🍡 SWEET BEAN PASTE by Durian Sukegawa – A Poignant & Delicious Slice of Life 🍃 | ⭐ 3.5/5

⚠️ Trigger Warnings

Illness (leprosy/Hansen’s disease)
Death
Ableism / social stigma
Mental illness & depression
Suicidal ideation
Substance use (drugs & alcohol)

📝 Initial Thoughts

The thing about so-called “feel good” books is that they can swing wildly between excellent and meh depending on when you pick them up. This book is a perfect example. Sweet Bean Paste is gentle, bittersweet, and ultimately about the meaning of life, but the middle did drag for me.

That said, the writing about food is chef’s kiss (or should I say… dorayaki’s kiss 🥞). I started this book indifferent to bean-filled pancakes and ended up drooling like Pavlov’s dog. If you’ve ever had a good dorayaki, you know exactly what I mean.

I appreciated the surprisingly emotional information on Japan’s leprosy colonies — I had no idea people were forced to live in sanatoriums indefinitely, even after being cured. That part stuck with me.

My rating: ⭐ 3.5/5, but in a different time or mood, this could easily have been a 5.

🚨 Spoiler Warning: Full Plot Summary Below!

If you haven’t read the book and want to go in fresh, stop here and grab a dorayaki 🍡. Otherwise, let’s dive in.

📖 Overview: A Gentle Story of Sweet Bean Paste and Second Chances

Originally published in Japan as An (2013), Sweet Bean Paste is a work of literary fiction by Japanese author Durian Sukegawa, translated into English by Alison Watts. It’s set in Tokyo and at a leprosarium, following Sentaro, a man stuck in debt and disillusionment, and Tokue, an elderly woman with a mysterious past and a magical touch with adzuki beans.

🧍‍♂️ Meet Sentaro: Ex-Con, Failed Writer, Pancake Flipper

Sentaro Tsujii runs Doraharu, a tiny dorayaki shop, as a way to pay off his debts to the owner (his late boss’s widow). He’s not exactly passionate — he uses store-bought bean paste and does the bare minimum. His big dream? To be a writer. But for now, he’s stuck flipping pancakes.

Enter Tokue Yoshii, a 76-year-old woman with partially paralyzed hands and face, who keeps showing up asking for a job. At first, Sentaro brushes her off, worried about her age and appearance.

Then he tastes her homemade sweet bean paste.
💥 Life changed. 💥

The flavor is so astonishingly good that he hires her on the spot (albeit in the back kitchen only). Tokue starts coming in at the crack of dawn to soak, cook, and “listen” to the beans — a slow, reverent process that gives the paste its magic.

🍡 Business Booms — Until the Stigma Hits

The shop starts thriving thanks to Tokue’s bean-based wizardry. Customers notice the improvement, and even the local schoolgirls love it. Tokue bonds with Wakana, a quiet teen with a difficult home life, and gives her misshapen dorayaki for free.

But as Tokue becomes more visible to customers, rumors begin. The shop owner learns that Tokue once lived in a leprosy sanatorium. Despite Tokue being long cured and non-contagious, prejudice runs deep. She pressures Sentaro to fire Tokue or risk the business.

Tokue, ever graceful, resigns herself to leaving. Sentaro researches the disease and learns the truth, but he feels powerless to fight the stigma. Business crumbles without her. Sentaro spirals into depression.

🌸 A Visit to Tokue’s Past

Wakana shows up after running away from home, confessing that she accidentally started the rumors. Together, she and Sentaro visit Tokue at Tenshoen National Sanatorium, where Tokue has lived since childhood.

She tells her life story:

Contracted leprosy as a child
Forcibly taken from her family and given a new name
Lived decades in isolation, married a fellow patient
Joined the “Confectionery Group,” making sweets to bring joy to others

She teaches Sentaro about “listening” — truly paying attention to the world around you, including beans. 🍃

💔 Loss, Legacy, and a Salty Dorayaki

Sentaro tries to keep the shop going with new recipes, inspired by Tokue’s advice (including a brilliant sweet-and-salty combination), but the owner decides to convert the place into a savory pancake shop. Sentaro quits.

He falls into despair, haunted by Tokue’s kindness. One night, he dreams of young Tokue serving him cherry blossom tea — salty and fragrant — and wakes up with renewed purpose.

When he returns to visit Tokue with Wakana, they discover she has died of pneumonia just ten days earlier. 🥀 Miss Moriyama, Tokue’s friend, gives them her final letter.

Tokue’s final message?

“All beings are born to see and listen to the world, and that alone gives their existence meaning.”

They plant a cherry sapling in her honor. Beneath the full moon, Sentaro, Wakana, and Miss Moriyama reflect on her quiet but profound legacy. 🌕🌸

🌟 Final Thoughts

Sweet Bean Paste is quiet and bittersweet, like cherry blossoms in the rain. It didn’t fully grab me in the middle (I found it slow), but the themes of dignity, craft, and connection linger beautifully. It’s a gentle read that could hit harder depending on your mood or season of life.

And seriously… prepare snacks.

⭐ 3.5/5, but with the right mindset, easily a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.

📚 You Might Also Like

If you enjoyed Sweet Bean Paste, try these:

🍵 Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi — time travel + emotions = tears.
🌸 Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata — quirky, quiet, existential.
🧁 The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang — short, allegorical, and surprisingly moving.

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