Sladká fazolová pasta – Sukegawa Durian (2025)

Sweet Bean Paste is a charming story about friendship, love, and loneliness in contemporary Japan.

Sentaró has failed. He has a criminal record, reaches for alcohol too often, and his dream of becoming a writer has long faded. He spends his days in a small shop selling dorayaki – Japanese pancakes filled with sweet bean paste. His life flows monotonously, with only the blooming cherry blossoms reminding him of the passage of time.

Everything changes when Tokue, an old woman with twisted fingers and a troubling past, enters his life. Tokue prepares the best sweet bean paste that Sentaró has ever tasted and begins to initiate him into the secrets of her craft. As their friendship blossoms, societal pressures emerge that cannot be faced, revealing Tokue's dark secret, which brings devastating consequences.

Sweet Bean Paste is a poignant novel about the weight of the past and the redemptive power of friendship. Durian Sukegawa's work speaks to readers around the world with its beautiful language.