Kitchen

by

Banana Yoshimoto

The central maternal figure in Kitchen. Eriko is an empowered transgender woman who runs a nightclub, raises her son Yuichi, and takes on a motherly role with Mikage after Mikage’s grandmother dies. Yoshimoto leverages Eriko’s character to emphasize that transgender womanhood is just as valid as cisgender womanhood, in particular through descriptions of Eriko’s feminine beauty and through Eriko’s own assertions about identifying as a woman. Yoshimoto also voices the guiding philosophies of the plot through Eriko. For example, Eriko urges Mikage to see that a person cannot really understand joy without experiencing suffering. Suffering, therefore, is both insightful and necessary and it cannot be eradicated but must be embraced. Eriko also becomes a mother to Mikage, which underscores Yoshimoto’s view that family is not bound up with biology. Eriko is tragically murdered by a stalker halfway through the story, and her death motivates part of Yoshimoto’s exploration of grieving, as well as the complicated path that Mikage and Yuichi walk while trying to navigate love in the midst of bereavement.

Eriko Tanabe Quotes in Kitchen

The Kitchen quotes below are all either spoken by Eriko Tanabe or refer to Eriko Tanabe . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Death and Grief Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Kitchen Quotes

Usually, the first time I go to a house, face to face with people I barely know, I feel an immense loneliness.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:

This was his mother? Dumbfounded I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Hair that rustled like silk to her shoulders; the deep sparkle of her long, narrow eyes; well-formed lips, a nose with a high, straight bridge—the whole of her face gave off a marvelous light that seemed to vibrate with life force.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe
Related Symbols: Light
Page Number: 11
Explanation and Analysis:

Yes, but. Could you call someone who looked like that ‘Dad?’

Related Characters: Yuichi Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai, Eriko Tanabe
Page Number: 13
Explanation and Analysis:

You’re a good kid, too.

Related Characters: Eriko Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai, Yuichi Tanabe
Page Number: 15
Explanation and Analysis:

Little by little, light and air came into my heart.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe , Mikage’s Grandmother
Page Number: 21
Explanation and Analysis:

I loved the Tanabes’ sofa as much as I loved their kitchen. I came to crave sleeping on it […] I slept like a baby. There wasn’t anything more I wanted: I was happy.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe , Mikage’s Grandmother
Related Symbols: Kitchens
Page Number: 22
Explanation and Analysis:

It was like watching Bewitched.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe
Page Number: 31
Explanation and Analysis:

Looking up, I saw white steam rising, in the dark, out of a brightly lit window overhead. I listened. From inside came the sound of happy voices at work, soup boiling, knives and pots and pans clanging. It was a kitchen. I was puzzled, smiling about how I had just gone from the darkest despair to feeling wonderful. I stood up, smoothed down my skirt, and started back for the Tanabes’.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe , Mikage’s Grandmother
Related Symbols: Kitchens
Page Number: 34-35
Explanation and Analysis:

Yes. But if a person hasn’t ever experienced true despair, she grows old never knowing how to evaluate where she is in life; never understanding what joy really is.

Related Characters: Eriko Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2: Full Moon Quotes

One night, screaming that he had been made a fool of he lunged at her with a knife. Eriko, wounded, grabbed a barbell off the bar—it was part of the club’s decor—with both hands and beat him to death. “There!” she said. “Self-defense, that makes us even.” Those were her last words.

Related Characters: Eriko Tanabe (speaker), Eriko’s Stalker / Eriko’s Murderer
Page Number: 44-45
Explanation and Analysis:

She, too, is a very precious child of mine.

Related Characters: Eriko Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai, Yuichi Tanabe
Page Number: 53
Explanation and Analysis:

For an instant I had a vision of Eriko’s smiling face, and my heart turned over. I felt an urge to get moving. It looked to me like the kitchen had not been used in quite a while. It was somewhat dirty and dark. I began to clean. I scrubbed the sink with scouring powder, wiped off the burners, washed the dishes, sharpened the knives. I washed and bleached all the dish towels and while watching them go round and round in the dryer I realized that I had become calmer.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Eriko Tanabe
Related Symbols: Kitchens
Page Number: 56
Explanation and Analysis:

Nothing, nothing at all has any flavor for me know.

Related Characters: Yuichi Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai, Eriko Tanabe
Page Number: 76
Explanation and Analysis:

I realized that the world did not exist for my benefit. It followed that the ratio of pleasant to unpleasant things around me would not change. It wasn’t up to me. It was clear that the best thing to do was to adopt a sort of muddled cheerfulness.

Related Characters: Eriko Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai, Yuichi’s Biological Mother
Page Number: 81
Explanation and Analysis:

The endless sea was shrouded in darkness. I could see the shadowy forms of gigantic, rugged crags against which the waves were crashing. While watching them I felt a strange, sweet sadness. In the biting air I told myself, there will be so much pleasure, so much suffering. With or without Yuichi. The beacon of a faraway lighthouse revolved. It turned its light toward me, then turned away, forming a pathway of light on the waves. Nodding to myself, my nose dripping, I returned to my room.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Kitchen LitChart as a printable PDF.
Kitchen PDF

Eriko Tanabe Quotes in Kitchen

The Kitchen quotes below are all either spoken by Eriko Tanabe or refer to Eriko Tanabe . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Death and Grief Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Kitchen Quotes

Usually, the first time I go to a house, face to face with people I barely know, I feel an immense loneliness.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:

This was his mother? Dumbfounded I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Hair that rustled like silk to her shoulders; the deep sparkle of her long, narrow eyes; well-formed lips, a nose with a high, straight bridge—the whole of her face gave off a marvelous light that seemed to vibrate with life force.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe
Related Symbols: Light
Page Number: 11
Explanation and Analysis:

Yes, but. Could you call someone who looked like that ‘Dad?’

Related Characters: Yuichi Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai, Eriko Tanabe
Page Number: 13
Explanation and Analysis:

You’re a good kid, too.

Related Characters: Eriko Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai, Yuichi Tanabe
Page Number: 15
Explanation and Analysis:

Little by little, light and air came into my heart.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe , Mikage’s Grandmother
Page Number: 21
Explanation and Analysis:

I loved the Tanabes’ sofa as much as I loved their kitchen. I came to crave sleeping on it […] I slept like a baby. There wasn’t anything more I wanted: I was happy.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe , Mikage’s Grandmother
Related Symbols: Kitchens
Page Number: 22
Explanation and Analysis:

It was like watching Bewitched.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe
Page Number: 31
Explanation and Analysis:

Looking up, I saw white steam rising, in the dark, out of a brightly lit window overhead. I listened. From inside came the sound of happy voices at work, soup boiling, knives and pots and pans clanging. It was a kitchen. I was puzzled, smiling about how I had just gone from the darkest despair to feeling wonderful. I stood up, smoothed down my skirt, and started back for the Tanabes’.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe , Mikage’s Grandmother
Related Symbols: Kitchens
Page Number: 34-35
Explanation and Analysis:

Yes. But if a person hasn’t ever experienced true despair, she grows old never knowing how to evaluate where she is in life; never understanding what joy really is.

Related Characters: Eriko Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2: Full Moon Quotes

One night, screaming that he had been made a fool of he lunged at her with a knife. Eriko, wounded, grabbed a barbell off the bar—it was part of the club’s decor—with both hands and beat him to death. “There!” she said. “Self-defense, that makes us even.” Those were her last words.

Related Characters: Eriko Tanabe (speaker), Eriko’s Stalker / Eriko’s Murderer
Page Number: 44-45
Explanation and Analysis:

She, too, is a very precious child of mine.

Related Characters: Eriko Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai, Yuichi Tanabe
Page Number: 53
Explanation and Analysis:

For an instant I had a vision of Eriko’s smiling face, and my heart turned over. I felt an urge to get moving. It looked to me like the kitchen had not been used in quite a while. It was somewhat dirty and dark. I began to clean. I scrubbed the sink with scouring powder, wiped off the burners, washed the dishes, sharpened the knives. I washed and bleached all the dish towels and while watching them go round and round in the dryer I realized that I had become calmer.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Eriko Tanabe
Related Symbols: Kitchens
Page Number: 56
Explanation and Analysis:

Nothing, nothing at all has any flavor for me know.

Related Characters: Yuichi Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai, Eriko Tanabe
Page Number: 76
Explanation and Analysis:

I realized that the world did not exist for my benefit. It followed that the ratio of pleasant to unpleasant things around me would not change. It wasn’t up to me. It was clear that the best thing to do was to adopt a sort of muddled cheerfulness.

Related Characters: Eriko Tanabe (speaker), Mikage Sakurai, Yuichi’s Biological Mother
Page Number: 81
Explanation and Analysis:

The endless sea was shrouded in darkness. I could see the shadowy forms of gigantic, rugged crags against which the waves were crashing. While watching them I felt a strange, sweet sadness. In the biting air I told myself, there will be so much pleasure, so much suffering. With or without Yuichi. The beacon of a faraway lighthouse revolved. It turned its light toward me, then turned away, forming a pathway of light on the waves. Nodding to myself, my nose dripping, I returned to my room.

Related Characters: Mikage Sakurai (speaker), Yuichi Tanabe, Eriko Tanabe
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis: