Characters
The narrator and protagonist.
Who is Mikage
The symbol of escape and security.
What is the kitchen.
The drink Mikage and Yuichi drink a lot.
What is tea.
One of Mikage’s strategies for coping with death?
What is, keeping mementos or what is, giving herself time or what is trying not to run from her feelings.
How Yoshimoto addresses toxic masculinity.
What is, by making fun of it.
The flower shop employee who Grandma likes.
Who is Yuichi.
The symbol for caring and taking responsibility.
What are the house plants.
The food that the inn Yuichi went to is known for.
What is tofu.
Why Mikage values kitchens.
What is, she associates it with comfort/community/security/life.
Through the comparison of these two characters, Yoshimoto is able to both make fun of toxic masculinity and associate power with females.
Who are Yuichi and Eriko.
Yuichi's biological father.
Who is Eriko.
The symbol for masculinity and a new start.
What is the pineapple plant.
Mikage brings this to Yuichi when he’s at the inn.
What is katsudon.
The unexpected thing that strengthens Mikage and Yuichi’s friendship in the story.
What is food.
Name one of the two actions Yuichi and Mikage joke about to undermine masculine power after Mikage comforts Yuichi.
What is “pick up a car and throw it” or What is “will you tear a telephone book in half for me?”
This person inherits the nightclub.
Who is Chika.
They symbol of comfort and home.
The first meal Mikage cooks at the Tanabe’s.
What is cucumber salad and soupy rice with eggs.
This sad thing that both Mikage and Yuichi experience that brings them closer together.
What is death.
The work is by a female _________ author.
What is Japanese.
This person confronts Mikage at her work.
Who is Okuno.
The symbol for how the characters stay connected.
What is food.
One part of the “extravagant dinner” that Mikage cooks after learning of Eriko’s death.
What is deep-fried tofu, chicken kiev, sweet and sour pork, steamed dumplings.
The reason Mikage thinks it is difficult to live with old people.
What is “they could die at any minute”
The year the story came out.
What is 1988.