Kitchen �by Banana Yoshimoto

What were your initial thoughts about the book?

How is this book similar and different from other books you have read?

What ideas are stirred in your mind by this image?

Why might isolation occur here?

One of your chief explorations is loneliness. Does that come from living in a big city like Tokyo, or is it something particular to Japan?

I think loneliness is universal and everyone experiences it very strongly. However, I will say that Japan is changing so fast that a lot of people are being left behind without being able to cope with these changes. In these situations when people can’t cope, the loneliness is mixed with some kind of restlessness, so it becomes even harder to escape. This affects all generations in Japan because the changes have been so rapid.

​

Historical Context

Tokyo in the 1980s

• Population: Over 8 million people

​

• One of the most expensive cities in the world to live

​

• Crowded, with cramped living conditions

​

• Industrial economy with dependence on export of automobiles and electronics to the West

Hikikomori (ひきこもり or 引き籠もり,

​

• Extreme social withdrawal �
• Japanese term: phenomenon of adolescents or young adults who withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement. �
• “Shut-ins”

​

​

​

Cultural Changes

• In Japan, Yoshimoto’s generation is called the shinjinrui, a generation that has grown up in a wealthy, technological society exposed to American values. �
• After WWII, western ideas and a free market changed a more traditional-minded Japan.

​

Kitchens

• A few generations ago, food preparation was considered a lower class occupation.

​

• By the mid-1980s, it had become a respectful career as well as an art form.

​

• The kitchen has become a showcase of consumer wealth.

Journal entry

In your SSST journal answer the following questions in your language of study.

​

1. What room in your house makes you feel the most calm and centered?�
2. Why does this room affect you in this way?

​

• Have you ever moved house and “lost” this space? How did it make you feel?