Reading Japan shares short stories and essays from Japan with the world!

This show presents the short story "All-Rounder" by Totoki Naoko,

a novelist and screenwriter who made her debut in 2010.

Many of her stories inspire readers with vivid and humorous portrayals of people living in contemporary society.

This story is set in one of the convenience stores that are ubiquitous throughout Japan.

The stores are sustained by part-time workers,

whose numbers include many international students.

Totoki penned "All-Rounder" specifically for this show.

"All-Rounder."

"One bento box, all warmed up.

Have a nice day."

Ryo's tone was cold as he handed the customer their lunch.

He worked at a convenience store in a quiet residential area in Tokyo.

It was noon, and the store was bustling with workers in uniform.

It seemed repairs had begun on a nearby apartment building.

Bento boxes, udon noodles, rice balls, along with bottled tea - it was all flying off the shelves.

Ryo looked at the empty racks and thought he should increase the bento order for tomorrow.

Ryo was a college student who'd been working part-time at the store for five years.

Although he was not a particularly motivated worker,

his familiarity with all the tasks meant he was left in charge when the manager was away.

Today he was tending to the store together with Nguyen, an international student from Vietnam.

"Snakes wrap themselves around people's necks.

You can't breathe so you die."

Nguyen was someone who was never short on things to say.

During work he'd share all the information he'd absorbed on his own time.

Apparently, someone's pet python had gotten away and was loose in the neighborhood.

The story had made national news, and the local police were busy conducting a search.

As Nguyen was suggesting, the situation seemed serious.

In Japan, it was rare for someone to keep a giant snake as a pet.

So a runaway snake was even rarer.

The normally peaceful residential area felt like it was a little bit on edge.

"I captured a snake one time back in Vietnam.

My friend and I were on our way home from school."

"Oh wow, that's cool man,"

Ryo said, nodding along as he carried on with the task at hand.

During off-peak hours, it was time to reorganize and restock the shelves.

After rearranging the remaining items to fill up all the space left by the bentos and rice balls they'd sold,

he increased their next bento order through the tablet they used to manage inventory.

"OK, the orders have been placed.

I'm gonna go clean the toilet."

Their restroom was open to the public, free of charge.

Some customers would come in just to use the toilet, but most would purchase something afterwards,

so in that sense it contributed to their bottom line.

The restroom was to be cleaned three times a day - at morning, noon, and night.

You opened the window to air out the room, scrubbed the toilet bowl and the floor,

and made sure there was enough toilet paper.

As Ryo ably went through the motions, he let out a small sigh.

He'd started working at the convenience store for no particular reason.

Why had he stuck around for five years?

As a college senior, Ryo was right in the middle of job-hunting.

All of his friends had already received job offers from major companies.

One friend had received a job offer from the company he'd interned at.

Another friend, who worked part-time as a cram-school teacher,

had leveraged his communication and presentation skills to get into his first-choice company.

Meanwhile, "unambitious part-time convenience store worker" was hardly competitive.

Being able to place inventory orders, fix the coffee machine, and

troubleshoot paper jams on the copy machine weren't exactly marketable skills.

In fact, having drifted through life for the past 21 years,

Ryo had no idea what he was good at, or what kind of work he was suited for.

His job search was not going well.

"I apologize, I'm very sorry."

Hearing trouble, Ryo headed to the front of the store.

It seemed Nguyen had mistakenly handed a customer a fork with their yakisoba noodles

and was now getting a piece of their mind.

Ryo followed up with the customer and then took Nguyen aside to review the utensil pairing rules.

"Yakisoba gets chopsticks.

Pasta gets a fork.

Now, what about a katsudon rice bowl?"

"Uh... a spoon?"

"Chopsticks.

Rice bowls all get chopsticks."

"Yes, sir,"

Nguyen said, attentively taking notes.

Thinking of how troublesome it would be to have to explain it again to the other foreign workers,

Ryo considered making a chart.

There were four international students working at the store in all.

Many Japanese convenience stores, including this one, were open 24-7,

and because of a shortage of staff they were actively hiring more foreign part-time workers.

Ryo had once heard from Nguyen that saying you worked part-time at a convenience store

earned you respect among the international student community.

It was considered a job that required high Japanese language skills.

Working at a Japanese convenience store did involve a wide range of tasks,

including interacting with customers.

You had to take care of delivery packages, accept payments for utility bills...

you needed good, no, great conversational Japanese skills.

It was a difficult job for someone who'd newly arrived in Japan.

But for a Ryo, who was Japanese born and raised,

it was simple work, and he'd never gained any fulfillment from it.

Every day he just went through the motions.

He found it monotonous.

That is, until... it happened.

It was a calm, clear day.

Apparently, the nearby school was holding their sports festival -

cold drinks and ice cream were selling really well.

Once the afternoon rush died down,

Ryo collected the trash and went out back to the garbage collection area.

He took care of the bags and was tidying up some scattered pieces of cardboard when he saw something wriggle.

"Whoa!" he cried out as he fell onto his backside.

A snake slithered across the ground.

It was the escaped python.

Its body was thicker than Ryo's arm, and about ten times bigger than he'd imagined.

"...Oh, no! Wha-what do I do?

...Oh! The police!"

Ryo reached into his pockets, but he didn't have his cellphone on him.

So he ran back into the store and called the police.

An officer immediately arrived on the scene, and Ryo showed him to the garbage disposal area.

But the snake had disappeared.

They carefully searched behind the plastic garbage bins and under the scattered cardboard,

but it was nowhere to be found.

That evening, Nguyen came in for a shift.

When Ryo told him what happened, he started getting worked up.

"I shall go and capture the snake!"

"Easy there, buddy.

The police officer searched the area and couldn't find it.

What I need you to do right now is refill our hot snack corner."

"...Yes, sir."

Nguyen had a look of disappointment on his face, his quest thwarted.

He went over to the display case next to the register and peered inside,

but Ryo could tell his mind was still on the snake.

"We're low on chicken karaage and steamed meat buns.

Two each, I think."

"Uh, yes. Understood."

After making sure that Nguyen was getting to work, Ryo looked out across the store.

There were a few customers scattered about.

After what'd been an eventful day, it seemed things had returned to normal.

But then...

"Ahhhh!"

A man's voice rang out from the restroom.

"Could it be...?"

Ryo and Nguyen looked at each other and made a beeline for the toilet.

"S-s-snake!"

It was a customer, trembling in terror.

They looked inside and saw the runaway python coiled up on the restroom floor.

It raised its head as if to glare at them.

"Whoa!"

Ryo instinctively pulled back.

He glanced over at Nguyen, and saw him paralyzed with fear and mumbling incoherently in Vietnamese.

What'd happened to his gung-ho attitude from just a moment ago?

The other customers in the store had gathered at a safe distance, whispering,

"Snake! It's the snake!"

While everyone stood there shaking in their shoes, something caught Ryo's eye.

"Hold on," he thought.

"Looks like the window is slightly open.

If I don't do something the snake could get away again!"

The window was on the far side, but he believed he could make it.

Suddenly, he took off across the restroom.

He flinched as the snake hissed at him, but he managed to shut the window and lock it.

He quickly ran out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

Had he done it?

Had he trapped the snake?

"R-Ryo-san! You did it!"

"Who cares about that, hurry up and call the police!"

"Yes, sir!"

Ryo suddenly found himself sweating bullets.

His heart was racing, and his hand was still wrapped tightly around the knob of the restroom door.

For a while, he was unable to let go.

News that the python had been captured in a convenience store restroom was broadcast on TV, causing a buzz.

"You wouldn't believe how big this snake was!

I was terrified!"

Nguyen, who was never short on things to say, was featured in an interview.

Ryo had also been interviewed,

but apparently Nguyen, animated hand gestures and all, made for better TV than his muttered answers.

His face was all over the morning and noon news shows.

The next day, Nguyen showed up for work still buzzing from the entire ordeal.

"Wow, we've become celebrities, haven't we?"

"Well, one of us, at least."

Ryo didn't really care about the TV thing, but his words came out sounding spiteful anyway.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"No, you're right, it was my interview that they kept airing on TV.

But I'll never forget that you were the hero of the day, Ryo-san."

"Hero?"

Nguyen clasped Ryo's hands.

"Yes! It was amazing how you sprang into action.

You were a real-life hero!"

"C'mon, it wasn't a big deal."

Ryo suddenly felt self-conscious and tried to brush it off.

But Nguyen continued with the same intensity.

"Ryo-san, you're amazing.

Japanese people don't like to give themselves credit.

But I think you're incredible.

And not just because of the snake thing.

You always take the time to teach me how to do tasks.

You think of ways to make work easier for us foreign workers.

You give us advice.

Whenever I get to share a shift with you, I consider myself lucky."

Ryo was struck by Nguyen's heartfelt words.

"And you're able to do it all.

All of us think so.

You're an all-rounder - just like a Japanese convenience store."

Ryo had never been on the receiving end of so many compliments in his life.

"...Thanks," he said curtly, before retreating to the back room.

He was so happy he could cry.

Several days later, Ryo was at a corporate office for a final job interview.

He sat in a conference room, across from three interviewers who were looking over his application.

"So, do you have any particular strengths you can share with us?"

"Yes," Ryo replied.

"Many, in fact."

He was brimming with confidence.

"Firstly, I'm someone who's quick to take action when the situation calls.

In fact, just the other day, a python found its way into the convenience store where I work..."

The interviewers looked up in unison.

He had their attention.

Now all he had to do was follow through.

Like Nguyen had said, he was an all-rounder.

Ryo's face lit up as he sat across from the interviewers.

He was glowing.