Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and gender discrimination. 

Thirty-three-year-old Rika Machida takes the train to her best friend Reiko Sayama’s house for dinner. Rika has found it hard to adjust to Reiko’s new lifestyle since she married Ryōsuke Sayama. Walking through the cold and studying her cracked skin, she feels herself disappearing.

Rika stops at the market for butter, discovering that due to shortages, only margarine is available. At Reiko’s, she apologizes for the purchase, but Reiko is gracious. Rika’s search for the butter reminds Reiko of The Story of Little Babaji. In the children’s story, Babaji faces off with four tigers in the jungle. The tigers end up chasing each other in circles until they turn to butter, which Babaji’s father uses to make pancakes. The friends discuss the story until Ryōsuke joins them.

Rika enjoys the dinner more than anything she’s eaten in some time. A journalist at the Shūmeisha publishing company, Rika usually eats out with clients or buys prepared dishes at convenience stores. Rika silently marvels at Reiko’s new life. Reiko recently quit her job to focus on getting pregnant and starting a family. She and Rika connected in college over their jobs and shared uninterest in starting families.