Throughout Convenience Store Woman, Keiko admits that she is abnormal in the eyes of society, although she does not fully understand what “normal” means. The real world does not come with any kind of manual for how to behave, and Keiko cannot make sense of social conventions without one. Even as a child, Keiko admits that “everyone thought” she “was a rather strange child,” despite being born into a “normal family” and growing up in a “normal suburban residential area” (13). As a child, she cannot understand people grieving a dead bird or why hitting another child over the head with a shovel is not acceptable if it achieves the desired outcome. However, she does understand that her instinctual behavior is frowned upon—so, she grows up trying to “mimic what everyone else was doing” or at least “follow instructions” (17). Keiko grows up thinking she needs to be “cured” of whatever is wrong with her, while also not understanding what is wrong with her.

Where Keiko feels herself is in Smile Mart, a convenience store. It is a space of clear rules and regulations. There, she learns “how to accomplish a normal facial expression and manner of speech” during her training (20).