Banana Yoshimoto burst onto the Japanese literary scene in 1987 with her mega-hit novel, “キッチン” (Kitchin, Kitchen). It was so explosively popular that literary critics actually started to think that Yoshimoto had launched Japan into a whole new era of literature. Megan Backus’ 1993 English translation was well-received, and a generation of English-language readers have gobbled up Yoshimoto’s novels in translation with the same voracious appetite of book lovers here in Japan.

Inevitably, there are many differences between the 原作 (gensaku, original) and 翻訳 (honyaku, translation). The protagonist, Mikage, whose Japanese voice is lyrical but straightforward, speaks in more complicated, sophisticated sentences in English, for one. There are also plenty of little features in the Japanese text, such as Yoshimoto’s unusual use of punctuation and 和製英語 (wasei-eigo, English words rendered in katakana) that didn’t make it into the English translation. Given that Yoshimoto’s style isn’t particularly complex, this novel is a great place to start reading 日本文学 (nihon bungaku, Japanese literature) in Japanese.

Reading Japanese 小説 (shōsetsu, novels) not only provides excellent vocabulary and grammar practice but it also throws a reader straight into the most poetic and profound depths of the country’s culture. So let’s take a look at how to read the opening sentences of “キッチン,” breaking down the more unusual and interesting aspects of the text along the way. (Note: The English provided after the text is not Backus’ translation. I used a literal translation to best follow Yoshimoto’s specific sentence structures as they appear in Japanese.)

Yoshimoto begins the tale: 私がこの世で一番好きな場所は台所だと思う (Watashi ga konoyo de ichiban sukina basho wa daidokoro da to omou, The place that I like the most in this world is the kitchen). One interesting point right off the bat is that Mikage says 台所 (daidokoro, kitchen) rather than the 和製英語 of the book title, キッチン. While the two terms are interchangeable, 台所 has a more traditional, stable association, while キッチン screams new, foreign and trendy. By using 台所, Mikage assures us she likes any old kitchen — not just the new and fancy ones.

The next passage reveals just how much she likes kitchens: どこのでも、どんなのでも、それが台所であれば食事を作る場所であれば私はつらくない (Doko no demo, donna no demo, sore ga daidokoro de areba shokuji o tsukuru basho de areba watashi wa tsurakunai, No matter where, no matter what kind, if it’s a kitchen and you can make meals there, I don’t feel [emotionally] pained). つらい (Tsurai) means emotionally painful, difficult or cruel, and is used typically used when one is going through hard times. This line also begins to reveal the style Yoshimoto chooses for Mikage: With two symmetrical repetitions (of でも and であれば), Yoshimoto gives the sentence a lyrical, song-like ring to it.

The next line uses a 擬態語 (gitaigo), which is an onomatopoeic word that mimics an action, condition or manner. These words, like ぴかぴか (pika-pika, sparkly and brand new) or しょんぼり (shonbori, dejectedly/despondently) function similar to adverbs in English, except they lend a vivid sonic punch to the writing — ぴかぴか sounds like sparkles flashing on and off, and しょんぼり sounds like someone is slumping over.

The text goes: できれば機能的でよく使い込んであるといいと思う。乾いた清潔なふきんが何枚もあって白いタイルがぴかぴか輝く (Dekireba kinō-teki de yoku tsukaikonde aru to ii to omou. Kawaita seiketsuna fukin ga nanmai mo atte shiroi tairu ga pikapika kagayaku, If possible, I think it’s good if it’s well worn-in. With plenty of dry, clean dish towels, and white tiles that sparkle). You can see that Yoshimoto adds more musicality with ぴかぴか輝く (pika-pika kagayaku), which has a punchy sort of beat to it with all of the “k” sounds.

Readers of Japanese will pick up on a few features of these first two paragraphs. Firstly and obviously, as seen by 私 (watashi, I) and と思う (to omou, I think), the text is written in a first-person voice, taking place inside of the protagonist’s mind. Secondly, Mikage is speaking casually to the reader, using sentence structures that you can easily imagine being said aloud. The lack of commas in the last sentence gives us all of Mikage’s thoughts about kitchens in an excited jumble, as if she can’t wait to tell us all about them.
"Kitchin" by Banana Yoshimoto

Skipping ahead a few paragraphs, Mikage reveals some darker thoughts in interesting Japanese: 本当に疲れ果てた時、私はよくうっとりと思う。「いつか死ぬ時がきたら、台所で息絶えたい。」 (Hontō ni tsukarehateta toki, watashi wa yoku uttori to omou. Itsuka shinu toki ga kitara, daidokoro de ikitaetai, When I’m truly worn out, I often think vaguely. “When the time comes to die, I want to breath my last in a kitchen.”) Vocabulary-wise, うっとり (uttori) is another onomatopoeic word that means doing something in an absorbed or absent-minded manner. Then, 息絶える (ikitaeru) means to die or breath one’s last, as seen by the kanji 息 (iki) for breath and the verb 絶える (taeru, to cease.)

What’s most important here, however, is the sentence structure. If you just look at the phrase, よくうっとりと思う, it doesn’t make sense on its own — “I often think vaguely” — think what? If Yoshimoto was to make a proper, grammatical sentence about it, she would arrange it like this: 本当に疲れ果てた時、台所で息絶えたい、とうっとり思う (Hontō ni tsukarehateta toki, daidokoro de ikitaetai, to uttori omou, When I’m truly worn out, I think vaguely that I want to breathe my last in a kitchen). But instead, Yoshimoto splits up the thought into fragments, showing how Mikage is processing her feelings in real time.

This example shows just how important it is, when reading a novel, to not let confusing sentences or parts of a paragraph that you don’t understand slow you down. When there’s plenty of unknown vocabulary, even a slightly confusing sentence fragment like うっとりと思う can throw you off — but if you continue just a little further, the pieces come together. So Yoshimoto gives us a helpful lesson in patience here when reading 小説 in a foreign language.

“キッチン” has plenty of drama, poetry and a dash of romance and adventure, too — it’s well worth reading to the finish, in the original Japanese. Of course, Yoshimoto always brings the story back to the kitchen: 田辺家に拾われる前は、毎日台所で眠っていた... (Tanabe-ke ni hirowareru mae wa, mainichi daidokoro de nemutte-ita..., Before the Tanabes picked me up, every day I was sleeping in the kitchen...).