By Hisashi Kashiwai
Setting & details: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Authenticity of Japanese characters & dialogue: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Translation quality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Entertainment value: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My recommendation: If you loved Midnight Diner as much as I did, this book is for you. By recreating special dishes remembered by his customers, a retired police detective and his daughter turn memories into food that heals wounds, puts the past to rest, and helps their customers move on.
The elusive cafe run by a retired police detective and his daughter can only be found by figuring out the clues offered by a one-line advertisement in a gourmet magazine. Those who make it to the front door, however, are rewarded when he pairs his crime-solving experience with his love of cooking and tracks down the secrets of preparing dishes from their most treasured memories.
Like in Midnight Diner, food is the vehicle for viewing and understanding the human condition. Customers arrive troubled, and go away satisfied, but not always in the way we expect. The detective-turned-chef’s insights into why his customers feel the way they do about the remembered dish give him the power to change more than a few ingredients.
These six connected stories are perfect for reading at 3:00 am when you can’t get back to sleep—interesting enough to take your mind off whatever is worrying you, but gentle enough not to give you nightmares. The translation is decent too, rendering the conversations into slightly more colloquial English than a strict translation, and adding tasty descriptions to the names of dishes that non-Japanese might not be familiar with.
You can get it right now, or check out the July Japanagram Mini to see if you won a copy! All subscribers are automatically entered to win—if you’re not yet a member of this lucky group, click this button to subscribe, and be automatically signed up to enter.
How I pick the book giveaway winners: At the end of June, I will load all the email addresses of current Japanagram subscribers into an online random name picker and ask it to choose one lucky subscriber to get the book from this month’s review. I’ll publish the winner’s email in the next Japanagram (obscured in a way so only the subscriber will be able to recognize it as their own, of course) so check your July Japanagram Mini to see if you won!
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
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