Sweet Bean Paste (2013) by Durian Sukegawa #JapaneseLitChallenge18

🌸 Sentaro works at Doraharu confectionery, making dorayaki. Dorayaki is a common street food in Japan; a pancake filled with sweet azuki bean paste. Sentaro works only to pay his debts to the owner, and he can't wait to leave his grilled pan and spatula behind. But it all changed when an elderly woman with disfigured face and crooked fingers came to Doraharu, one beautiful spring day, when the cherries were blossoming.

🌸 Tokue is in her seventies, but she asked for a job at Doraharu. Sentaro couldn't afford a staff, but Tokue is happy to make bean paste for half the pay; she has been making bean paste for the last fifty years. Tokue's bean paste is indeed sweet and delicious, far exceeding the factory-made ones Sentaro used to buy for his dorayaki. So, he took her in.

🌸 Tokue's been paste brought happy customers to Donaharu, and her sweet gentle presence brought peace and comfort to Sentaro, and a school girl who's a regular to Donaharu. However, there are people who don't approve of Tokue's presence, due to her bitter and secret past. And this secret, when it was revealed (which threatened to ruin Donaharu business), quite blew me away. I didn't know that that thing still exists, and is still a concern in Japan in the 21th century. And this changed completely the direction of the story.

🌸 The seemingly sweet premise the story has been woven with, was slightly touched with bitterness of Tokue's suffering, resulting to a deeper taste. As Sentaro said a few times, Tokue has been through a lot. Yet, she maintains her positive attitude towards human kind, thanks to her embracing the power of nature. In the end, this is a compelling, poignant story, wrapped in the sweetness of Japanese cuisine and its street food stalls. My first five stars read of the year, and now I'm craving for dorayaki! I read the audiobook, narrated, just as beautifully as it was written, by Cindy Kay.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Japanese Literature Challenge # 18

hosted by Dolce Bellezza

The Kamogawa Food Detectives (2013) by Hisashi Kashiwai #JapaneseLitChallenge18

🍜 Tucked away in a quiet backstreet of Kyoto is an unusual Diner. No sign appears on the outside of the unassuming buiding, but once you open its sliding door, you'd find a cozy restaurant. Run by Nagare Kamogawa and his daughter Koishi, it's a special restaurant combined with a detective agency in the back office. How can a restaurant be mixed up with a detective agency? Well, the agency doesn't take the usual criminal cases, it deals with food - recreating food, in particular.

🍜 A potential customer would first be served with a set menu curated by the Chef, Nagare. After enjoying the meal (every customer do!), he or she would be directed to the office, where Koishi would interview the client of what dish he or she wants them to recreate. It could be a childhood dish, or a memorable dish important for the client. She would ask some further questions concerning the background, location, etc. And based on these information will Nagare then track and investigate the dish concerned, and try to replicate it for the client in a fortnight.

🍜 This book is a compilation of these cases, or shall we say, these dishes. Each dish isn't only centered on the food only - they all met, or perhaps, even, exceeded the clients' expectations - but more than that, Nagare's investigation usually reveals deeper aspect of emotion behind a plate of delicious food - memory, loved ones, forgiveness, understanding, and new hope. All in all, it's a collection of heartwarming stories with mouthwatering foods, with a sprinkle of mystery.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Japanese Literature Challenge #18

hosted by Dolce Belleza