Izumi needs to get a job. Haruka needs to stop talking about how she once had cancer. Kato needs to get through a shift at the convenience store without being harassed. Mito needs to break up with her boyfriend - or marry him. Sumie just needs somewhere to live. In this classic Japanese bestseller, published in English 25 years after it took Japan by storm, the lives of five ordinary women are depicted with irresistible humour and searing emotional insight.