The place I like best in this world is the kitchen...White tile catching the light (ting! ting!).
In the first paragraph of the novella, the narrator already emphasizes her love for kitchens. Her description of a perfect kitchen as a bright place with the onomatopoeia of bright sounds is an indication of her equally bright, cheerful, and playful nature. A kitchen is a powerful symbol of comfort and security, as well as one that represents the coming together of people through food. Mikage isn't exactly a "people person" in an extroverted sense, but she uses food to show her small circle of loved ones that she cares.
"Or pick a room, then I'll know what kind of person you are...A lot of people would say you learn a lot from the toilet."
Yuichi is welcoming to Mikage when she first comes over, but he is also disarmingly frank. He acknowledges that people love to learn all of the prurient details about other people's lives, which is why he offers to let her choose the room she wants to see on her "tour." He suggests the bathroom, a common place for people to look for the illuminating details of the residents whose place they are inspecting—medications, grooming tools, signature scents, sexual accessories, etc. Mikage, however, knows that she can learn a lot more about someone through their kitchen, and, unsurprisingly, chooses that room to peruse. When she falls in love with it, it is clear to the reader that she is accepting being part of Eriko and Yuichi's life.
"Thanks for mopping it for me."
After realizing that Mikage and Yuichi had the same dream about her old kitchen, she thanks Yuichi for cleaning it up. This is a key passage in the story, as it symbolizes Yuichi's efforts of helping Mikage get over the death of her grandmother and focus on a more promising future. Furthermore, the realization that the two had elements of the same dream is improbable, miraculous, and prescient of their growing closeness.
"If a person hasn't ever experienced true despair, she grows old never knowing how to evaluate where she is in life; never understanding what joy really is."
Eriko explains to Mikage that hopelessness, sadness, and grief are essential to a happy life, as they help one see the world from a more objective perspective. Without despair, one would never question their life and discover new and more fruitful paths for the future. It is not surprising that Eriko and Mikage enjoy each other so much, for both seem to have a similar worldview. Mikage also understands that life is short, that death is around any corner, and that choosing to live is something people must consciously do in order to find meaning.
"Everyone we love is dying. Still, to cease living is unacceptable."
This quote sums up Mikage's attitude toward life. Even though she has lost her entire family and the nurturing Eriko, she displays an innate strength and will to continue living. Yoshimoto takes care not to make Mikage a saint, however: she still has dark thoughts, still needs a break from the stresses of life, and still wonders if everything is going to turn out okay. Unlike Yuichi, though, she ultimately decides that she will not be defeated and that life is worth living—it takes Yuichi a little longer to get to that point.
And some of us will inevitably find ourselves rolling around in a puddle on some strange roof in a strange place with a takeout katsudon in the middle of winter, looking up at the night sky, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Yoshimoto defies some traditional gender norms in Kitchen. While it may be possible to entertain for a second that Mikage is a traditional representation of a "crazy" woman in her pursuit of Yuichi to his inn, that assessment does not stand up to scrutiny. Rather, it is more important what she is not: she is not a damsel in distress, she is not meekly waiting for Yuichi to come around, she is not trying to use her feminine wiles to seduce him, and she does not stake her entire identity on whether or not he wants to be with her. She is the one rescuing him, but not in a completely self-abnegating way; it is clear that Mikage will be fine without Yuichi if he does not choose her.
Truly happy memories always live on, shining. Over time, one by one, they come back to life.
In this beautiful, brief line, Yoshimoto shows how people can continue to live their lives even though they have experienced loss because they are able to conjure up memories. Some memories fade, yes, but many are easily recalled and can bring a bittersweetness to the person doing the remembering. Mikage knows the memories of her time with Yuichi and Eriko will not go away and, indeed, will remain between her and Yuichi as long as they are both living. Memories unite people, and Mikage is telling Yuichi that not only does she value their past memories, but she wants to create new ones with him as well.
Until only recently, the light that bathed the now-empty apartment had contained the smells of our life there.
Like Proust's famous madeleine, Mikage often goes on a journey of memory that is incited by her senses. This is a very recognizably human thing to do, of course, and readers will sympathize with Mikage as she surveys the now empty and sterile place that once housed the smells, sounds, objects, and memories of her life with her grandmother. Later in the novel, Mikage also realizes that Eriko's perfume will soon fade away from the letter to Yuichi. Mikage is a young woman prone to nostalgia and she does not ignore the sensory reminders of her past; this helps her grieve in a way that does not necessitate forgetting about the people she loved.
But I'm not free, I realized; I've been touched by Yuichi's soul. How much easier it would be to stay away forever.
Although Mikage is a brave, optimistic young woman who consistently chooses life over suffering, she is still a human being who feels deeply and who often wishes she could escape the various things that plague her. She has endured the death of her grandmother and then the death of Eriko, transitioning between several homes, and the confusion that is her relationship with Yuichi, all of which makes it very understandable that the life she envisions for herself while in Izu—travel, new experiences, freedom—is attractive. However, she also knows that it is the relationships we forge with other people that gives life its meaning, and she is yoked to Yuichi. She will not choose the easier path of escape but will instead do what she can to nourish the relationship.
Yuichi and I are climbing a narrow ladder in the jet-black gloom. Together we peer into the cauldron of hell.
This is one of the most potent images in the text, for Mikage and Yuichi are literally standing on the edge of hell, staring down into the terrifying abyss. Instead of holding hands and seeking succor from each other, they remain stolidly independent and alone. This is the future Mikage fears; this is the future she thinks Yuichi is inadvertently choosing for himself.
