Abstract

The fourth volume in a beloved essay series by a self-proclaimed “food aristocrat” who pursues her culinary ideals with stubborn flair. Now in her forties, the author continues to explore life’s many “firsts” through the lens of food, blending humor, honesty, and a sharp sense of taste.

This volume features a rich variety of episodes: a bamboo-wrapped rice ball on the day of the Naoki Prize screening (“Waiting Party, Once Again”); a nerve-wracking BBQ with her partner’s family (“Summer Vacation Firsts”); overcoming her dislike of fatty meat (“Meat Flower Field”); a stray cat curled up on her knees (“The Merry Stray Cat”); intense Disneyland prep for her niece (“Princess and Knight Training”); and a culinary journey through Vienna with Kaiserschmarrn and Tafelspitz (“Place of Rest”).

With wit and warmth, the author reflects on food as a mirror of emotion, memory, and identity. Her essays question what it means to choose freely what we eat—shaped by desire, habit, and sometimes sheer stubbornness.

Book 1: The Wicked Foods (978-4-8342-5325-2)
Book 2: The 'Shitsukoku' Wicked Foods (978-4-8342-5343-6)
Book 3: The 'Koriduni' Wicked Foods (978-4-8342-5365-8)
Book 4: The 'Namimano' Wicked Foods (978-4-8342-5400-6)

Author’s Information

Born in Hokkaido in 1979. Spent most of his elementary school years in Africa. Graduated from the Faculty of Literature at Ritsumeikan University. Made his debut in 2008 with "Iogami (Fish God)," which won the Subaru Prize for New Writers. The same work won the Izumi Kyoka Literature Prize in 2009, the Shima Kiyoshi Romance Literature Prize in 2013 for "Atokata," the Watanabe Junichi Literature Prize in 2021 for "Tōmei yoru no kaori" (The scent of transparent night), and the 168th Naoki Prize in 2011 for "Shirogane no ha." His novels include "Otoko tomodachi," "Griffith no kizu," and "Kaminari to hashi," and his essays include the "bad food" series.