56 pages • 1 hour read
Banana YoshimotoKitchen
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1988A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Character Analysis
Mikage Sakurai
Mikage is the main character of the “Kitchen” and “Full Moon” portions. She is also the narrator of them both. Mikage is a young female student living in Tokyo. She was raised by her grandmother from a young age, after her parents both died. The novel opens with the death of Mikage’s grandmother, which leaves Mikage without any blood relatives. The death leaves Mikage depressed and incapable of coping with her surroundings. Her one comfort in her now empty apartment is sleeping in the kitchen. Mikage loves the space of the kitchen in the home. She is later asked by a former student, Yuichi Tanabe, to come and live with him and his mother, Eriko. Mikage does not know much about Yuichi, but since he was kind to her grandmother, and she needs to move, she moves in with the Tanabes and falls in love with their kitchen as well. She takes an instant liking to Eriko. Mikage’s time with the Tanabes allows her to feel better about herself and life, and she warms up to her adopted family. She finds a kindred spirit in Yuichi, who, like her, was raised alone by a female figure. When Eriko is killed, both feel the loss heavily. Throughout the narrative, there are hints that Mikage might have romantic feelings for Yuichi. When she moves out, she still feels this tug. Chika (a worker at Eriko’s nightclub) later intervenes and tells Mikage that she and Yuichi love one another. Mikage finally finds the courage to tell Yuichi how she feels, and it is suggested that they will embark on a new relationship by the narrative’s end.
Eriko Tanabe
Eriko is the charming and beautiful mother of Yuichi. Eriko was born and raised as a boy named Yuji. Yuji was taken in by a family when he was young, and he eventually fell in love with the daughter of that family. The two eloped, married, and had a child: Yuichi. When Yuichi’s mother died, Eriko felt she would never love anyone as she had loved Yuichi’s mother. She took Yuichi away and distanced them both from her wife’s disapproving family. Then she had a gender reassignment operation and bought a nightclub. Eriko is the owner of the nightclub, and lives happily as a woman with Yuichi. Eriko is described by Mikage as beautiful and strong-willed. Eriko tells Mikage that her life is not easy, but that she takes the good with the bad. Eriko is killed violently by an obsessed client. Eriko manages to beat him to death, but she dies from her stab wounds. She leaves a letter for Yuichi explaining her will and her love for both him and Mikage.
Yuichi Tanabe
Yuichi is a fellow university student of Mikage’s. He arrives one day at Mikage’s apartment and asks her to move in with him and his mother, Eriko. Mikage’s grandmother has just died, and Yuichi was close to the older woman. He worked at a flower shop she frequented and always helped her bring her things home. At the funeral, Mikage comments that Yuichi’s despair seems even greater than hers, as if he might have been her grandmother’s lover. Yuichi takes comfort in Mikage moving in and devotes himself to her in the same manner that he had devoted himself to her grandmother. Though it seems as if Mikage might harbor romantic feelings for Yuichi, he appears oblivious to this. Eriko alludes to his aloofness, as does Mikage and even her ex-boyfriend Sotaro when they talk about Yuichi’s ex-girlfriend, Okuno. He dated Okuno for a year, but she never felt like she knew him. When Eriko is murdered, Yuichi takes a long time to inform Mikage. Even though he knows this will anger her, he is inconsolable over the loss. He comments that there is death in both of their families, a fact that brings to the two closer together. He leaves for a trip and is inconsolable, though Mikage visits him and expresses her love. The reader is left to wonder if Yuichi will indeed act on his feelings for Mikage. He returns to Tokyo, and then calls Mikage and tells her he wants to pick her up from the station, suggesting that he is ready to move forward.
Satsuki
Satsuki is the main character and narrator of the last section, “Moonlight Shadow.” Satsuki is in love with Hitoshi, but he is killed during a tragic car accident. Her grief is overwhelming, and she does not know how to move on in life without him. She begins running and jogging to cope with her loss. Hitoshi’s brother, Hiiragi, lost not only his brother but his girlfriend, Yumiko, in the accident. Though depressed, Satsuki wants to be brave for Hiiragi. Satsuki meets a strange woman named Urara near the bridge where Hitoshi died. Urara tells her of a strange event soon to happen, one that only happens every hundred years. When the event takes place, Satsuki hears the bell she gave Hitoshi and sees him again on the bridge. They say goodbye, and she feels that she can move on with life.
Hiiragi
Hiiragi loses his brother, Hitoshi, as well as his girlfriend, Yumiko, in a terrible car accident. He responds to this tragedy by wearing his girlfriend’s school uniform in public. Though the act is a bit scandalous and odd to most people, Hiiragi sees nothing wrong with it. It is a coping mechanism, one that Satsuki comes to recognize. Hiiragi is overcome with loss, but he also wants to be strong for Satsuki. He eventually sees Yumiko again, and says goodbye. Later, he tells Satsuki that Yumiko took the school uniform with her when she left. He thinks he might be going mad, but Satsuki assures him he is not.
Urara
Urara is a strange, kind woman who meets Satsuki at the crash site near the bridge where Hitoshi died. She appears suddenly, which seems odd. She is described as having an ancient yet cheerful face. Though she seems kind and cheerful to Satsuki, when Satsuki leaves and glances back, she notices an immense amount of pain on Urara’s face. Urara is kind to Satsuki throughout the narrative and is always around when Satsuki needs someone the most. Urara tells Satsuki about the special event that only happens every hundred years, and seems to be its catalyst. She disappears suddenly when the event begins, and then a bell rings and Hitoshi appears. When Hitoshi leaves, Urara reappears. Urara later says that she, too, lost someone in an untimely manner and wanted a way to say goodbye. She promises Satsuki that they will see one another again.
