Down a backstreet in a quiet area of Kyoto, a cat named Drowsy lounges outside a nondescript building. Inside that building is the Kamogawa Diner, where patrons are not just able to enjoy a superbly presented bento box of local culinary delights but are also able to call on the food-related detective skills of the father-daughter duo, Nagare and Koishi Kamogawa. This wonderful novel is written in six parts, each following the journey of a client wanting Nagare to recreate a dish from their past. There is an obvious nostalgic element reminiscent of Proust’s madeleines but this book – like a Japanese garden – is both simpler and more complex than that.

Each section follows a similar pattern: a patron is directed to the hard-to-find diner where Nagare surprises them with a delectable bento box before Koishi asks for details of the dish the client wishes to recreate. There is an emotional attachment to each dish that relocates the client at a critical juncture in their past. Keiko Fujikawa needs Nagare to recreate the Ten-Don (tempura rice dish) that she had when her career trajectory looked stratospheric, to remind her that she wasn’t the failure she imagined herself to be. Katsuji Onodera wants to taste the ramen he had as a student to rediscover his artistic past.

Kashiwai intricately details every Kamogawa bento box, focusing on locally sourced Kyoto produce. The variety delivered in each instance is astounding. This book is so emotionally uplifting and tantalisingly mouth-watering, that the only disappointment is that the Kamogawa Diner doesn’t exist.

Reviewed by Bob Moore

Read a book review of The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hisashi Kashiwai was born in 1952 and was raised in Kyoto. He graduated from Osaka Dental University. After graduating, he returned to Kyoto and worked as a dentist. He has written extensively about his native city and has collaborated in TV programs and magazines.