동아시아의 평화와 화해의 정치학 Scrapbook: A new life is born from a lie in Emi Yagi's 'Diary of a Void'

2022-08-18

A new life is born from a lie in Emi Yagi's 'Diary of a Void' | The Japan Times

A new life is born from a lie in Emi Yagi's 'Diary of a Void' | The Japan Times

A new life is born from a lie in Emi Yagi's 'Diary of a Void'

Emi Yagi's debut novel, "Diary of a Void," explores Japan's work culture and gender expectations. | GETTY IMAGES

BY KRIS KOSAKA

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

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Aug 13, 2022

Author Emi Yagi wrote her debut novel, “Diary of a Void,” in snatches at night after working 12 hours a day as an editor for a popular women’s magazine. In 2020, the book won the prestigious Osamu Dazai Prize for its penetrating look at working life and gender expectations in Japan.

In an interview with The Japan Times, Yagi says her life “hasn’t really changed that much” since the publication of her novel, as she still juggles writing with her full-time job. And although reading “Diary of a Void,” which was translated into English by David Boyd and Lucy North and recently released by Viking, may not exactly change a reader’s life either, it will open up perspectives — on finding balance between work and life, on motherhood, on loneliness — in ways both simple and profound.

“It’s about problems women face, but it’s also about loneliness,” Yagi says about her book. “I hope the importance of sharing and empathizing with others will come across. I wanted to write a story showing that it’s important for women not to feel that they are tied to certain roles — like office worker, wife and mother.”

“It’s important not to judge people by appearances, whether or not they’re married or single, but to try to imagine what they’re thinking and how they’re feeling beyond the superficial realities of our expectations.”

Yagi’s narrator, Shibata, is a typical female employee in the Japanese business world. After dodging sexual harrassment at her last job, Shibata at first welcomes the slower pace and lesser responsibilities of her new job at a cardboard tube manufacturing company. It doesn’t take long, however, for her to begin resenting the collective expectation among her all-male colleagues that she, as the only woman in her section, should handle all the menial duties such as serving tea or coffee at meetings and cleaning up afterward.

The inciting incident of the narrative comes when Shibata impulsively refuses to clear away her coworkers’ dirty cups, blaming morning sickness. Her colleagues’ immediate acceptance of her pregnancy soon yields other unexpected benefits, like leaving the office early each day, as any pregnant woman might do. Shibata’s work-life balance improves dramatically — except that she is not actually pregnant.

“What I did wasn’t supposed to be an act of rebellion — more like a little experiment,” Shibata says in the novel. “I wanted to see if it even occurred to any of my coworkers, maybe somebody who’d actually been in the meeting, to clean up.” In a tone perfectly modulated in Boyd and North’s translation, Shibata’s dry observations and choices are both relatable and humorous.

Organized in diary form covering 40 weeks of the narrator’s ruse, Shibata’s impulsive act soon spirals into a surreal manifestation of almost-pregnancy. Faux-expectant Shibata embraces the lie and makes it her reality: She downloads a pregnancy app, joins a prenatal aerobics class, eats healthier foods for the baby — and steadily gains weight. As her lie swells with the passing weeks, the narrative shifts as both Shibata and the reader begin to believe in her pregnancy. Yagi cleverly aligns moments of the surreal — imagined conversations with the Virgin Mary, for example -— with the everyday miracles of growing a baby as Shibata begins to feel the life inside her moving.

That’s because there is a new life growing inside her, at least metaphorically. “Even if it’s a lie, it’s a place of my own,” Shibata says in the novel. “That’s why I’m going to keep it. It doesn’t need to be a big lie — just big enough for one person to fit. And if I can hold onto that lie inside my heart, if I can keep it up, it might lead me somewhere. Somewhere else, somewhere different.”

Author Emi Yagi continues to juggle writing with her full-time job as an editor for a popular women’s magazine in Japan. | KITCHEN MINORU

At the heart of the story is Yagi’s wry and witty consideration of how one woman, tangled up in a web of deceit, struggles to live a meaningful life through work and her relationships with others. Yagi says that reading Kikuko Tsumura’s “There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job,” first published in Japan in 2015 and translated into English last year by Polly Barton, influenced her to explore Japan’s workforce culture.

“Tsumura made me think about the meaning of work, how it’s not just about getting work done and submitting things, but it’s also about what you do in between — what you think about, the feelings you have,” Yagi says. “All of this has an important effect on how you do your job.”

“Diary of a Void” does not focus solely on the issues women grapple with at work; it invites conversations about the expectations both men and women face, as a part of Shibata’s growth stems from her developing empathy for a male colleague who is bullied at work but perseveres nonetheless. The novel is also more than a commentary on Japanese work culture. For many women around the world, the individual search for meaning and fulfillment in life is complicated by societal pressures that force them toward traditional gender roles, especially in Japan where such expectations are still the norm.

“I have many opportunities to talk to older women, women in their 40s and 50s,” Yagi explains, “many of whom did not work outside the home but juggled housework, childcare, taking care of elderly parents, hobbies and so on. I feel that their work is as important or more important than working at a large firm, and their stories also helped me write this novel.

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Diary of a Void: A Novel Hardcover – August 9, 2022

by Emi Yagi (Author), David Boyd (Translator), & 1 more

4.2 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

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“Diary of a Void advances one of the most passionate cases I’ve ever read for female interiority, for women’s creative pulse and rich inner life.” ―Katy Waldman, The New Yorker

“Always expect the unexpected when you’re not expecting.” ―Sloane Crosley

A woman in Tokyo avoids harassment at work by perpetuating, for nine months and beyond, the lie that she’s pregnant in this prizewinning, thrillingly subversive debut novel about the mother of all deceptions, for fans of Convenience Store Woman and Breasts and Eggs

When thirty-four-year-old Ms. Shibata gets a new job to escape sexual harassment at her old one, she finds that as the only woman at her new workplace—a manufacturer of cardboard tubes—she is expected to do all the menial tasks. One day she announces that she can’t clear away her coworkers’ dirty cups—because she’s pregnant and the smell nauseates her. The only thing is . . . Ms. Shibata is not pregnant.

Pregnant Ms. Shibata doesn’t have to serve coffee to anyone. Pregnant Ms. Shibata isn’t forced to work overtime. Pregnant Ms. Shibata rests, watches TV, takes long baths, and even joins an aerobics class for expectant mothers. She’s finally being treated by her colleagues as more than a hollow core. But she has a nine-month ruse to keep up. Before long, it becomes all-absorbing, and with the help of towel-stuffed shirts and a diary app that tracks every stage of her “pregnancy,” the boundary between her lie and her life begins to dissolve.

Surreal and absurdist, and with a winning matter-of-factness, a light touch, and a refreshing sensitivity to mental health, Diary of a Void will keep you turning the pages to see just how far Ms. Shibata will carry her deception for the sake of women, and especially working mothers, everywhere.

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Print length

224 pages

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English

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Viking

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From the Publisher

Yogi artfully blurs the boundary between truth and lies with this solution — The Washington Post

Advances one of the most passionate cases I've ever read for female interiority — The New Yorker

Few novels live up to their promise of revelatory social commentary — The New York Times

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Few novels live up to their promise of revelatory social commentary. But a particularly good one can still tempt even the most cynical of readers. . . . Yagi has a light touch for the endless ironies made possible by her premise. There is humor (“since I got pregnant” becomes a delightful refrain), but also the realization that the alienation of pregnancy and motherhood is no reprieve from the oppressive office culture that inspires Shibata’s experiment.” ―Lauren Oyler, The New York Times Book Review

“Yagi artfully blurs the boundary between truth and lies with this riotous solution to women’s workplace challenges.” ―The Washington Post

“Some premises prove so irresistible that they become crutches, excusing a colorless execution. That’s not the case here. . . . Shibata would make a terrific work friend. . . . Yagi doesn’t simply explore how ‘pregnancy’ affects Shibata, socially and psychologically. Her designs are both deeper and weirder; she wants to press on broad assumptions about life, vitality, and spirit, and where these qualities can be found. . . . [She] is after . . . those parts of us, precious and possibly hostile, which flower in darkness, disintegrate when described, and can be compared only to alien life-forms. Call it bioluminescence—whatever animates the esoteric chambers of the heart, the rooms so private that they are sometimes mistaken for voids.” ―The New Yorker

“A surreal, engrossing meditation on loneliness, womanhood, and what it actually means to have a work-life balance.” —Mother Jones

“Takes office toxicity and how we cope to new heights.” ―Fortune

“The premise . . . is so elegant, it’s one of those ideas that feels wonderfully familiar. . . . The tension grows along with the comedic details. . . . Diary of a Void starts as stylish satire about the societal luxuries afforded to pregnant woman, a cri de coeur for those who have yet to make such practical use of their wombs. But it becomes something even more profound.” ―Sloane Crosley, Departures

“A debut you won’t want to miss.” ―Associated Press

“A really interesting novel in terms of asking questions about who we determine worthy of our respect, and our modern work culture, and feminism. I really recommend this one, and it’s short, it’s great—throw it in your beach bag, it’s a slim little book.” ―Jordan Lauf, WNYC’s All Of It

“One of the most intriguing new novels of the summer.” ―The Independent

“A subversive, surreal read that will strike a chord with many women.” ―Red

“Riveting and surreal . . . Absurdist, amusing, and clever, the story brings subtlety and tact to its depiction of workplace discrimination—as well as a touch of magic. Readers will eagerly turn the pages all the way to the bold conclusion.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“I found myself completely captivated by this novel’s unusual and inviting premise and all that it questions and stirs up. So much teems beneath the surface here!” —Aimee Bender, New York Times bestselling author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

“Filled with sly humor and touching intimacy, Diary of a Void builds from its revolutionary premise into a powerfully resonant story of longing and defiance. An absolutely thrilling read—I didn't want to put it down.” ―Claire Stanford, author of Happy for You

“I loved it. It’s incredible. The story of a woman who—with one tiny lie—transforms her dull existence into a life filled with daily miracles, Diary of a Void is joyful, exuberant, and triumphant. It made my heart sing.” —Claire Oshetsky, author of Chouette

“Darkly funny and surprisingly tender.” ―Kirsty Logan, author of The Gracekeepers and Things We Say in the Dark

“A gripping and thought-provoking examination of womanhood and motherhood in a patriarchal society.” ―An Yu, author of Braised Pork

“Comical and tender, absurd, bold, and joyful.” ―Ayşegϋl Savaş, author of White on White

“Captivating . . . [A] darkly funny story that point blank calls out the actions of men.” ―Debutiful

“Thrillingly absurd . . . Timely . . . Yagi’s subversive debut explores weaponized femininity while critiquing the modern working landscape in its division of gendered labor.” ―Mochi Magazine

“One of the most fun premises I’ve heard all year.” ―Walker Caplan, Literary Hub

“This story really shone for me. . . . You’re on pins and needles to discover what will happen as this fake pregnancy runs its course. . . . The [fun] premise pays off.” ―Eliza Smith, Literary Hub

“What I like about it is that it takes place in Tokyo, but you’re really watching quite a closed world [within] Tokyo, a massive city. It doesn’t feel narrow [or] solipsistic, but you just have her bouncing basically between work and home for a lot of the novel. And I like that sort of tight shot on the characters. I tried to do that with Cult Classic, too. To give you a cinematic comp, I would say Russian Doll does that very well.” ―Sloane Crosley, quoted in Bustle

“Satisfyingly acidulous.” ―Library Journal

“You can’t take your eyes off the page.” ―Croissant

“So tightly written, and so much fun to read.” ―Kikuko Tsumura, author of There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job

“In this fictional diary of a pregnant woman, it is the real, rather than the made-up, aspects of society, such as single parenting and discrimination against women in the workplace, that are powerfully depicted.” ―Kyoko Nakajima, author of The Little House

About the Author

Emi Yagi is an editor at a Japanese women’s magazine. She was born in 1988 and lives in Tokyo. Diary of a Void is her first novel; it won the Dazai Osamu Prize, awarded annually to the best debut work of fiction.

David Boyd (translator) has twice won the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature. He has translated fiction by Mieko Kawakami, Izumi Suzuki, and Hiroko Oyamada, among others. He is an assistant professor of Japanese at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Lucy North (translator) is the translator of The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura as well as fiction and nonfiction by over half a dozen other modern and contemporary Japanese writers, including Taeko Kono, Fumiko Enchi, Hiroko Oyamada, and Hiromi Kawakami. Her fiction translations have appeared in Granta, Words Without Borders, and The Southern Review, as well as in The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories, The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature, and Found in Translation: 100 of the Finest Short Stories Ever Translated.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking (August 9, 2022)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143136879

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143136873

Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.67 x 0.85 x 7.53 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #45,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

#842 in Mothers & Children Fiction

#1,893 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction

#18,267 in Genre Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews: 4.2 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

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Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

Opsimath

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating premise, so-so execution

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2022

Verified Purchase

The idea is compelling: an overworked thirty-ish woman in a Japanese cardboard tube factory is tired of being treated like her male co-workers' maid, so one day she says she can't clean up their coffee cups and cigarette cups because, as she's pregnant -- she isn't -- the smell nauseates her.

Her work life immediately changes; she gets permission to leave "early," is relieved of burdensome cleaning tasks.

Then, in a seamless segue into fantasy or magical realism, she begins to think of her pregnancy as real, even as she stuffs cloths in her front to create a bump, and begins to pamper herself as her culture believes a pregnant woman should do.

Unfortunately, the writing is unimaginative, unlike the plot. The narrator's absorption in herself started to become wearing, and it seemed as though the majority of sentences contained the word "I" once or more than once. And interestingly, despite that, the narrator seemed hard to fathom; we never really know much about her other than her routines and what she eats. The one thing that is clear is that the world she inhabits is artificial, brutal, loud, bright, and utterly unconducive to nurturing a self. Her false pregnancy is the only doorway into a room for that self.

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Anne Goodreads

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2022

In Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi, Miss Shibata pretends to be pregnant. She’s the only woman in her department at a manufacturing company in Japan. She has to make the coffee, set up for meetings, and clean up old coffee cups with cigarette butts in them. She's so tired of making coffee. Once she tells them she’s pregnant they let her leave earlier, check on her, and everything changes. She has to write out detailed instructions for the young male colleague to be able to make coffee. And it's Instant Coffee!!! But can you really fake a pregnancy??? The dry humor in this book is so funny and I’m not sure whether it’s supposed to be funny or sad. In Japan, she gets a maternity badge to wear around and people treat her better. This book had me thinking about how she was treated in the book versus how I’ve seen women treated here in the US when they are pregnant and working. It is interesting to see what others think of pregnancy/motherhood in a different culture.

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Even the Idea of Motherhood Is Lonely

In “Diary of a Void,” Emi Yagi unravels the limitless ironies of maternity.

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Credit...Emma Erickson

By Lauren Oyler

Published Aug. 7, 2022

Updated Aug. 8, 2022

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DIARY OF A VOID, by Emi Yagi, translated by David Boyd and Lucy North

Blame it on social media, on synoptic attention spans, whatever: The speculative conceit reigns in contemporary publishing, where few novels live up to their promise of revelatory social commentary. But a particularly good one can still tempt even the most cynical of readers. In the Japanese author Emi Yagi’s prizewinning debut, “Diary of a Void,” a single woman in her mid-30s, frustrated by her stupefying job at a company that manufactures cardboard cores for paper products, spontaneously decides to feign pregnancy in order to get out of menial tasks like making coffee and cleaning up after meetings — the stench of unappreciated labor aggravates her morning sickness. Over the course of the novel, she carries the lie to term.

“So this is pregnancy,” the narrator, known only by her last name, Shibata, thinks as the unexpected perks of pregnancy start accumulating. “What luxury. What loneliness.”

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American readers, living in one of six countries in the world that don’t guarantee some form of paid parental leave, may find the notion that pregnancy can be a “luxury” less familiar than would a reader in Japan, whose Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare issues a pamphlet, a “diary,” in which expectant mothers can track their pregnancy and childbirth.

Continue reading the main story

Once Shibata “conceives,” she is permitted, no questions asked, to leave work at 5 p.m. every day and take a yearlong maternity leave (though the lack of overtime pay does cut into her budget). Encouraged by one of several invasive male co-workers to “do her very best to take care of herself,” she uses her new free time to hit up the grocery store before all the produce is picked over, cook herself elaborate, healthy meals and join “Mommy Aerobics” classes. (Her new lifestyle has led her to gain weight, and of course she’s conflicted: Plumpness, plus strategic shirt stuffing, helps her maintain the ruse.)

But a woman’s loneliness transcends national politics. It’s not only the lie that isolates Shibata from those around her — there are few friends or relatives in this short novel — but also the experience of being even hypothetically pregnant. Her male co-workers treat her with “deference,” and they’re also super annoying. “You’re finally getting into the spirit,” her desk neighbor comments when he sees the subway-appropriate maternity badge on Shibata’s bag one morning. The nosiest and most “helpful” of her colleagues, he has a feeling she’s carrying a boy, a prediction she makes come true later in the book.

If occasionally heavy-handed — an encounter with a stained-glass window depicting the Virgin Mary could have been more elusive — Yagi has a light touch for the endless ironies made possible by her premise. There is humor (“since I got pregnant” becomes a delightful refrain), but also the realization that the alienation of pregnancy and motherhood is no reprieve from the oppressive office culture that inspires Shibata’s experiment.

However, while the external pressures on Shibata’s body might ally her with actually pregnant people, her attempts to bond with them go nowhere, and not just because she can’t relate to what they’re going through physically. When an acquaintance from aerobics expresses anguish over her unhelpful husband, Shibata replies that she doesn’t understand. “I’m always so alone,” the narrator says. “That’s the way it is from the moment we come into this world, but I’m still not used to it — how alone we all are.”

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Continue reading the main story

As the lie starts to become surreal, palpable abdominal kicking and an apparently legitimate sonogram briefly make the reader think that maybe our narrator has actually been tricking us, or herself, all along. The novel’s conclusion is thankfully less pat: In the end we’re left with nothing but the void, “just big enough for one person.”

Lauren Oyler is the author of “Fake Accounts.”

DIARY OF A VOID, by Emi Yagi, translated by David Boyd and Lucy North | 213 pp. | Viking | $23

2022-08-18

A new life is born from a lie in Emi Yagi's 'Diary of a Void' | The Japan Times

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