However, this is only half of the book’s appeal. Of course, the readers are immersed into Japanese aesthetics appreciated through cooking processes and Japanese take-away business arrangements, not to mention all the lovely Japanese environment with beautiful trees blossoming. It also a book that has more depth and philosophy to it than it appears at first. Sweet Bean Paste is not a long book by any measure and, with its short chapters, it reads in one breath. Each person can contribute something to this world if others are willing to listen, learn and accept.

It is a quietly beautiful book with the message of coming to terms with history, accepting people and recognising their talents no matter how small they may appear. Sweet Bean Paste is also so much more than a book about Japanese culinary delights and culture. What follows is a touching human story filled with the passion for food and the importance of appreciating small pleasures in life. However, Sentaro also tastes the bean paste cooked by Tokue and he is amazed by the flavours she can produce. When an elderly woman Tokue approaches his shop and asks to work there, Sentaro first thinks it is a joke. This book, translated from the Japanese by Alison Watts (see also the film trailer here), tells a story of Sentaro, a middle-aged man who spends his time unenthusiastically selling dorayaki, a kind of pancake filled with sweet bean paste, to customers at the Doraharu shop, while consuming alcoholic drinks in his spare time. A mellow, sweet taste unfurled inside Sentaro’s mouth”. Unlike the ready-made paste, this was the smell of fresh, living beans. “ The aroma seemed to leap up at him, as if it were alive, racing through his nose to the back of his head.

Sweet bean paste book