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December 22, 2024
 

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BANANA YOSHIMOTO

Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto came onto the scene in 1987 with “Kitchin.” In it, her main character talks about the comfort she finds in her kitchen.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 16, 2024
Take your first dive into Japanese literature from the comfort of your kitchen
There are levels to understanding Japanese literature. First there's basic comprehension, but after that you can take time to appreciate the wordplay.
A 19-year-old girl plagued with strange visions sets out with her younger brother to uncover the truth about her perfect family in Banana Yoshimoto’s “The Premonition.”
CULTURE / Books
Oct 14, 2023
Banana Yoshimoto’s new book is a sickly sweet fantasy
In “The Premonition,” the characters exist in a dream-like state of sweetness and steer clear of examining complex questions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 17, 2022
Banana Yoshimoto’s ‘Dead-End Memories’ is the literary equivalent of a lo-fi playlist
The award-winning author's collection of short stories is a comfort read that will transport readers to a melancholy world for an hour or two.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 3, 2021
‘Moonlight Shadow’: Dream-like mood piece depicts grief with aching clarity
Nana Komatsu's performance as a woman mourning a lost love anchors Edmund Yeo's seductive adaptation of a Banana Yoshimoto short story.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 16, 2021
Five books about Japan that are perfect for foodies
Many authors writing about Japan use the country's cuisine as a central plot point. Here are five food-centric books perfect for a lazy afternoon.
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 17, 2016
'Goodbye Tsugumi': Banana Yoshimoto's portrait of a feisty young woman in '80s Japan
Banana Yoshimoto found fame in 1988 when her wildly successful debut novel "Kitchen" was published. Her unique take on contemporary themes and ability to conjure up feisty yet vulnerable heroines was what attracted readers — two aspects that reappear in "Goodbye Tsugumi," her 1989 novel that chronicles...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 10, 2015
Banana Yoshimoto sprinkles perversion and melodrama over '90s Tokyo in 'N.P.'
This vintage Banana Yoshimoto novel from 1990 is the tale of four confused souls spending a magical summer in Tokyo. Airy and urbane, it follows three women and a guy as they each sit in cafes having rambling confessional conversations, feel lost looking at the deep blue sky and show up drunk at their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 29, 2015
'The Book of Tokyo' reveals sidelined Japanese writers, but not the city itself
"The Book of Tokyo" is part of Comma Press' "Reading the City" series, though most of the stories inside could be transplanted to other Japanese cities — Nagoya, Fukuoka or Sapporo — without any noticeable difference.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 8, 2015
Rural migration, shaved ice and no easy endings in 'Umi no Futa'
Why not abandon your stressed urban existence, move to a picturesque part of the world and live the simple life? An old dream, but still powerful, as shown by the recent spate of Japanese movies about women getting back their grooves by relocating to a beautiful middle-of-nowhere. Usually their dream...
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 25, 2015
Banana Yoshimoto's magical realist rumination on life and death
Amrita, a Sanskrit word that literally means "immortality," is the name of Banana Yoshimoto's strange 1994 novel. It's an essentially plotless tale, but deeply affecting in its blend of ennui and hope.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 15, 2015
Adaptation of Banana Yoshimoto's 'Asleep' is heavy with depression and Eros
Sleep is the great restorer, one we frazzled moderns eternally need, desire and lack. But for Terako (Sakura Ando), the sleepy-eyed heroine of photographer and director Shingo Wakagi's "Shirakawa Yofune" ("Asleep"), the bedroom is a battleground of the spirit.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jan 11, 2014
Kitchen
When "Kitchen," the debut novel by Banana Yoshimoto, was first released in Japan in 1988, it caused such a stir that the media frenzy around her was dubbed "Bananamania."
Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson, who was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, arrives with Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, on Friday.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

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