Sweet Bean Paste - Durian Sukegawa

 

Sweet Bean Paste is an absolute masterpiece of a novel and feels like such a hidden gem that deserves more attention and wider discussion. Following Sentaro, an ex-con who now works in a confection shop, and Tokue, an elderly woman whose hands were disfigured by a disease she had as a child. Sentaro works at Doraharu, a confection shop that exclusively sells dorayaki, which is two pancakes with a filling in the middle. Their sales are average to keep them afloat and Sentaro is able to keep paying off his debt to the owner of the shop. But when Tokue enters the shop in search of a job she begins to make the bean paste and sales quickly pick up. However, when the customers begin to notice Tokue’s disfigured hands the sales dip again and the newer customers do not return. Eventually, Tokue and Sentaro decide that is best for the shop if Tokue stops working, but despite this, the popularity of Doraharu’s dorayaki never picks up again, and Sentaro questions which is more important to him: the shop or his friendship with Tokue.

 

This book is a touching experience of how ill people are treated in society. They are often disregarded and when, like Tokue, have their conditions exposed people treat them unfairly and view them as something other than people, as though their disease transcends who they are as people. Despite Tokue being unable to transmit the disease for over 40 years the stigma around her is enough to stop customers from visiting and her having to leave the only job she has ever had. Spending a majority of her life in a sanatorium after being let out Tokue still does not have full freedom from her disease as it is still the first thing that people see. But to Sentaro he sees her for who she is, a person, and a really good chef. The friendship between the two characters is so touching and shows that there will always be people who look past social stigmas surrounding those who are less fortunate. Sukegawa manages to capture the dehumanisation of those inflicted with illness and the importance of those who are willing to break stigmas to give people the chance to live the lives that have been previously denied to them. Sweet Bean Paste is charming, thought-provoking, and reminds the reader that there is still good in the world.