VOL.69/2024.04

A Special Convenience Store that Mesmerized Japanese Readers!

The import case of Uncanny Convenience Store published by Shogakukan in Japan

2023.10.04

It was two years ago, in the fall of 2021, when I first heard about Uncanny Convenience Store (Namu Bench) through an email from a Japanese agent. At that point, the book had already gone through 15 printings in Korea, sold close to 100,000 copies, and had been adapted for drama and theater, which was enough to pique my interest. But it was the title and content of the novel that made me even more intrigued. It’s a “convenience store,” but inconvenient? What a humorous title! My interest in the book grew further. And the story of a tall, mysterious man with no memory becoming a convenience store clerk, and influencing the lives of those around him, was fascinating. As convenience stores are an integral part of modern life in Japan, we knew that this story would appeal to the Japanese public. Therefore, we immediately started working to acquire the rights to the book.

To tell a little personal story, I have been translating and publishing foreign novels into Japanese for a long time. Most books I have worked on have been European and American, and I have only had experience with two Korean novels over a decade ago. However, for about five years before Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 (Minumsa) was published in Japan, Korean literature had become so popular that Shogakukan, the publishing house I work for, had been receiving a lot of information about popular Korean works from Japanese agents. When we were introduced to great Korean works through these agents, we tried to sign publishing contracts, but as the competition for K-book rights grew fiercer by the day, we were unable to publish Korean works for a long time.
So, when we offered the contract for Uncanny Convenience Store, we thought, “We will take what we can get.” We didn’t think it would be that easy to get the rights because it was already a huge bestseller, so we were very surprised when we received a call from our agent telling us the deal had been signed. After calming down a bit, we were overwhelmed with joy and anticipation for being able to introduce this work to Japan for the first time.
About a year later, we received the manuscript translated by the book’s translator, Yonezu Tokuya. When I finished reading the full text, I was even more convinced that this was a powerful work that would resonate strongly in Japan. People who have fallen behind in a competitive society, people whose lives have been turned upside down by a momentary mistake after living so diligently, people whose relationships with their families have deteriorated due to a small misunderstanding, and how they are transformed through their encounters with the protagonist, Dokgo, is not unfamiliar to the Japanese people, as is the story of people dealing with the uncomfortable times brought on by COVID-19.
We asked Seiichi Suzuki, a renowned Japanese book designer, to design the cover. We wanted the cover to be nostalgic for the Japanese audience, while still referencing the original Korean version. In the end, the cover design was finished with a humorous and classic touch, depicting ALWAYS, a convenience store on the corner of a neighborhood, viewed from the night sky.
The book was also promoted before it went on sale. First, we sent information about the book to the staff of Japanese bookstores, and sent proof sheets to those who wanted them, gathering reviews and orders. As a result, there were many reviews from people who deeply resonated with the book, such as “The more I read, I felt teary-eyed. And I could not stop crying in the last scene,” “A touching story that I can confidently recommend,” “I fell in love with this story since I read the original Korean book, and I was really looking forward to when the Japanese translation would come out,” and “I loved it! The familiar setting of a convenience store and the troubles that each character had were all so familiar to me. It was very easy to read, and I quickly got absorbed in it.” Not only that, but some bookstores filled their shelves with the book and advertisements.

We also created a Japanese-subtitled version of the book’s trailer using an anime distributed by the Korean publisher. With author Kim Ho-Yeon’s cooperation, we also filmed a video including his Japanese message for Japanese readers, and both videos were released on June 21, which was the book’s release date. We also published an interview with the author in Shogakukan’s digital literary magazine, Book Window (本の窓), distributed just before the book’s release. In addition, with the cooperation of the K-BOOK Promotion Association (K-BOOK 振興会), which has an office in Jimbocho, Tokyo, where Shogakukan is located, we published an introduction to the book by translator Yonezu Tokuya on the organization’s website. I also appeared on the organization’s podcast to introduce the background to the publication of the Japanese translation of the book.

* K-Book Trends Vol. 44 – Go to the interview with writer Kim Ho-Yeon

Thanks to these efforts, the book gradually gained recognition in Japan, especially among K-BOOK fans, and positive reviews began to appear on social media. The author and Shogakukan will continue to carry out more promotions to encourage more Japanese readers to read the book, and we hope that readers from all over the world will also be attracted to it.

Written by Yuko Minagawa (皆川 裕子) (Editor at Shogakukan, Japan)