hard work.
Oshio is bolder and uninhibited – she is Nitani's drinking buddy. In the oppressive office atmosphere, the pair grows closer, both outsiders struggling with the rigid status quo.
Driven to behave in increasingly absurd ways by the workplace rules that govern their lives, they must navigate the tensions of modern life: between leisure and hard work; indulgence and restraint; the promise of delicious food, and the reality of a lonely pot noodle.
May You Have Delicious Meals by Takase Junko was a book I liked on some levels but not on others. On the plus side, it offered an intriguing 'behind-the-scenes' glimpse of office politics in the Japan, embedded deeply in the unwritten society rules of politeness and etiquette. On that front it was interesting reading and made one consider conformity and stereotypes. On the downside, though, I found the vignette-style narrative a little off putting. You had to keep re-establishing yourself with the right character in each new moment, and that gave the book a lack of overall cohesion which sometimes led to my focus and attention wandering as I was reading. If you are interested in modern Japanese culture, it's definitely worth a read, but don't go in expecting a story with a clear beginning, middle and end. I am giving it four stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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