Kitchen
Banana Yoshimoto
Kitchen is the debut novel by the author Banana Yoshimoto, who is considered one of the main references of contemporary Japanese literature. This short novel was published in 1988, and has received multiple awards. Among them, the Newcomer Writers Prize (1987), and later, the Izumi Kyoka Literary Prize.
Kitchen tells us the story of Mikage after the death of his grandmother. After this event, Mikage enters a phase of depression and decides to take refuge in the kitchen of her house. However, one day she is visited by one of her grandmother's flower shop assistants, Yuichi Tanabe, who empathizes with her situation, and invites her to live in his house with him and his mother Eriko. They become the protagonists of the story, having something in common: the loss of a loved one.
The story is narrated in first person by Mikage. Despite being a minimalist narrative, which takes place during characters' day to day experiences, it has very deep meanings that speak to us about issues of self-discovery, overcoming grief, and the formation of a family that breaks with convention.
During the story, one of the most recurring elements is the kitchen. Undoubtedly, cooking is one of the most important elements of Japanese culture, giving birth to their internationally claimed cousine. This becomes tangible through Mikage, who has a special taste for kitchens, as stated in the first two sentences of the book: “I think the kitchen is the place in the world that I like the most. In the kitchen, no matter whose or how it is, or in any place where food is made, I do not suffer.”
While for some people the safe place inside a household may be the bedroom or the living room, Mikage's refuge is the kitchen. So much so, that she even decides to sleep in it. The most obvious reason for this is nostalgia, since a meal is one of the main family gathering points; and its place of production, the kitchen, is considered the heart of the home.
However, the comfort that kitchens generate for Mikage goes further. A kitchen is the only place in a house where noise reigns no matter what time it is. The sound of boiling water, the blender or even the refrigerator running prevent the kitchen from being a quiet place. The movement in the kitchen represents a contrast in Mikage's life, as her world becomes static after the death of his grandmother, who was her only relative. Her grief journey begins with having to awake to the reality that she is all alone in the world.
It is at this point that she decides to move in with the Tanabes, Yuichi and Eriko, who are an essential part of Mikage's grieving process. Living with them, Mikage discovers that Yuichi's biological mother has passed away, and one of Eriko's ways of overcoming it was through self-discovery, by deciding to become a transgender woman. Banana Yoshimoto breaks with the schemes imposed by society, far ahead of its time.
In fact, Banana Yoshimoto's way of handling gender identity is quite casual and approachable. Actually, one of the messages that Eriko transmits is that the value of a person does not depend on the gender with which one is born, or with which one identifies. This position is also reflected in the author's pseudonym. Banana is the name given to Mahoko Yoshimoto, her real name, due to her taste for red banana flowers. However, it is also an androgynous name that is not associated with any specific gender.
On the other hand, the author also breaks with the traditional perception of a family. When Mikage moves in with the Tanabes, she arrives believing to some extent that her destiny is to be alone, as she is afraid of losing the people she loves. However, she begins to generate a closeness with the characters, which leads her to become part of their family despite the fact that no blood ties connect them.
Together, they create a support network in which they find a way to overcome their grief together. A key moment for Mikage was a talk she had with Eriko, in which she tells her: “The world doesn't exist just for me. The percentage of bitter things that happen to me will not vary. I can't decide. Therefore, I understood that it is better to be cheerful.”
Eriko makes us understand that we can't control the amount of bad things that happen to us. Nevertheless, we can decide how we deal with them. Eventually, we have to get back to normal, and Eriko, Mikage and Yuichi's relationship makes us see that we can find people to help us in the process.
Some time later, Mikage gets an apartment to move into, and begins to be a gastronomy apprentice. This begins a new stage in her life, in which, despite not being able to fill the void of her grandmother's death in its entirety, the change in routines allows her to become more independent, and even begin to enjoy the freedom that loneliness brings.
The story culminates when Mikage receives an unexpected call from Yuichi, informing him that Eriko was killed by a stalker some time ago. This news shocks Mikage, especially realizing how long it has taken Yuichi to tip her off. However, having gone through the same situation, she understands that talking about it to someone implied accepting that his mother had died. Instead of getting angry, Mikage decides to go to Yuichi's house to prepare him a good bowl of rice, and take care of him, just as he did with her long ago.
In conclusion, Kitchen is a novel that, although short, develops the complex theme of death. However, Banana Yoshimoto takes care not to reflect death as the end, but as a turning point that allows us to leave the past behind and make way for the new. It encourages us to honor the memory of our past, but it also allows us to see ourselves in a different perspective, and leads us to meet new people who can change our lives completely. Likewise, it reminds us that death is what gives life value, because by not being able to lose it, it would make no sense to take care of it and take advantage of it even in the simplest moments.
References
«Banana Yoshimoto». PlanetadeLibros,
https://www.planetadelibros.com/autor/banana-yoshimoto/000029090.
«Banana Yoshimoto: libros y biografía del autor». Lecturalia,
