#plus kitchen + moonlight shadow by banana yoshimoto

[spookfished]

i read so many books this spring break!

[noiksy]

Kitchen and Moonlight Shadow Book Review

Book Review: Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Date of Publication: January 30th, 1988

Date started: May 15th, 2019

Date ended: May 25th, 2019

Recommended by: Amzy

Beware of spoilers!

I wanted to get back into reading, so my dear friend Amy recommended me the book Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. Immediately, I was very attached to the two introductory paragraphs. From the simplistic hook to the tonal shift with the line, “When I raise my eyes from the oil-spattered gas burner and the rusty kitchen knife, outside the window stars are glittering, lonely” (Yoshimoto 2), I knew I would be one of my favorites. I haven’t read much Japanese literature or any literature at all recently. Growing up, I have always been fascinated with manga and anime, especially throughout 2015-2017. For a book project I had at the end of Sophomore year of High School, we were able to choose a book above a certain Lexile level to write a book report on. A few years back, I had ordered a book titled No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai that I discovered from the anime Bungou Stray Dogs. I decided it would be the perfect book to read due to it being so short, and it ended up being one of my all-time favorite books and since then I’ve wanted to read more Japanese literature. And now here I am, reviewing another one! Kitchen is a novel taking place in 1980’s Japan staring the character Mikage Sakurai, a young adult orphan who had recently lost her Grandmother. She begins the story lying on the kitchen floor, contemplating how she ended up where she was. Not soon after that, we are introduced to the male lead Yuichi Tabane who rings on her door and asks Mikage to move in with him and his mother, Eriko. The book is very simplistic in nature, but it is easy to become attached to every character. I am someone who enjoys Boys Love (BL), so to have me so emotionally invested in a heterosexual pairing is amazing. Both Mikage and Yuichi had a wonderful connection! There was immediately so much chemistry between the two that I found myself writing cute little comments such as "Does she fancy (a reference to Twice) him? Ooh~" and "So soft!" beside all their dialogue. I never felt as if there was a power dynamic between the two. The two seemed to genuinely care and understand each other. There is a particular part that stands out to me in chapter 1 when Yuichi asks Mikage to come over (Spoilers ahead!). Mikage commands Yuichi to buy ingredients for dinner and she is helping him bring them upstairs. They stare at the moon and Yuichi begins talking about Mikage’s passion for cooking by stating, “Don’t you think that seeing such a beautiful moon influences what one cooks?” he goes on to say, “You know that I think of you as an artist. For you cooking is an art. You really love your work in the kitchen. Of course you do. Good thing, too” (Yoshimoto 61). These two seem to truly connect with one another on a spiritual level and I am happy the two have each other to lean on, especially throughout the events in chapter 2. I am someone who aggressively ignores synopses. I have a hyperactive mind and with titles, clips, and synopses, I create an image of what I expect a story to be and I am always disappointed. Because of this, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Eriko was transgender! I am not well versed in identity politics in Japan in the 1980s, but even America in 2019 struggle with this! While the characters seem very conflicted on how to identify Eriko, I noticed that never had anyone referred to Chika or Eriko by pronouns other than she/her! Even when stating that Eriko was a man, they still referred to her by her proper pronouns. I didn’t realize how touched I would be by this simple gesture, but it shows the reader just how accepting and loving these characters all are with each other. They truly come across as a family who wants the best for each other. The book is very short and it is hard for me to find someone that I actively disliked. The only thing that bothered me was the introduction of ex-love interests such as Sotaro. I assumed they would be more important than they were, but they definitely give us some background on the characters and helps ground them to reality.

One thing I would critique is the cover. I know people say “Don’t judge a book by its cover!” but I have to disagree. Many may know that I am an artist, while I’m not a designer, composition is a fundamental everyone is required to learn. I have recently become aware thanks to Amy that there are two book covers! I will be critiquing both book covers.

This is the cover that I received when I ordered the book off amazon. I feel like the cover portrays the contents of the book well. I am someone who is not the biggest fan of people on book covers. I am an artist, so seeing illustrations on the cover is always a plus for me. I feel like I would have preferred the cover if the girl was removed from the front cover. I don’t mind her on the back cover, but she almost feels out of place on the front cover? I would never consider this to be an ugly cover, but I am a firm believer that anything can be improved! I do enjoy the color scheme! It feels very carrot-y? It feels very kitchen-esque.

This is the second book cover I have seen. This cover reminds me a lot of No Longer Human, which is another cover I enjoyed. It is a very simple cover with different shades of pink, Kanji, and the English title and author name written in white. I find simplistic covers to be the most stunning, but I almost find the first cover to fit the story better.

All in all, I feel as if this has become one of my new favorite novels! It is very short and bittersweet! I love a nice story where the events are very self-contained, almost slice-of-life like where the events are very personal to the characters. While the incident in chapter two might only affect Mikage, Yuichi, and Chika, they are very personal and develops their characters. Due to this, I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to get back into reading with a very short yet easy read!

Bonus: Moonlight Shadow

Moonlight Shadow is the companion novel to Kitchen. It is the second book in the novel and continues to explore Kitchen’s themes of life continuing after losing a loved one with new protagonist Satsuki. Satsuki has been with her lover Hitoshi for almost 4 years before his tragic accidental death that also took the life of Yumiko, Hiiragi’s –Hitoshi’s younger brother- girlfriend. Satsuki takes on jogging to help her cope while Hiiragi begins wearing Yumiko’s sailor uniform. This story suggests that everyone has their own way of coping and that closure is needed to properly move on.

This book also deals with food bringing people together. when she is sick and tells her to open up to him. Urai first bonds with Satsuki over Pu-Arh tea. Similar to how Katsudon brought Yuichi and Mikage together, it also brings Hiiragi and Satsuki together. Hiiragi joke’s that Satsuki has fattened up, when really, she has lost a dramatic amount of weight. Hiiragi brings Satsuki KFC when she is sick and tells her to open up to him. Urai first bonds with Satsuki over Pu-Arh tea.

In comparison to Kitchen, Moonlight Shadow is a heavier story with a more ambiguous ending. While Kitchen was, for the most part, straight forward, Moonlight Shadow has a more fantastical element with the introduction or Urai. Urai is an intuitive figure whose goal is to bring Satsuki closure due to her connection with the river (Spoilers ahead). While it is never fully addressed how Hiiragi was able to see Yumiko again, the story does end with both characters beginning their journey to move on.

Kitchen and Moonlight Shadow are both amazing stories that deal with various themes of mourning and isolation. Despite both stories having similar themes, I did find myself enjoying Kitchen more. They were both amazing stories, but I ended feeling more connected to Mikage and Yuichi’s relationship. Despite this, I still highly recommend both stories!