![]() ![]() Though in fact cousins, Maria and Tsugumi grew up as part of a very close-knit family and suffered all the frustrations and animosity two sisters are often left with no choice but to suffer, with the added handicap of a disease which Tsugumi was born with. Set in a sleepy seaside town, this novel explores not the love of a mother or a spouse, but the kind of love that tests all the patience we have in our youth: sisters. That’s not a bad thing.” Love in All its FormsĪ year after the release of Kitchen came the publication of Goodbye Tsugumi. What I mean by ‘their happiness’ is living a life untouched as much as possible by the knowledge that we are really all if us, alone. Which is better? Who can say? Everyone lives the way she knows best. ![]() ![]() But therefore they could never know real joy. They had been taught, probably by caring parents, not to exceed the boundaries of their happiness regardless of what they were doing. Love leaves its mark on every single one of her stories. ![]() Looking at the dedication Eriko has for her son, and the steps she has taken to ensure a good upbringing for him, the value Yoshimoto places on love in all of its forms is plain to see. This embracing of a trans character (especially one not defined by being trans, thus avoiding becoming a two-dimensional token minority character) would be seen as a hugely progressive step today, let alone thirty years ago, and Eriko’s very existence is the perfect demonstration of the importance of Yoshimoto as an artistic voice in today’s Japan. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |