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Start discussion here for Out by Natsuo Kirino.

About the Book (from Reading Group Guides)

Nothing in Japanese literature prepares us for the stark, tension-filled, plot-driven realism of Natsuo Kirino's award-winning literary mystery Out.

This mesmerizing novel tells the story of a brutal murder in the staid Tokyo suburbs, as a young mother who works the night shift making boxed lunches strangles her abusive husband and then seeks the help of her coworkers to dispose of the body and cover up her crime. The coolly intelligent Masako emerges as the plot's ringleader, but quickly discovers that this killing is merely the beginning, as it leads to a terrifying foray into the violent underbelly of Japanese society.

At once a masterpiece of literary suspense and pitch-black comedy of gender warfare, Out is also a moving evocation of the pressures and prejudices that drive women to extreme deeds, and the friendships that bolster them in the aftermath.


About the Author (from Reading Group Guides)

Natsuo Kirino, born in 1951, quickly established a reputation in her own country as one of a rare breed of mystery writer whose work goes well beyond the conventional crime novel. This fact has been demonstrated by her winning not only the Grand Prix for Crime Fiction in Japan--for Out in 1998--but one of its major literary awards--the Naoki Prize in 1999, for Soft Cheeks (to be published in English). Several of her books have also been turned into full-scale movies.

Out is the first of her novels to appear in English and was nominated for an Edgar Award. Natsuo Kirino lives in Japan.

Discussion Questions (from Reading Group Guides)


1. Masako believes that she "did her best to live her life according to reason and common sense" [p. 7]. Is her decision to work at a low-paying factory job based solely on common sense? What other motivations does she have for working at the factory? What psychological needs does the job fulfill? In what ways is the choice a reaction to her experiences in her previous job at an upscale credit and loan company?

2. Kuniko wishes "she were a different woman, living a different life, in a different place, with a different man" [p.15]. Yoshie "had wrapped up everything personal that mattered in a tight package . . . and in its place she had developed a single obsession: diligence. This was her trick for getting by" [p. 23]. What do these descriptions convey about how each woman deals with life's realities? Are their approaches typical of women of their respective ages? Is there a common thread between them?

3. How does Kirino make the friendship among the four women, so very different in age and character, believable? How do the women's perceptions of one another differ from the way they perceive themselves? What literary devices does Kirino use to bring this difference to light?

4. What finally gives Yayoi the strength and resolve to kill Kenji? Has she simply been pushed over the edge? How does the realization that she hates Kenji [p. 44] affect her? Does giving a name to her emotions make it easier for her to act?

5. Masako and Yayoi discuss getting rid of the body in a calm, collected manner [pp. 49--55]. Why do you think the author chose this tone? What impact does it have on the reader? Does it distance you from the characters --- or subtly draw you into the conspiracy?

6. Each of the women finds a way to justify her participation in the grisly task of hiding Yayoi's crime. Are Yoshie and Kuniko simply seduced by the promise of money, or are their reasons for participating more complicated? What does Masako discover about herself as she organizes the cover-up?

7. A series of careless mistakes and coincidences expose the group to dangers they could not have foreseen. In what ways do their individual flaws and weaknesses contribute to their difficulties? Do their admirable qualities --- Masako's intelligence and her strength as a leader, and Yoshie's loyal, trusting nature, for example --- also play a part in their downfall?

8. As a young man, Satake committed a crime so horrible that even his fellow gang members were shocked [p. 38]. His personal reaction has shaped his life ever since, cutting him off from his own emotions and isolating him from other people. How does Kirino humanize him and move beyond a stereotyped portrait of sociopath to present a character that engages the reader's interest, and perhaps even elicits sympathy?

9. There are two major secondary characters in Out: Anna, who loves Satake, and Kazuo, the Brazilian factory worker infatuated with Masako. Do they see something that the other characters, including Satake and Masako themselves, cannot see? Is it significant that both of them are émigrés, raised in non-Japanese traditions?

10. Why does Kirino present the climactic confrontation between Masako and Satake from both their points of view? What does this dual perspective reveal about the psychology of violence?

11. Throughout the book, people are struck by Masako's coldness and the darkness that seems to surround her. Does the final scene offer satisfactory answers to the puzzle?

12. Kirino draws a grim picture of life in contemporary Japan. How are the points she makes unique to Japanese society? Are there any parallels to American society?

13. In an interview, Kirino remarked, "I don't think I exclusively tell stories of women criminals. However, being a woman in this society is mainly an anonymous existence. I don't think the fact that . . . women are nameless and overlooked is a good thing. [JapaneseReview.Net]. Would you characterize Out as a feminist novel?

14. Are the graphic descriptions of dismemberment and sex in Out excessive? Are they included merely to shock the reader, or are they essential to the plot and our understanding of the characters?

15. What is the significance of the novel's title? In addition to escaping detection, how does the need to get out apply to Masako and the others? Which of the characters succeeds?

Anasylvia wrote: "I'm really enjoying this. I love the atmosphere that Kirino has set up. At this point, you never know what's going to happen next, and which character is going to surprise you."

I just got my copy today. I look forward to it!

I need to put this on my to read list. I read Real World and enjoyed it a lot. So many authors from Japan to read though. So hard to pick and choose with the limited reading time.

**************SPOILERS******************

Good book, although it took a major plot turn about 3/4 of the way in, leading to a rather odd ending.

1. Masako believes that she "did her best to live her life according to reason and common sense" [p. 7]. Is her decision to work at a low-paying factory job based solely on common sense? What other motivations does she have for working at the factory? What psychological needs does the job fulfill? In what ways is the choice a reaction to her experiences in her previous job at an upscale credit and loan company?

She did have a better job and was very ambitious, but lost that job when she spoke her mind and tried to get an advancement and more pay. I think the night job offered an escape for her from her family. Her husband ignored her and her son hadn't spoken in over a year.

2. Kuniko wishes "she were a different woman, living a different life, in a different place, with a different man" [p.15]. Yoshie "had wrapped up everything personal that mattered in a tight package . . . and in its place she had developed a single obsession: diligence. This was her trick for getting by" [p. 23]. What do these descriptions convey about how each woman deals with life's realities? Are their approaches typical of women of their respective ages? Is there a common thread between them?

Life was hard for these women and in different ways. Kuniko always wanted what others had and was never satisfied with her lot in life. As a result, she overextended herself financially. Yukino was diligent because she had to be. Her life was pure work. This diligence probably kept her from falling apart. Both of these women were strapped financially. Even though their ages and life circumstances were different, they were stuck working night shift at the factory and unable to get ahead in life or improve their circumstances.

3. How does Kirino make the friendship among the four women, so very different in age and character, believable? How do the women's perceptions of one another differ from the way they perceive themselves? What literary devices does Kirino use to bring this difference to light?

I think this is fairly typical of a lot of workplaces. When they were at the factory it put them on similar levels and gave them solidarity. These women didn't have strong relationships in their home lives, so this was believable.

4. What finally gives Yayoi the strength and resolve to kill Kenji? Has she simply been pushed over the edge? How does the realization that she hates Kenji [p. 44] affect her? Does giving a name to her emotions make it easier for her to act?

Yayoi had been abused for so long that she finally reached her limit and snapped. He was no longer the person she fell in love with. I think that giving a name to her emotions did make it easier to act.

5. Masako and Yayoi discuss getting rid of the body in a calm, collected manner [pp. 49--55]. Why do you think the author chose this tone? What impact does it have on the reader? Does it distance you from the characters --- or subtly draw you into the conspiracy?

I think they forced themselves to remain calm to keep themselves from falling apart and not coming up with a solution. I imagine a person would have to dissociate themselves from the situation in order to cope. Masako was a more calm and level-headed character and could be more objective. I think her demeanor helped to calm Yayoi. I didn't feel distanced from the characters by this, but more drawn into the conspiracy.

6. Each of the women finds a way to justify her participation in the grisly task of hiding Yayoi's crime. Are Yoshie and Kuniko simply seduced by the promise of money, or are their reasons for participating more complicated? What does Masako discover about herself as she organizes the cover-up?

With Kuniko it was definitely about money. The others would never have included her if they didn't feel they had to. Yoshie did need the money, but she was more kind-hearted and helpful. I think she fantasized about doing the same to her mother-in-law. I think Masako felt needed and important, which is something she didn't experience at home.

8. As a young man, Satake committed a crime so horrible that even his fellow gang members were shocked [p. 38]. His personal reaction has shaped his life ever since, cutting him off from his own emotions and isolating him from other people. How does Kirino humanize him and move beyond a stereotyped portrait of sociopath to present a character that engages the reader's interest, and perhaps even elicits sympathy?

I had a lot of trouble with this. I never felt any sympathy for him and did not see him as anything other than a sociopath. This was my least favorite aspect of the book.

9. There are two major secondary characters in Out: Anna, who loves Satake, and Kazuo, the Brazilian factory worker infatuated with Masako. Do they see something that the other characters, including Satake and Masako themselves, cannot see? Is it significant that both of them are émigrés, raised in non-Japanese traditions?

Anna was very naive. Her relationship with Satake was based upon this naivety. It was a way for him to earn more money. When she found out about his past she severed ties with him. Kazuo committed a foolish act out of desperation, and in his need for atonement finds himself infatuated with the much older Masako. I think he is a good person, although a bit misguided. It is significant that they are both émigrés. They both feel like outsiders within the dominant Japanese culture.

10. Why does Kirino present the climactic confrontation between Masako and Satake from both their points of view? What does this dual perspective reveal about the psychology of violence?

In order to get the reader to maybe sympathize with each character, I suppose, although it did seem a little repetitive. Again, I had difficulty with this scene.

11. Throughout the book, people are struck by Masako's coldness and the darkness that seems to surround her. Does the final scene offer satisfactory answers to the puzzle?

Yes. Apparently she had a hidden sociopathic side. I actually didn't find her really all that cold or dark until the end. I saw her more as an efficient person with strong leadership skills. I also felt sympathy for her for how her family treated her.

12. Kirino draws a grim picture of life in contemporary Japan. How are the points she makes unique to Japanese society? Are there any parallels to American society?

I think most of this can parallel any society. A common theme was the inequality between men and women. Also the native men (all the men but Kazuo, who was brought up in Brazil) all preferred very young women (teenagers) and were repulsed by the "older" women. It seemed like an inhospitable place to be a middle aged woman. They were either invisible or looked upon with disgust.

13. In an interview, Kirino remarked, "I don't think I exclusively tell stories of women criminals. However, being a woman in this society is mainly an anonymous existence. I don't think the fact that . . . women are nameless and overlooked is a good thing. [JapaneseReview.Net]. Would you characterize Out as a feminist novel?

I think so, since it points out the discrepancies between genders and shows that women can also be strong.

14. Are the graphic descriptions of dismemberment and sex in Out excessive? Are they included merely to shock the reader, or are they essential to the plot and our understanding of the characters?

It was graphic but it really could have been much gorier than it was, given the subject matter. I found a couple of the scenes to be too violent, though.

15. What is the significance of the novel's title? In addition to escaping detection, how does the need to get out apply to Masako and the others? Which of the characters succeeds?

The women needed a way OUT. Out of bad relationships, out of isolation, out of dead-end situations and crushing obligations. With the exception of Kuniko, I think they all succeed to some degree.

The first time I read this was when it was first released in English, and I loved it. The second read has been just as good.

(view spoiler)[
1. Masako works this job because it is a freedom of sorts, both from her family and from the daylight world. In her old job, she did the best she could and toed the company line, and she ended up being despised by her coworkers. In the current job, she is just a face in the crowd. Anonymity is a form of freedom for her.

2. Kuniko was the sort of person who always wanted what she did not have. When she got it, it was never enough, and she no longer wanted it, and was on to the next thing. She had no hesitation in betraying the others to get more money for herself.
Yoshie was stuck in a bad situation, and she is really just existing in survival mode. She keeps her head down and just continues putting one foot in front of the other. If she stops to look too closely at her circumstances, she may just unravel.
Yoshie and Kuniko are polar opposites. Yoshie lives her life for everyone but herself, Kuniko lives only for herself. Yoshie is loyal, Kuniko is not. Their only common ground is that they are both flat broke.

3. The friendship between the four women was believable because it was a workplace friendship. Outside of work, there was no common ground to keep them together-- their ages, family circumstances, social class, and financial situations were all different.
Kirino shows this through instances like each woman's clothing choices, and how the others react to their appearance. It is also shown through their homes, and how they are cared for. How important the impression she makes is to each woman.

4. I think that Yayoi's realization of how much she had come to hate Kenji, and knowing that things were not going to get better, gave her the impulse to kill him-- it was not a premeditated act.

5. The women have to stay calm to think the problem of disposal of the body through, and to try not to get caught. Also, Yayoi was probably in shock, and Masako is very calm and analytical by nature. The way Kirino presented this made me feel that I was being drawn into their conspiracy, not shut out.

6. Kuniko was strictly in it for the money. That seems to be her primary motivation in life. I think Yoshie helped because she could understand being trapped in a bad situation. Maybe she hoped that one day there would be similar help for her. I'm not quite as sure about Masako's motivation. She seems to be the leader in the group, so maybe she saw it as her natural role. Also, the act of murdering Kenji freed Yayoi of a huge problem in her life; Masako may have admired her for that because she is also seeking freedom in her own life.

7. The biggest mistake was including Kuniko. Almost everything that went wrong can be traced right back to her.

8. I never felt any sympathy for Satake except at the very end, when it is shown that Masako actually had power over him, even though she was his prisoner and he was going to kill her. After she slashes his face and he is bleeding out, he confesses that he "thought I'd be able to love you while you were dying". Ironically, the same becomes true for Masako. It shows how cold, empty, and loveless both their lives are.

9. I think both Anna and Kazuo were infatuated with the people they perceived Satake and Masako to be, not with who they were. The fact that they are both émigrés is somewhat significant because they were both lonely and isolated. If they had their families and friends around them, the emptiness and loneliness surrounding Satake and Masako wouldn't have resonated with them as much.

10. The dual perspective from Satake and Masako reveals that the psychology of violence is shared. Satake needs certain responses from Masako. When she doesn't give him the response he is looking for, the balance of power shifts in her favor, even though she is still his prisoner. After she slashes his face and he is the one dying, the whole situation between them turns around-- suddenly Masako is the one who loves him as he is dying.

11. I didn't perceive Masako as cold-- I saw her as strong. Even at the end, she has to be strong enough to travel through a very dark place inside herself, in order to survive the ordeal. If she had shown weakness, Satake would have killed her because she wouldn't have been able to give him what he was looking for. He needed to break her strength and see her surrender. If she had broken, she would have been no further use to him.

12. I think the book was about life in any modern society, not just Japan's. If you changed the names of the characters and places from Japanese names to names from any other country, the story would still read true.

13. I think that Out can be seen as a feminist novel in the sense that it has a very strong female protagonist (Masako), who is punished for her strength. It is also her strength that draws the socio/psychopath Satake to her. The women in the book in general are shown as being marginalized in society, their jobs, and even in their families.

14. I don't think there is any gratuitous sex or violence in Out. The details that are included are necessary for us to understand the mindset of the women, and how the experience affects their psyches and influences their subsequent behavior.

15. The significance of the title, Out, is about the characters' need for escape and freedom. In some sense, they all get out. All the women leave their nasty jobs. Yayoi is forever free of her abusive husband. The fire at Yoshie's house finally frees her from her mother-in-law, and also from her daughters. Kuniko is free from her endless cycle of debt and acquisition. Masako is free of her husband and son. Satake is finally free at the end, when he makes contact with another human being as he is dying. There is enough money for everyone to be free of financial constraints affecting their decisions. The money Masako gives Kazuo frees him to go home to Brazil. The flip-side to Out is that everyone has to keep secrets. If anyone finds out what the women have done, they will be Out of their friendships and relationships, Out of their families and homes, Out of their jobs, and Out of society itself.
(hide spoiler)]

I really enjoyed this. The ending wasn't what I was expecting, but I also appreciated what a psychological novel this was. Very different from most crime dramas I've read in English.

Suki wrote: "The first time I read this was when it was first released in English, and I loved it. The second read has been just as good.


1. Masako works this job because it is a freedom of sorts, both from h..."


Wow. I loved your thoughtful comments.

I tried to get into this one a couple of years ago, and while I no doubt picked it up at the wrong time (traveling alot, distractions), it didn't capture me enough to get back to it. I need to try again, based on your and Diane's comments, no doubt.

Carol wrote: "Suki wrote: "The first time I read this was when it was first released in English, and I loved it. The second read has been just as good.


1. Masako works this job because it is a freedom of sorts..."

It was one of my first contemporary Japanese reads (besides Banana Yoshimoto), and it blew me away!

These are great insightful discussion questions for Out and they reveal how psychologically layered the characters are - especially true for Satake and Masako.

(view spoiler)[There was also seriously deviant psychology at play. It was actually a bit surprising that Satake had spent only 7 years in prison for a crime that was so heinous that yakuza were appalled. [Maybe it's another indicator of the low societal value of women's lives in Japan.]

Some of my GR friends disliked the ending. But I believe that Kirino wanted to bring things full circle. Buddhism is one of the major religions in Japan thus a sense that what goes around comes around.

The broken-ness in Satake was also in Masako after the trauma of ostracism and ejection from a 20-year stint at the credit union. But she wasn't a killer except in self defense, so I believe that's why she wanted him to live. Simultaneously for a moment she was willing to die at his hands, which I thought reflected her depression with her life. Her nonexistent family life and dead end job were sufficient to foment an existential crisis.

It was really uncertain to me whether Kirino would let Masako live. I didn't expect that Masako would be able to kill Satake and with a readily available scalpel in her jacket pocket.

There was overall a kind of a poetic justice in this novel ... Yayoi didn't "profit" from her murder; Kuniko got "punished" for selling out her colleagues; Yayoi’s accomplice became murderers themselves; the known killer died; Masako got her opportunity to escape after the the treatment of her credit union job.
(hide spoiler)]

My review - www.Goodreads.com/review/show/4608196408