And when Kitchen instantly won a literary newcomer award she thought, “Oh no, this is bad, I don’t have any other writing to share.”įor someone who says she was too young to know anything about the real world, she was astonishingly ahead of her time. When Banana Yoshimoto burst onto the scene with this smash-hit debut novel in 1988, she was still a college student. Released in Japan in 1988 / Released in the US in 1993 She was much stronger than I, my friend was. Even though I will never know the depths to which she felt the words. I could see why a perceptive soul like hers would be drawn to Banana Yoshimoto. She was the quiet leader, everywhere she went. Sometimes it was a bit wary, sometimes reassuring (especially when I was the new teacher, and 24 years old, and terrified), but most often it was selfless. She was never without a smile, even when there was little to smile about. I first met her when she was in her teens, as a student at the school in Japan where I taught. But my young friend’s love for the author, as well as the themes of loss and healing that often thread Yoshimoto novels together, meant I couldn’t write these without thinking of her. I had been planning to share some thoughts on Yoshimoto’s books on this site before I heard of my friend’s sudden passing (due to illness) this week, and I hadn’t intended on the posts to become something of a tribute. One of her favorite authors was Banana Yoshimoto, who she reread often as a way to gauge where she stood, emotionally.

(The translation didn’t make it in time.) Will you let me know when that happens?” She wanted to read Tara Westover’s Educated. She used to always leave comments - “Yuki-san, I can’t wait for this book to be translated into Japanese.

Whenever I write the Japanese captions of my own Instagram posts, I picture her reading them. She was ann avid reader, whipping through novels and posting them almost daily. I keep scrolling through the Instagram feed of a friend who passed away this week, reading and rereading her words.

Banana kitchen book