Author(s): Emi Yagi

Novel | Translated fiction | Japan | Read our reviews!

A hilarious Japanese debut novel, where a young woman, thoroughly fed up with gendered expectations at work, announces she's pregnant. She's not. Thirty-four-year-old Ms Shibata works for a company manufacturing cardboard tubes and paper cores in Tokyo. Her job is relatively secure- she's a full-time employee, and the company has a better reputation than her previous workplace, where she was subject to sexual harassment by clients and colleagues. But the job requires working overtime almost every day. Most frustratingly, as the only woman, there's the unspoken expectation that Ms Shibata will handle all the menial chores- serving coffee during meetings, cleaning the kitchenette, coordinating all the gifts sent to the company, emptying the bins. One day, exasperated and fed up, Ms Shibata announces that she can't clear away her colleagues' dirty cups, because she's pregnant. She isn't. But her 'news' brings results- a sudden change in the way she's treated. Immediately a new life begins. Written in diary form, Diary of a Void is an ironic and playful reference to the Japanese 'Maternal and Child Health Handbook' (Boshi Techo; the novel's original title), a notebook issued to all expectant mothers in Japan so they can record the details of their pregnancies and experiences of motherhood until their child is six years old. By turns hilarious and thought-provoking, Ms Shibata's diary of her fake pregnancy not only skewers universal patriarchal attitudes towards maternity and pregnancy, it also challenges the truth of conception on many levels. For fans of Convenience Store Woman, Kim Jiyoung, Born in 1982, and The Vegetarian, this is a wonderfully witty and smart, feminist novel poking fun, but with serious intent, at the sanctity of motherhood, and how society superficially reveres mothers while conversely making actual parenting a sometimes disempowering and isolating experience without the right support.

__________________
STELLA'S REVIEW:
A charming if somewhat absurd novel about office life and maternity expectations in contemporary Japan. Ms Shibata, a thirty-something office worker, is tired of working for a manufacturer of cardboard cores (yes, really!) for paper products. Mostly she’s fed up with the expectation from her predominantly male colleagues that she will empty the rubbish bins, fill the photocopier with paper, empty the ashtrays and wash the coffee cups. So one day she feigns pregnancy to get out of cleaning up after a meeting. Claiming it’s making her feel nauseous, she suddenly finds herself off the hook from these menial tasks, which now fall to the male office junior who has recently started at the company. There’s a problem though — she has to keep up the pretence. And so she does. This is a hilarious tale of subterfuge, interspersed with a surprisingly sharp analysis of impending motherhood, as well as the interest (sometimes intrusive) that being pregnant in the workplace, and, by extension, society, garners for women. Even though she will be a single mother, there is no stigma — more a sense of concern and care. The drawback to pretending to be pregnant is the attention, a different set of expectations, she draws from her office colleagues — some of them, well, one, in particular, are too keen on advice and suggestions of names. On the other hand, she now gets to knock off at 5 pm — a big advantage in the 'long-hours office' world she inhabits: others do the extra tasks and she gets to go to free aerobic classes. There’s a special tag for her bag indicating her status to the world at large, which entitles her to a seat on the train and more consideration as now she’s contributing to the future generation. And, if she pulls it off, there’s a year’s maternity leave — without the overtime: it will be a bit tight but a good budget will ensure it’s enough. Though this is hardly Ms Shibata’s game — there’s no intention of swindling. There’s no plan. In fact, you get the distinct impression that this woman is adrift in a large city, anonymous and ground down by a dull job with few prospects. She’s lonely. The expectant mothers’ fitness class gives her a sense of community, but, of course, she’s also adrift here — not really one of the clan. As she reaches ‘full term’ — she’s been eating for two and stuffing her clothes — there are small moments where she’s so convincing that she’s almost convinced herself. Ms Shibata is in phantom pregnancy territory — it has her slightly derailed, and for a moment the reader worries for her sanity. Emi Yagi's Diary of a Void cleverly takes the concept of time and recording a pregnancy (every expectant mother in Japan is given a government-regulation handbook similar to our Plunket book) to an extreme level — a diary of nothing — in an attempt to highlight the double standards of office culture and the role of motherhood in Japan. Entertaining, ironic and surprisingly endearing. 
_____________________________

[Diary of a Void's] subversive premise makes it one of the most intriguing new novels of the summer. * Independent, *Summer Reads of 2022* *
Some premises prove so irresistible that they become crutches, excusing a colorless execution. That's not the case here. . . . 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. * The New Yorker *
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, 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 * New York Times Book Review *
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. Always expect the unexpected when you're not expecting. -- Sloane Crosley * Departures *
A subversive, surreal read that will strike a cord with many women. * Red Magazine *
Darkly funny and surprisingly tender. -- Kirsty Logan, author of THINGS WE SAY IN THE DARK
In Diary of a Void, what begins as a bud of a lie blossoms into a gripping and thought provoking examination of womanhood and motherhood in a patriarchal society. A short read but by no means is this a small story. -- An Yu, author of BRAISED PORK
So tightly written, and so much fun to read. -- Kikuko Tsumura, author of THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS AN EASY JOB
Comical and tender, absurd, bold and joyful. -- Aysegul Savas, author of WHITE ON WHITE
I found myself completely captivated by this novel's unusual and inviting premise and all that it questions and stirs up. -- Aimee Bender, author of THE PARTICULAR SADNESS OF LEMON CAKE
I loved it. It's incredible. Diary of a Void is joyful, exuberant, and triumphant. It made my heart sing. -- Claire Oshetsky, author of CHOUETTE
Yagi captures Shibata's loneliness and the community she's granted upon 'falling into step' with her married peers in such a keen way that, reading along, 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 *
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 *
A surreal, engrossing meditation on loneliness, womanhood, and what it actually means to have a work-life balance. -- Ruth Murai * Mother Jones *
Takes office toxicity and how we cope to new heights. * Fortune *
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
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
Yagi artfully blurs the boundary between truth and lies with this riotous solution to women's workplace challenges. * The Washington Post *
[A] penetrating look at working life and gender expectations... In a tone perfectly modulated in Boyd and North's translation, Shibata's dry observations and choices are both relatable and humorous...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. * The Japan Times *

Author Biography: Emi Yagi was born in 1988, and is currently a corporate employee and an editor. Diary of a Void is her first novel, and it won the 36th Dazai Osamu Prize, awarded annually to debut writers.