It was written while the author was working as a waitress in Tokyo and won her the Izumi Kyoka Prize in 1986. “No matter what, I want to continue living with the awareness that I will die. The author takes readers to Mikage’s life as she deals with unexpected things that come her way while at the same time taking readers to her culinary journey. The title refers to Mikage’s fascination with the kitchen, which she considers as her favorite room. Yuichi lives with her transgender mother, Eriko, and the three forged an unexpected friendship that with some bad turn of events made things unstable. She was taken in by her grandmother’s friend, Yuichi, who is of the same age as her. It is about Mikage Sakurai who, at the start of the story, just became totally orphaned. Originally published in Japanese in 1988, the book sold millions of copies, won prestigious literary awards, translated and released in more than 20 languages and countries, made into a movie and created a phenomenon called as “Bananamania” in Japan and in the US. The first story is Kitchen, the title-piece. After its release it earned its place as one of the best books in contemporary Japanese literature. How love can become the source and cure for despair and how loss can become both the start and end of hope. Considered as Yoshimoto’s best loved book, Kitchen features two distinct stories in contemporary Japan about love, despair, loss and hope.
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