#28. A Yellow Spine – Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Paperback)

The cover of this book struck me as I was perusing the shelves of a little independent bookshop called Book.ish in Crickhowell whilst I was on holiday in June. It was described as a crime novel, however, speaking to the bookseller it became clear that whilst they thought it was a great book and they highly recommended it, it wasn’t really a crime novel at all, and if I was looking for a ‘whodunnit’, I’d be a bit disappointed.

If I’m honest, this made me even more curious to discover what lay hidden between the pages. Since reading this book, I’ve noticed that it has featured on BBC2’s ‘Between the Covers’, and it has been awarded winner of Waterstones book of the year 2024. In all honesty I can see why. It was an unusual book and I loved it.


“Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre 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.”

The reason that this book falls under the crime genre, is because the premis of the book is based upon the real-life case of the Japanese “Konkatsu Killer”, a female Japanese fraudster and serial killer called Kanae Kijima. She was convicted of poisoning three potential husbands and suspected of poisoning a further four men during 2007 – 2009. 

Author Asako Yuzuki noticed that the media coverage during the trial focused more about Kijima’s lifestyle, and relentless body shaming, rather than the actual alleged crimes.  The novel uses this source material to investigate the impossible beauty and lifestyle standards that Japanese women are expected to uphold. Yuzuki thought about how Japanese women are left feeling conflicted about how they look and their attitude to work-life balance and so she wrote this book with these women in mind, not realising that these themes dominate Western culture too. 

“Japanese women are required to be self-denying, hard-working and ascetic, and in the same breath to be feminine, soft and caring towards men.”

Butter is the story of Manako Kajii, (also known as Kajimana) who is imprisoned following the suspected murder of three men. Kajii loves food and is an excellent cook, so being incarcerated means she can no longer indulge her passion for good food. Rika Machida is a journalist who is interested in the story but knows that Kajii has no interest in sharing her tale with journalists. Rika needs to find a way in which she can build a rapport with Kajii, and so, to appeal to her ego, she writes to her asking for her recipe for beef stew, the last meal eaten by one of her victims and asking her about what other food she enjoys. 

Kajii seemingly falls for Rika’s trap and begins a correspondence with her, telling her to make a bowl of rice and then put some fridge cold, best quality butter on top of it and a dash of soy sauce. Rika tries Kajii’s suggestion and it is a taste sensation. She yearns for this simple but pleasurable food and tries the same topping on noodles too. As time goes on, Rika begins to visit various restaurants suggested by Kajii who is now living her life vicariously through Rika. Intimate discussions about the gourmet food she has tried follow, and throughout these experiences, Rika begins to change both mentally and physically, reawakening a memory that she would prefer to remain dormant. 

It was fascinating to see the power struggle between Rika and Kajii take shape, and how intertwined their lives became which neither party could have anticipated. 

“Men putting on weight is different from women putting on weight though, I’m only saying this for your sake, Rika.”

“I’m being deliberately harsh when I say this, but for the record, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to put on weight. I haven’t got fixed ideas about the way women should look or anything, but if people around you think you’re not making an effort, you’ll lose their respect.”

As Rika’s appetite for rich food increases, especially her new obsession with rice, butter and soy sauce, so does her weight. This leads to Rika experiencing similar sexist abuse that Kajii experienced during her trial, although Rika is experiencing these comments by her own boyfriend, “Have you put on a few pounds?” 

It felt like Rika was being punished by someone she loved just because she had broken free and was trying to be her authentic self and not worrying about how others saw her. Why do men feel it is appropriate to tell a woman she’s putting on weight, yet when they start showing a beer belly, it is inappropriate to talk about such matters! Interestingly, her female friend Reiko notices that Rika has put on some weight, but she tells her it suits her, that she was too skinny before.

But it isn’t just her weight that Rika is being punished for. Her ambition to succeed in her work and to be promoted to a proper journalistic role is also brought into question. As she ponders these thoughts with Reiko, Reiko starts to realise that her marriage has turned her into someone she doesn’t want to be. She has slowly morphed into the role of a traditional Japanese wife, lacking in ambition and wanting to look good for her husband. 

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

I couldn’t agree more! I’d rather have a piece of toast smothered in butter once a week than a daily scraping of some manmade spread containing ingredients I’ve never heard of. 

Butter, however, is not just a dairy product for consuming, butter is turned into a metaphor for several serious points that this book makes. Rika unashamedly eating rice dripping with butter shows us how empowered she has become, how sensual she feels whilst eating it, and how society looks down on her for allowing herself to enjoy her life. Butter is her path to freedom, to escape the expectations of Japanese society and to own her own identity as a woman. 

Whilst I loved this book, and I found it interesting to see that other cultures around the world suffer similar problems to those of Western society, I was a little disappointed that we did not find out what happens to Kajii. Whilst there are elements of the serial killer vibe throughout the book, they stay in the background. I did wonder if there would be a twist when Rika and Reiko attended the cooking school or visited Kajii’s hometown, but the book remained in the confines of being about societal expectations of women.

As you would expect from Japanese literature, there is an in depth look at the various characters, studying how they think, look and react to situations, which gives this book a slow, steady pace, allowing the reader to think and reflect over the conflicts that the main characters face. This is an extraordinary book to read, digest and contemplate the complexities of the human existence.

And yes, I did try hot rice with fridge cold butter and soy sauce…and yes, it is delicious, and yes…you should try it yourself if you want to!


Genre: Fiction, Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Thrillers & Mystery 

Release Date: 29th February 2024

Publisher: 4th Estate (Harper Collins Publishers)

Pages: 464


“Disclosure: If you buy books linked to this site, I may earn a small commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops, at no extra cost to you.”


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Currently Trending