 | |
| Author | Dorian Sukegawa (pen name) |
|---|---|
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Set in | Japan |
| Publisher | OneWorld Publications |
Published in English | 2017 |
| ISBN | 1786071959 |
Sweet Bean Paste, a novel by Japanese author Dorian Sukegawa (pen name for Tetsuya Akikawa) and translated into English by Alison Watts, tells the story of an elderly woman, a middle-aged man, and a young girl who come together in an unusual companionship to explore friendship, life, and meaning.
The central character, Sentaro, is a middle-aged man who manages Doraharu, a shop that sells dorayaki, a type of Japanese pancake filled with sweet bean paste, in the outskirts of Tokyo. Sentaro is a man who has lost all hope and motivation in life and is working to pay off debt. One day at the shop Sentaro is approached by Tokue Yoshii, an elderly woman who states that she has always wanted to work in a dorayaki shop. Sentaro initially rejects her application, afraid that the work would prove too difficult for an elderly woman who has a physical disability. However, he is swayed when she drops off a tub of delicious homemade sweet bean paste and says she will work at one-third of the advertised pay. Tokue's paste is far superior to the factory-made product he has been using.
The new paste leads to an increase in customers and as business begins to thrive Tokue starts serving customers and packaging dorayaki. A local schoolgirl who frequents the shop, Wakana, develops a friendship with the pair.
However, when customers realize that Tokue's visible physical disability was caused by leprosy, they stop coming to the shop, and as a result, Tokue stops coming to work.
Eventually, Wakana suggests that they go and visit Tokue at the sanatorium where she and other leprosy patients were forced to live until the 1996 when Japan repealed the 1953 Leprosy Prevention Law. In the novel we learn that Tokue became a resident of the Tensheon National Sanatorium at the age of 14. Everything was taken from her on entrance, including her name, to prevent her family from becoming outcasts. Her hands were deformed from the disease. She married, but her husband was forcibly sterilized. Although she was free to leave in 1996, with no family claiming her, she was forced to live out her life in the sanatorium.While visiting the sanatorium Sentaro expresses his regret about being unable to protect Tokue against the prejudice of his customers. Still, she assures him that she is grateful for the time she spent in the shop.
When Tokue dies of pneumonia Several months later, she leaves Sentaro a letter. In it, Tokue stresses that a person's worth lies not in their career but simply in their being and that joy comes from taking in the sensory experiences of the world around us.
Durian Sukegawa studied oriental philosophy at Waseda University, before going on to work as a reporter in Berlin and Cambodia in the early 1990s. He has written a number of books and essays, TV programs and films. He lives in Tokyo. [1] Alison Watts is a freelance translator, translating literature from Japanese into English. She lives in Ibaraki, Japan. [1]
The book was an international bestseller. The Japan Times wrote, "Sukegawa's writing style, delicately translated by Alison Watts, is well-matched to the subject matter: a slow, muted movement that gently guides the reader, while leaving the unnecessary unsaid. It is a very Japanese book, centering around the belief that peace — if not happiness — can be found in the discipline of pursuing one thing toward perfection." [2] Library Journal's review stated that the book, "tells an endearing, thoughtful tale about relationships and the everyday meaning of life." [3] Book Riot, a popular book review blog, listed the book as one of, "10 books that feel like Wes Anderson movies." [4]
Sweet Bean is a 2015 Japanese drama film directed by Naomi Kawase. The film was selected to open the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. [5] It was also selected to be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The author asked Kawase to shoot the movie after hearing her say, "People do not always die satisfied. When I film, I convert people who died with regret and emptiness into a modern drama." [5]
Kakigōri (かき氷) is a Japanese shaved ice dessert flavored with syrup and a sweetener, often condensed milk.
A mooncake is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is primarily about the harvest while a legend connects it to moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is widely regarded as one of the four most important Chinese festivals.
Naomi Kawase is a Japanese film director. She was also known as Naomi Sento, with her former husband's surname. Many of her works have been documentaries, including Embracing, about her search for the father who abandoned her as a child, and Katatsumori, about the grandmother who raised her.
Wagashi is a traditional Japanese confection that is often served with green tea, especially the type made of mochi, anko, and fruit. Wagashi is typically made from plant-based ingredients with an emphasis on seasonality, and generally making use of cooking methods that pre-date Western influence in Japan.
Dorayaki is a type of Japanese confection. It consists of two small pancake-like patties made from castella wrapped around a filling of sweet azuki bean paste.
Tomoko Kawase is a Japanese singer, songwriter, producer, actress, and model from Kyoto. She is the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Brilliant Green. She also has a solo career under the alter-ego pseudonyms Tommy february6 and Tommy heavenly6.
Shaved ice is a large family of ice-based desserts made of fine shavings of ice and sweet condiments or syrups. Usually, the syrup is added after the ice has been frozen and shaved—typically at the point of sale; however, flavoring can also be added before freezing. The dessert is consumed worldwide in various forms and ways. Shaved ice can also be mixed with large quantities of liquid to produce shaved ice drinks.
Jiandui or sesame balls are a type of fried Chinese pastry made from glutinous rice flour. The pastry is coated with sesame seeds on the outside and is crisp and chewy after immediately being cooked. Inside the pastry is a large hollow, caused by the expansion of the dough. The hollow of the pastry is filled with a filling usually consisting of lotus paste, or alternatively, sweet black bean paste, or red bean paste.
Hannah Riddell (1855–1932) was an English woman who devoted her life to the care of patients with leprosy in Japan.
Leprosy stigma is a type of social stigma, a strong negative feeling towards a person with leprosy relating to their moral status in society. It is also referred to as leprosy-related stigma, leprostigma, and stigma of leprosy. Since ancient times, leprosy instilled the practice of fear and avoidance in many societies because of the associated physical disfigurement and lack of understanding behind its cause. Because of the historical trauma the word "leprosy" invokes, the disease is now referred to as Hansen's disease, named after Gerhard Armauer Hansen who discovered Mycobacterium leprae, the bacterial agent that causes Hansen's disease. Those who have suffered from Hansen's disease describe the impact of social stigma as far worse than the physical manifestations despite it being only mildly contagious and pharmacologically curable. This sentiment is echoed by Weis and Ramakrishna, who noted that "the impact of the meaning of the disease may be a greater source of suffering than symptoms of the disease".
As of 2009, 2,600 former leprosy patients were living in 13 national sanatoriums and 2 private hospitals in Japan. Their mean age is 80. There were no newly diagnosed Japanese leprosy patients in 2005, but one in 2006, and one in 2007.
Masako Ogawa was a Japanese medical doctor who worked at the Nagashima Aiseien Sanatorium. She wrote a book, "Spring in a small island" in 1938, about her experiences in persuading leprosy patients in remote areas of Japan into hospitalization. It created a sensation in Japan, and was made into a film. She was criticized for accelerating the "No leprosy patients in prefecture" movement and giving an impression that leprosy is to be feared.
Keisai Aoki was a Japanese missionary who paved the way to the establishment of Hansen's disease (leprosy) sanatorium Kunigami-Airakuen, now Okinawa Airakuen Sanatorium, Okinawa.
Mieko Kamiya was a Japanese psychiatrist who treated leprosy patients at Nagashima Aiseien Sanatorium. She was known for translating books on philosophy. She worked as a medical doctor in the Department of Psychiatry at Tokyo University following World War II. She was said to have greatly helped the Ministry of Education and the General Headquarters, where the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers stayed, in her role as an English-speaking secretary, and served as an adviser to Empress Michiko. She wrote many books as a highly educated, multi-lingual person; one of her books, titled On the Meaning of Life, based on her experiences with leprosy patients, attracted many readers.
Ang ku kueh, also known as red tortoise cake, is a small round or oval-shaped Chinese pastry with soft, sticky glutinous rice flour skin wrapped around a sweet central filling. It is molded to resemble a tortoise shell and is presented resting on a square piece of banana leaf. As suggested by its name, red tortoise cakes are traditionally red in color and has a sticky, chewy texture when eaten. Red tortoise cakes are shaped like tortoise shells because the Chinese traditionally believed that eating tortoises would bring longevity to those who are eating it and bring about good fortune and prosperity. Considered to be auspicious items, these sweet pastries are especially prepared during important festivals such as Chinese New Year as offerings to the Chinese deities.
The Muraiken Undō, or No Leprosy Patients in Our Prefecture Movement, was a government funded Japanese public health and social movement which began between 1929 and 1934. Its mission was to systematically eliminate leprosy,, a readily transmissible, previously incurable, chronic infectious disease caused by M. leprae, from each prefecture in Japan. This was to be achieved by caring for those affected by the disease in government funded sanatoriums.
Sweet Bean is a 2015 Japanese drama film directed by Naomi Kawase. It is the second film, after I Wish, to star real-life grandmother and granddaughter Kirin Kiki and Kyara Uchida. The film was selected to open the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It was also selected to be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
Kyoko Iriye Selden was a Japanese scholar of Japanese language and literature and a translator.
Zunda-mochi (ずんだ餅) is a type of Japanese confectionery popular in northeastern Japan. It is sometimes translated as "green soybean rice cake." It generally consists of a round cake of short-grained glutinous rice with sweetened mashed soybean paste on top. In some varieties, the green soybean paste entirely covers the white rice cake. In all cases, immature soybeans known as edamame are used. A closely related product is "kurumi-mochi", which uses walnuts instead of soybeans.