Bananas. Kitchen caused such a sensation in Japan that the press dubbed the public’s obsession with Yoshimoto’s writing “bananamania.” Yoshimoto chose the quirky pen name “Banana” because she likes banana flowers and thought it was cute and androgynous. In a subtle allusion to Yoshimoto’s pen name, Kitchen’s protagonist Mikage is gifted a cute glass with a banana motif part way through the story.

Pop Culture. Yoshimoto often references Japanese and American pop culture in her writing, giving her stories a young, cosmopolitan feel. Kitchen’s pop culture references include the Charlie Brown comics, the American television show Bewitched, and a 1980s Japanese pop song.