User:Lauren.young1529/Kitchen (novel)

About the Author
Banana Yoshimoto (Mahkoko Yoshimoto) is a Japanese writer from Tokyo. Yoshimoto was born July 24, 1964 in Tokyo, Japan.

Early Life
Yoshimoto was born into a family of artists, her father Takaaki Yoshimoto a famous poet, and her sister HarunoYoiko a cartoonist. Her interest in writing sparked from being around her sister while she was drawing. To keep herself occupied, she would write, and this hobby started at age five.

Book Summary
A young woman, Mikage, has lost her grandmother whom she had lived with. She describes the difficulty of the deaths of her family members and how the kitchen was always a place of comfort in these situations. Mikage Ids left with her grandmothers apartment, which was too expensive just for her. Mikage is later invited to dinner by Yuichi Tanabe, a man who worked at a flower shop where her grandmother visited and who had helped at her funeral.

When Mikage arrives at Yuichi Tanabes house, she first notices the kitchen, how it was bare and looked "out of a commercial". As they waited for Tanabes mother to arrive from work, Mikage explored the kitchen, a traditional kitchen with used appliances and kitchen ware. Yuichi talks about how he invited Mikage over to help her through a hard time and his relationship with her grandmother. Eriko, Yuichi's mother returns from work and meets Mikage. Eriko is a beautiful woman who we learn was a man. We learn her name was Yuji and we learn about how she was married to Yuchi's mother who pasted when he was young. Eriko was taken in by her and how the marriage may have been a sign of gratitude.

Later, Eriko askes Mikage to live with them, in which she accepts. The apartment her grandmother left was too expensive for her to continue living in. The rent was free in exhange for soupy rice, and the stress of living with an elderly person was lifted. Mikage's ex, Sotaro, calls and informs her that Yuichi's girlfriend slapped him due to her living with him.

While sleeping on the sofa, Mikage has a dream about Yuichi being a princess and talks about how he wants ramen. In the morning, Yuichi also talks about the dream and they realize they had the same dream and the same kitchen.

Mikage moves out, and works as an assistant at a culinary school. While away, Yuichi calls and informs her that Eriko had been murdered at her nightclub. She was stabbed by a man who found out she was a a biological male. During the stabbing, Eriko was able to beat the man with a barbell and was able to kill him defense. Due to this, Mikage and Yuichi have a meal together and make treats. While drunk, Yuichi asks for her to move back in, which she doesn't answer because she can't decide to love him or be his friend. In the morning, Mikage gets a call but the caller doesn't answer. in which she continues to wake up and go to work. At work, Okuno, Yuichi's ex tells her to stay away from him.

In efforts to decide what to do, Mikage decides to go on a business trip. Before this however, Chika, an old friend of Eriko invites her to lunch. They talk about the situation between her and Yuichi and Chika informs her that Yuichi left Tokyo to address his feelings and gives Mikage his contact info for the inn. She calls and they both complain about the food. While at a katsudon restaurant, she decided it is delicious and needs to bring it to Yuichi. She delivers it to him and they talk about how he is struggling with depression and she says how they would be happy together if he wanted to form a relationship. The last day of her trip, Yuichi calls to inform that he is returning to Tokyo and is excited to pick her up.