Paperback: Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, and his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste.
But everything is about to change.
Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape and Tokue's dark secret is revealed, with devastating consequences.
Sweet Bean Paste (2017) is a moving novel about the burden of the past and the redemptive power of friendship. It is also a charming tale of friendship, love, the genius of simplicity and loneliness in contemporary Japan.
Sweet Bean Paste is the winner of Le Prix des Lecteurs du Livre de Poche 2017. Translated from the Japanese for the first time by Alison Watts, Durian Sukegawa's beautiful prose "teaches us that no existence is devoid of meaning, and that even the humblest of beings has a valuable contribution to make to the world in which we live."
About the author: 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 programmes and films. He lives in Tokyo.
About the translator: Alison Watts is a freelance translator, translating literature from Japanese into English. She lives in Ibaraki, Japan.
Rating: 5/5
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