Observations:

In November 2017, we went on our honeymoon to Japan. Prior to flying there, I ordered a few books by a smattering of Japanese authors. Kitchen was one of them. Kitchen is probably Yoshimoto’s most famous work, however it was Moshi Moshi that I loved.

A week after finishing Kitchen, we travelled by train to Tokyo and happened to walk past a huge bookstore. And I stumbled upon this book by Banana Yoshimoto, it was her newest book and what a delicious treat.

In a Nutshell:

Moshi Moshi tells the story of Yoshi and her mother. Yoshi’s father, who was much-loved by her, entered into a suicide pact with a strange woman and they both succeeded in ending their lives. Yoshimoto transforms a tragedy into a coming-of-age story, beautiful, tender yet semi-realistic.

A Quote:

“I moved to Shimokitazawa about a year after Dad got mixed up in a love-murder suicide in a forest in Ibaraki with a woman who’d apparently been a distant relative, whom my Mom and I knew nothing about.”

Stockists: Want to buy Moshi Moshi? Buy it here.

Moshi Moshi

Written by Banana Yoshimoto

Translated from the Japanese by Asa Yoneda

30/11/2017, Counterpoint

ISBN: 9781640090156

#WITMonth for 2021 is curated by Jess Andoh-Thayre

I am 35, from London but currently living in Cambodia. I am married to a diplomat and we have been posted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and now Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Prior to meeting my husband, I had also lived in La Serena, Chile and Madrid, Spain.

I am a French, Spanish and English teacher, translator, avid reader and now blogger. When I am not teaching, reading and blogging, I love catching a brilliant sunset, swimming, cycling and hanging out with my husband and son.

Author: Banana Yoshimoto

Banana Yoshimoto (Mahoko Yoshimoto) chose the pen name “Banana” as a proof of her love for banana flowers!

She is most famous for her debut novel, Kitchen. It won the Kaien Newcomers’ Literary Prize in 1987 and became a bestseller.

Translator: Asa Yoneda

Asa Yoneda is from Osaka, she translates Japanese literary fiction and she now lives in Bristol.