[Summary] Last Recipe ~Kirin no Shita no Kioku~
This is my very first summary/review post, so forgive me if it may be difficult to follow at times. I needed a place to summarise my thoughts on Last Recipe. I would really love to translate this entire novel for more people to read if I could, but unfortunately I'm not confident I can take on such a big project alone, not to mention the amount of time required. So instead (for now at least), I'll just be summarising the plot and differences between the two versions. This post is mostly for my own purposes to reflect on this amazing story, but I hope it'll be of help to those who are interested in seeing what differed - and hopefully convince those of you who are tempted to read it do so if/when it's possible. This post will also probably more centralised on the plot of the book and comments on how the movie differentiated. Needless to say, this summary post will contain MAJOR SPOILERS from both the novel and movie, so please take this chance to close the tab and escape while you can if you're not ready for them.
I would also like to mention that both versions of Last Recipe was captivating in their own ways. I read the novel first before watching the movie and still found the twists and turns of the movie which differed from the novel entertaining. I have read Japanese tweets suggesting that it would probably be advisable to watch the movie before reading the novel for a better experience, and I largely agree from my own experiences. However, in some sense, I was probably able to enjoy an even more magical experience when I was reading the book, as I was immersed in a completely new universe for the first time. Like I said though, the book and movie had its differences which makes them both worth a shot because you're likely to be in for a pleasant surprise at the unexpected turns at certain parts in the story. Again, there will definitely be SPOILERS from here on, so I will remind those reading once again to close this tab before it's too late if you want to avoid them.
[愚か者にとって老年は冬、賢者にとって老年は黄金期]Synopsis
Sasaki works as a lone chef who cooks the last meal of his clients' lives in exchange for large sums of money. The main reason he's able to do so is due to his exceptional "Qilin tongue," which allows him to recreate any dish after he's tasted it once. Sasaki is brought over to Beijing by a client called You Seimei one day, who asks him to search for The Great Japanese Imperial Feast's recipe by a genius chef, Yamagata Naotaro.
Characters
Novel * = only appears in the novel
Present
Sasaki Mitsuru (Sasaki Michiru): A man of present day Japan who possesses an extraordinary ability to recreate any dish he's tasted once before. Due to his perfectionist tendencies, the restaurant he opened up eventually closed down and he was forced into debt. Since then, he takes on clients' requests to create memorable dishes as their last meal in exchange for large sums of money to repay his debt.
Yanagizawa Ken: Sasaki's childhood friend and adoptive brother. They grew up together in an orphanage in Hokkaido called Suzuran-en.
You Seimei: A Chinese man who worked as Naotaro's assistant when creating the Great Japanese Imperial Feast.
Yamagata Sachi: Yamagata Naotaro and Chizu's daughter.
Ryu Taisei: You's secretary.
*Junko: Sachi's relative who takes care of Sachi's health. Her mother was Sachi's cousin.
David Gutenberg: Joseph's son. He continued to take care of Naotaro's "winter" recipe, kitchen knife and written letter after his father died.
*Ohsato Saburo: The headmaster of Suzuran-en.
*Ohsato Yukari: The current headmistress of Suzuran-en. Saburo's daughter.
*Yamagata Kinuyo: Sachi's aunt.
Shiozaki Shizue: Kintaro's wife.
Past
Yamagata Naotaro: A genius chef who is brought to Manchuria by orders of the Japanese army and ordered to produce The Great Japanese Imperial Feast. He too possesses the ability to recreate any dish he's tasted once before.
Yamagata Chizu: Naotaro's wife and Sachi's mother.
Miyake Taizo: Kwantung Army's colonel (later major general).
Joseph Gutenberg: A Russian Jewish man who became Naotaro's close friend. Later entrusted with Naotaro's "winter" recipe, kitchen knife and letter when Naotaro was chased by the Kwantung army.
Shiozaki Kintaro: Naotaro's colleague.
*Yuki Soichi: Chizu remarries him as her second husband upon returning back to Japan. A chef who worked to create the dishes from Naotaro's recipes which Chizu had brought back to Japan.
Movie ** = only in the movie
Present
Sasaki Mitsuru (Sasaki Michiru): A man of present day Japan who possesses an extraordinary ability to recreate any dish he's tasted once before. Due to his perfectionist tendencies, the restaurant he opened up eventually closed down and he was forced into debt. Since then, he takes on clients' requests to create memorable dishes as their last meal in exchange for large sums of money to repay his debt.
Yanagizawa Ken: Sasaki's childhood friend and adoptive brother. They grew up together in an orphanage in Hokkaido called Suzuran-en.
You Seimei: A Chinese man who worked as Naotaro's assistant when creating the Great Japanese Imperial Feast.
Yamagata Sachi: Yamagata Naotaro and Chizu's daughter.
**Kamata Shotaro: Worked as Naotaro's assistant together with You. He was a spy for the Kwantung Army to ensure Naotaro followed their orders.
Ryu Taisei: You's secretary.
David Gutenberg: Joseph's son. He continued to take care of Naotaro's recipe and written letter after his father died.
Shiozaki Shizue: Kintaro's wife.
**Suzuki Taichi: Chef Suzuki's son. He was the headmaster of Suzuran-en.
Past
Yamagata Naotaro: A genius chef who is brought to Manchuria by orders of the Japanese army and ordered to produce The Great Japanese Imperial Feast. He too possesses the ability to recreate any dish he's tasted once before.
Yamagata Chizu: Naotaro's wife and Sachi's mother.
Miyake Taizo: Kwantung Army's colonel (later major general).
Joseph Gutenberg: A Russian Jewish man who became Naotaro's close friend. Later entrusted with Naotaro's recipe and letter when Naotaro was chased by the Kwantung army.
**Chef Suzuki: Worked in the kitchen beside Naotaro's.
Shiozaki Kintaro: Naotaro's colleague.
Novel
The novel is set in two time periods, present-day Japan in the year 2014 and Manchuria in the 1930s-1940s.
The story starts off with Sasaki Mitsuru attending Shu Saigi's funeral in the present. Shu was Sasaki's client whom he created the Shimazu-tei omelette for, as requested by Shu's wife, Yoshiko. Soon after the funeral, Sasaki is called by a Chinese man who he later finds out to be Ryu Taisei and is brought over to Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse to meet You Seimei. You explains that he was at Shu's funeral and heard about Sasaki and his abilities from Yoshiko, deciding to hire Sasaki to recreate Yamagata Naotaro's creation, The Great Japanese Imperial Feast, by getting him to search for it. In exchange, You agrees to pay Sasaki 500 million yen, which is the remaining amount debt he has left from closing down his shop. Sasaki reluctantly agrees and sets out to search for clues. Eventually, he meets Shiozaki Shizue, who confirms Chizu's return to Japan with Sachi after the war. She then redirects him to Naotaro's relative in Yamanaka Hot Springs, Yamagata Kinuyo. Kinuyo explains how after Chizu's death, Sachi was left as an orphan to live with her other relatives, including their household. Kinuyo's husband respected Naotaro a lot and cared for Sachi like his own child. However, Kinuyo was jealous towards Sachi as she felt her husband cared for her more than for his own son. There was also theft soon after Sachi joined their neighbourhood, so as an excuse to pin her as "bad luck," Sachi was ultimately chased out of their home. Sasaki gains clues to contact Sachi after finding out her phone number and eventually is guided by Junko to meet her at her home in Shuzenji. Their first meeting ends in a lot of unanswered questions, and hearing Sachi's hostility towards You raises Sasaki's suspicions towards his client. Sachi's health deteriorates midway through their meeting and Sasaki is sent home. On a later day, he tries to contact the same phone number but does not get through, hence his decision to commute to Sachi's home himself. He finds out from Junko that Sachi had been hospitalised and visits her to wish her well. The distance between Sasaki and Sachi closes as he displays his genuine wishes to help her and understand the truth behind the recipe. They arrange a date for their next meeting back at Shuzenji, where Sasaki decides to cook her soft shelled turtle soup before hearing about Sachi's perspective of Naotaro's story.
Naotaro moved to Manchuria in the 1930s with his newlywed wife, Chizu, following the orders of the Japanese Imperial Army. Upon arrival, he is ordered by Miyake Taizo to create The Great Japanese Imperial Feast, the number of dishes surpassing the Manchu Han Imperial Feast. He is introduced to You, who lived in together with Naotaro and Chizu. You initially closed himself off to Naotaro due to national differences, but Naotaro's ideals regarding food and cooking as a place for equal ground convinced You of his spirit as a cook. They worked together to create the Great Japanese Imperial Feast consisting of spring, summer, autumn and winter sections. As they continued throughout the years, Chizu gave birth to Sachi and the four of them lived happily together. However, Naotaro is called by Miyake one day and chased You out, claiming that You was a spy against the Japanese army. Even after You left, Naotaro continued to work on the recipe, even more committed than ever. Chizu sensed Naotaro's change as he neglected his family for work and decided to move back to Japan. When Naotaro violently refused to join, she brought Sachi with her and left. Alone, Naotaro worked on his recipe despite the source of ingredients growing scarcer due to the ongoing war. Due to the scarcity of ingredients, he started growing his own vegetable garden under the kitchen. 3 years later, Chizu returned to an overworked Naotaro in Manchuria with Sachi and managed to convince him to leave with her to Japan the next day. On the day of their departure, Naotaro handed Chizu his "autumn" recipe and informed her to leave first to the station and wait while he completed his unfinished business. Chizu initially waited, but unable to bear any longer, returned to their home in Harbin, only to find the house ransacked and Naotaro dead underground. Chizu searches for the recipes but only finds the summer recipe. Unable to find the "spring" and "winter" recipes in their usual hiding places, Chizu believed the only other person who was aware of the hiding places, You, as the culprit.
Chizu returned to Japan with Sachi and eventually met Yuki Soichi as she approached him to help her complete Naotaro's hard work. Chizu shared the details regarding The Great Japanese Imperial Feast for the first time with him and they eventually married. Yuki continued to polish his skills upon failing to cook the recipe well and is one day attacked at night while studying the "summer" recipe in the restaurant he managed. The restaurant burned down and the "summer" recipe is stolen by 2 Chinese men, while Yuki is badly injured and unable to live his life as a chef any longer. Depressed by the series of misfortunes the recipe had caused, Chizu took her own life out of despair, leaving Sachi alone.
Back in the present, Sasaki is shown the "autumn" recipe by Sachi and notices a foreign sentence, noting it down. Upon further research, he finds out that Naotaro had written the Jewish proverb, "To a fool, old age is a bitter winter; to a sage, it is a golden time," in Hebrew. Intrigued by the proverb, Sasaki brings Yanagizawa as his interpreter with him to Harbin in order to search for clues at Modern Hotel, which Sachi mentioned she had been brought to as a child. Sasaki has a meal at the hotel and is convinced that the food served was Naotaro's creation. He and Yanagizawa ask the hotel receptionist to contact the director of the hotel and succeed. Sasaki meets with David Gutenberg, who introduces himself as the son of Naotaro's good friend, Joseph Gutenberg.
When Sasaki explains his situation and mentions the proverb, David explains Joseph and Naotaro's meeting. Despite their rough start, Joseph and Naotaro shared many views together and were close friends. On the day Naotaro prepared to leave for Japan, he ran to Modern Hotel to entrust Joseph with his "winter" recipe, his kitchen knife and a letter. Naotaro asked Joseph to hand over his entrusted belongings to whoever uttered the proverb, which Joseph himself had taught Naotaro. Following his father's wishes, David escorted Naotaro near his home, but is told to return to the hotel by Naotaro when David planned to accompany him for longer. Naotaro's died soon after David left.
Sasaki is given Naotaro's entrusted belongings by David and resolves to return them to Sachi back in Japan. Soon after he arrives in Japan, Sasaki receives a call from Ryu who requests Sasaki to convince Sachi to meet up with You. Despite Sasaki's doubts and internal conflict, Sachi tells Sasaki her wishes to meet You in Beijing out of her own volition after receiving Naotaro's belongings and reading his letter during their meeting.
Sasaki accompanies Sachi for her meeting with You. In their meeting, You explains his end of the story, filled with feelings of betrayal and bitter towards Naotaro's removal of him out of baseless claims. He admits to stealing the "spring" recipe from their Harbin home and "summer" recipe from Yuki, but denies killing Naotaro. You explains that he heard Miyake's men murder Naotaro, he himself too late to arrive to the scene.
Sachi extinguishes You's bitterness towards Naotaro as she hands him the Naotaro's apology letter, explaining his reason for chasing You out. Miyake had planned to use Naotaro's Great Japanese Imperial Feast as a means of carrying out a conspiracy act to frame You into being the culprit of a poisoning attempt. Naotaro had chased You out in an attempt to protect him. With the "spring," "summer," "autumn," and "winter" recipes reassembled together, You notices that the recipe books were full of Chizu and Sachi's favourite dishes. He explains to Sachi and Sasaki that Naotaro must have rewritten the Great Japanese Imperial Feast with his family in mind instead of the emperor. With an emotional wrap up to the mystery from the 1930s, You further explains to Sachi and Sasaki his reasons to hire Sasaki. He reveals investigating Sasaki's background in Suzuran-en which corresponded to Sachi's own child, Michiru, whom she had to let go of upon divorcing with her husband, who died soon after their divorce. Falling into depression, she was unable to take care of her son and left him in the care of an orphanage. Upon mother and son reuniting, Sasaki decides to cook her his soft shelled turtle soup one more time before she passes away.
Sasaki returns to Suzuran-en in Hokkaido and reflects on his family history. He later finds out from the headmaster's daughter, Ohsato Yukari, that Sachi had left a recipe book with the orphanage when she entrusted him to the headmaster, which had the variety of foods that inspired Yanagizawa and himself to become chefs.
At a later date, we learn that Sasaki has opened his own restaurant in Tokyo called "食幸・むら多."
Movie
At the beginning of the movie, Sasaki Mitsuru's childhood friend and adoptive brother, Yanagizawa Ken, calls him from the funeral of Suzuki Taichi, their adoptive father and orphanage headmaster. The call ends in a disagreement as Sasaki coldly rejects Yanagizawa's request to come to the funeral due to Sasaki and the headmaster's strained relationship.
Sasaki is seen creating a meal for a bedridden client in hospital in the next scene. Afterwards, he is contacted by a client in Beijing. Sasaki is brought over to Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse by Ryu Taisei to meet his client, You Seimei. You asks Sasaki to search The Great Japanese Imperial Feast recipe by a genius chef, Yamagata Naotaro. Sasaki finds his way to Kamata Shotaro, who worked as one of Naotaro's assistant together with You and hears the story behind Naotaro's life in Manchuria.
Similar to the novel, Naotaro was sent with Chizu to Manchuria to create the Great Japanese Imperial Feast. However, in the movie Kamata is with them, and with the addition of You, they worked on the recipe together. Naotaro's perfectionism prevented him from truly connecting with You and Kamata. With Chizu's help, they overcame the barrier between them and developed the production of the recipe. However, Chizu died of childbirth one day, leaving Naotaro to raise Sachi alone.
Back in the present, Kamata stops his storytelling and instead urges Sasaki to meet the son of Naotaro's good friend, David Gutenberg. From David, Sasaki hears the continuation to Naotaro's story. Naotaro met David's father, Joseph Gutenberg, after Chizu's death. Although Joseph was initially unwilling to help Naotaro out in a festival where Naotaro is the chef, he eventually became a good friend of his. When Naotaro was in trouble, he entrusted his recipe and letter to Joseph and asked him to give it to You. However, David also mentions that he witnessed Naotaro chase You out and claim that he was a spy. Still overwhelmed with unanswered questions, Sasaki returns to meet You, where You explains the contents of the Naotaro's letter. Similar to the novel, Miyake conspired to frame You, leading to Naotaro's decision to chase You out. However, in the movie, Kamata also plays a role as a spy for the Kwantung Army. Entrusting Chef Suzuki with Sachi, Naotaro rebels against Miyake and chooses to be killed, despite being given the chance by Kamata to escape in order to protect Kamata. You professes that he returned the recipe back to Sachi before she died after protecting the recipe from a fire. Sachi's son was sent to Suzuran-en which Chef Suzuki's son, Suzuki Taichi, managed. Understanding the connection between himself and Naotaro as grandson and grandfather, Sasaki is told that Yanagizawa had planned this revelation in order to convince him to return to Suzuran-en for Taichi's sake.
Sasaki soon returns to Suzuran-en and learns the reason for Taichi's disapproval of Sasaki's decision to become a chef. Taichi explains his disapproval as originating from his desire to prevent Sasaki from involving himself with the recipe that had produced a series of misfortunes. Upon understanding Taichi's actions, Sasaki seemingly comes to terms with himself.
In the final scene, it's hinted that Sasaki opened up his own shop (which he explicitly did in the novel) and no longer exhibited his previous inability to trust others, just as Naotaro had overcome his shortcomings.
Main differences between the novel and movie:
- Sachi plays a much larger role in the novel. She is the one Sasaki meets up numerous times with in order to hear Naotaro's story in Manchuria instead of Kamata. In fact, Kamata is a character that only appears in the movie.
- You does not find out about Naotaro's true intentions to protect him until the very end in the novel, when Sachi and Mitsuru bring him Naotaro's letter which was kept at Gutenberg's Modern Hotel. One of his main reasons of wanting to attain the recipe is that he felt that it was his right as a co-creator of it.
- The recipe itself was split up into 4 separate books in the novel: spring, summer, autumn, winter. This meant that there were multiple characters whom Naotaro had entrusted parts of the recipe to.
- Chizu does not die of childbirth in the novel. She lives on after Naotaro's death to return to Japan with Sachi. She believed that You was the culprit behind Naotaro's death and influenced Sachi to believe the same.
- Another reason why Chizu believed that You was guilty was because the man she remarried, Yuki Soichi, was badly burned in a fire which resulted in the summer recipe being stolen by Chinese culprits. This later turns out to be true, but the damage beyond You's intentions.
- Sachi lived a life full of hardship throughout her youth after her mother's death. She was entrusted to various relative's homes and never really belonged. Her uncle (Naotaro's younger brother) loved her a lot, but she was chased out by her aunt after the robbery incident. Her marriage ended in divorce and she succumbed to mental illness, leading her to give up Michiru to the orphanage. In the movie, she died in a fire after rushing in to protect her father's recipe.
- Instead of Yanagizawa, You was the one who planned to involve Sasaki in the search for the recipe in the novel. He wanted to reunite Sachi with Sasaki as mother and son in regrets of making Sachi live a miserable life after hurting Yuki, which led to Chizu's own suicide.
(Disclaimer: this list is NOT exhaustive and there are many more other minor changes as well)
Personal Thoughts
Unlike the movie, where the past was essentially all revealed in the middle, the novel switches between the present and past continuously. Despite that, Tanaka Keiichi's writing style, together with the shrouded mysteries which compelled me to continue, made it an easy read. The way the scenes were crafted, how Tanaka illustrates Mitsuru's growth as a character as he involves himself with the recipe is spectacular. Each character has their own flaws, whether it'd be hatred or arrogance, and Tanaka portrays them to be hugely human and likeable. The scenes that personally hit me the most were Naotaro's death scene, where Chizu and Sachi find him too late and the revelation scene when You finds out about Naotaro's letter and true intentions by chasing him out. Tanaka did such a good job in portraying You's regrets and emotions. The way he wrapped loose ties between Sasaki and Sachi was also seamless. From start to finish, I was constantly trying to find time to read the continuation and finished it in 1 month or so just with around 30 mins-1 hour reading per day.
The changes to the plot in the movie adaptation honestly surprised me at times, but I strongly agree with their changes considering how much more long winded and potentially rushed the movie would have otherwise been. The staff did an amazing job with wrapping the story up in their own way, to the extent where I would probably not realised the fact that the original plot differed quite significantly at times if I had not read the novel beforehand. Although I would have to admit that I was personally much more invested in the novel, the movie definitely shone in its own way. The cinematography was also something I really enjoyed (with the limited knowledge I have of it), and I really found the last scene showing a parallel between the past and present era chefs a particularly breathtaking way to end the movie.
All in all, Last Recipe has had a huge impact on me, and is sure to stay with me for a long, long time.
Please be aware that my summary is not perfect (I am trying to simplify things so some small details may be omitted). Tanaka's fluid writing style and his storytelling is something that's impossible to capture in a short summary like this. Nevertheless, I hope it increases the interests of those reading this to picking up the novel!