He invited her to live with him and his mother while she figured out what steps to take next in life.

Yuichi Tanabe worked at a near by florist and became very close to her flower-loving grandmother. After the funeral there was a knock at the door, it was a boy who went to the same university as her. She knew she wouldn’t be able to afford the rent for such a large home by herself and started to slowly look at where to live next. She started spending all of her time in the kitchen, even placing her bed by the refrigerator as it was a room that brought her great comfort. She felt a tension anytime she came home or woke up in the morning… would her grandmother still be there? This feeling continued until the day finally came, she had no family left. It was always in the back of her head that her grandmother could pass away at any moment. As her family slowly started to get smaller and smaller, she felt an underlying stress of living with her elderly grandmother. In Kitchen, Mikage Sakurai lost her parents at a young age and was raised by her grandparents. I basically just picked it up due to the fact that it was the most recommended novel to me as a beginner. I purchased it at a used book store for around 100 yen. I got this book when I was still living in Japan. I will get more into why I think so in my review below as well as offer some alternative suggestions for those looking for a good first book. Then it hit me, while I love this novel, I do not think that this is a good book for beginners.

I reread the book, took some notes, and really thought about whether or not I would be able to add anything of value to the discussion on this book. It is often recommended for beginners and is the go to recommendation for those who are looking to get into the world of Japanese novels. Yoshimoto’s Kitchen is famous in both Japanese and English. I had a hard time deciding whether to review this novel or not.

Kitchen book banana yoshimoto