Kitchen

The first section begins with Mikage, a young Japanese woman whose grandmother has recently passed. The narrative opens three days after the funeral. With her grandmother gone, Mikage is depressed and unsure of what to do next. Her grandmother was her last remaining blood relative. Distraught, and in an apartment too big for one person, Mikage takes her futon into the kitchen and sleeps there. Kitchens are the one place where Mikage always feels safe; they are her favorite place to be. Mikage describes how kitchens, even messy ones, are safe, lived-in spaces symbolic of creativity and connection.

Mikage is soon visited by Yuichi Tanabe. Yuichi is a college-age boy who was close to her grandmother. He asks Mikage if she would like to live with him and his mother, Eriko, given that her grandmother has just passed. He gives her instructions on how to reach their apartment, and invites her to the apartment later that evening. Mikage knows she will need to move, so this seems like a logical step, though she really does not know Yuichi well. She soon realizes that she does know Yuichi somewhat: Yuichi cared for her grandmother. He used to work at a flower shop her grandmother went to, and he always helped carry her things home. He also assisted with the funeral arrangements, and was so stricken with grief at the funeral that it seemed as if he were a lover or a son to her grandmother. She makes up her mind to visit the Tanabes’ apartment.

When Mikage arrives at Yuichi’s place, she is overtaken by relief. The apartment feels warm and accepting. Moreover, the Tanabes have a beautiful kitchen, one that feels lived in. Yuichi again brings up the subject of her moving in. While they discuss it, Eriko arrives in a hurry and greets Mikage. Eriko works at a night club, and is dressed provocatively. Mikage is instantly enthralled by Eriko’s beauty and demeanor. Yuichi chides his mother for not calling, and says he will drive her back to work so that will not be late. Eriko implores Mikage to spend the night and, as mother and son leave, Yuichi tells Mikage to make herself at home.

When Yuichi returns, Mikage admits that she has never seen a woman as beautiful as Eriko. Yuichi is pleased by this, and reveals that his mother has not only had plastic surgery but also gender reassignment surgery. Formerly called Yuji, Eriko was also Yuichi’s biological father. As a young couple, Yuichi’s parents eloped and married, but when Yuichi’s birth mother died, Yuji quit his job, took Yuichi away from his in-laws, had a gender reassignment operation, and bought a nightclub. Yuichi’s birth mother’s family disowned Eriko, so Eriko now takes care of Yuichi and supports them both. Mikage decides to stay with the Tanabes. She sleeps on a large sofa near the kitchen, happy to be so close to her favorite place. She feels that, sleeping next to the kitchen and in this apartment, she can find some peace.

Mikage is awakened by the sounds of Eriko stirring in the kitchen the next morning. Though Eriko is thinking about ordering take-out, Mikage offers to cook. It is the least she can do in return for their hospitality. She makes a meal of cucumber salad and soupy rice with eggs. The two women talk about life and Yuichi, and Eriko tells Mikage that she seems like a good person. She also tells Mikage that she makes her happy, and that she should stay with them, without a care. Mikage thanks Eriko, and feels touched by her generosity.

Mikage mentions that she has given herself permission to be lazy and unproductive until May. During this time, she works at her part-time job and cleans the Tanabes’ house, especially the kitchen. She bakes cakes and watches TV. Both Eriko and Yuichi are hardly ever home, so the three barely see each other. At times, it feels like she lives alone, which helps with her mood. Between her move and her “idleness,” Mikage starts to feel better and a bit more like her old self. When she returns to her old apartment one day to collect the last of her things, she receives a call from her ex-boyfriend, Sotaro, and the two decide to meet so that they can catch up.

Mikage says that Sotaro loves parks and the outdoors. They meet in a large coffee shop near the park, just like they did when they dated. Sotaro seems in good spirits but tells Mikage that he heard about her living situation. He admits that Mikage is the subject of much gossip at their university. Mikage begins to feel defensive. Sotaro does not pick up on these cues, and tells her that Yuichi’s girlfriend slapped him in public when she heard that he was living with another woman. They walk through the park on their way home, and Mikage shows Sotaro where the Tanabes live. Before they go their separate ways, Mikage wonders to herself briefly if Sotaro might still have feelings for her. Mikage looks into Sotaro’s eyes, however, and sees that he does not.

Yuichi arrives in the evening with a large box. Yuichi has purchased a word processor, and tells Mikage that she needs to make and send out change-of-address cards. Though it is the last thing she wants to do, she sits down and the two begin making the cards. Unsure, and a bit mad at Yuichi for not having told her about the fight with his girlfriend, she attempts to broach the subject. Yuichi eventually catches on and makes a joke about the entire situation. Then he changes the subject.  

Though Mikage is annoyed by Yuichi’s reluctance to talk or to take the matter seriously, she admits that, on further inspection, she can tell that Yuichi fosters a deep sadness. She thinks back to her conversation with Sotaro, and to how he said that even though Yuichi and his girlfriend had been dating for a year, his girlfriend claimed to not understand him a bit.

Mikage finally decides that, if she has caused a row and unpleasantness by being there, she needs to move out. It is an ironic revelation, given that she is making change-of-address cards with the Tanabes’ address on them. Eriko eventually arrives with two boxes. She holds a juicer in one hand, which Yuichi seizes upon and goes to make juice with, and a gift for Mikage. It is a move-in present, a glass with a banana motif on it. Eriko tells Mikage to drink lots of juice with it. Mikage is overwhelmed with happiness by the gesture.

The following day, Mikage removes the last of her things from her apartment. She then goes to see the landlord. As she drinks tea with him, as she has done many times since childhood, she is overcome by a realization of how old the man has become. Evening arrives, and she takes the bus back to the Tanabes’. On the bus, she witnesses the interaction between a grandmother and her young granddaughter. Watching the grandmother’s love and the tutelage, Mikage begins to cry. She wonders if she is going crazy. She gets off the bus and cries uncontrollably. In the alley where she is hiding, however, she can hear the sounds from a kitchen somewhere above her, and begins to feel better.

Back at the Tanabes’, Mikage has a dream. She is in her old apartment, cleaning the floor with Yuichi. When the two take a break and drink tea, Yuichi askes her not to move out of their apartment. As Mikage washes the dishes, Yuichi begins to sing. Mikage knows the song and begins singing along. She suddenly stops singing, however, in fear that she has woken up her grandmother. Yuichi then suggests that they go to the park and its ramen stand. When Mikage wakes up in the early morning to get water, Yuichi comes into the kitchen and says he is hungry. He suggests ramen. Mikage tells him that he also suggested ramen in her dream. Yuichi seems to fully wake up, finally, and is shocked. He, too, dreamt of ramen. It seems, in fact, that they had the same dream.