ヨシモトオノ

by Banana Yoshimoto, 吉本 ばなな

Japanese edition

216 pages

Published May 23, 2025

About the author

Banana Yoshimoto (よしもと ばなな or 吉本 ばなな) is the pen name of Mahoko Yoshimoto (吉本 真秀子), a Japanese contemporary writer. She writes her name in hiragana. (See also 吉本芭娜娜 (Chinese).)

Along with having a famous father, poet Takaaki Yoshimoto, Banana's sister, Haruno Yoiko, is a well-known cartoonist in Japan. Growing up in a liberal family, she learned the value of independence from a young age.

She graduated from Nihon University's Art College, majoring in Literature. During that time, she took the pseudonym "Banana" after her love of banana flowers, a name she recognizes as both "cute" and "purposefully androgynous."

Despite her success, Yoshimoto remains a down-to-earth and obscure figure. Whenever she appears in public she eschews make-up and dresses simply. She keeps her personal life guarded, and reveals little about her certified Rolfing practitioner, Hiroyoshi Tahata and son (born in 2003). Instead, she talks about her writing. Each day she takes half an hour to write at her computer, and she says, "I tend to feel guilty because I write these stories almost for fun."

Reviews

[Marika · Rating 4 out of 5]

new Yoshimoto who cheered! again, the stories are really short which isn’t my fav and they really don’t stick. There were 2, 3 stories (I liked 光+最良の事故物件) that were impressionable but I’ve alr forgotten the rest. that being said I think this is a very Yoshimoto book, capturing her deeply spiritual side. She writes sooo well that I’m forced to think these eerie supernatural occurrences must be real. I’m also warmed by her illustration of special but not deeply intimate relationships between characters(people you care abt and think of occasionally but wouldn’t go above and beyond for). I think it’s very nuanced and couldn’t be explained better by anyone else tho I didn’t find it to be particularly relatable