Banana Yoshimoto’s Followers (8,807)

Banana Yoshimoto

Born

in Tokyo, Japan

July 24, 1964

Website

http://www.yoshimotobanana.com

Twitter

y_banana

Genre

Fiction, Contemporary

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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 dre ...more

Combine Editions
Banana Yoshimoto’s books

Average rating: 3.76 · 262,630 ratings · 29,420 reviews · 204 distinct works • Similar authors

	Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, Megan Backus (Translator), Noguchi Rika 3.90 avg rating — 119,770 ratings — published 1988 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto, Michael Emmerich (Translator) 3.77 avg rating — 15,272 ratings — published 1989 — 62 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Goodbye Tsugumi 3.77 avg rating — 14,800 ratings — published 1989 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	N.P by Banana Yoshimoto, Ann Sherif (Translator) 3.55 avg rating — 12,359 ratings — published 1990 — 63 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto, Michael Emmerich (Translator) 3.57 avg rating — 11,314 ratings — published 2005 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lizard 3.74 avg rating — 9,949 ratings — published 1993	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto, Asa Yoneda (Translator) 3.38 avg rating — 9,779 ratings — published 1988 — 26 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dead-End Memories: Stories by Banana Yoshimoto, Asa Yoneda (Translator) 3.90 avg rating — 8,256 ratings — published 2003 — 33 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Amrita by Banana Yoshimoto, Russell F. Wasden (Translator) 3.63 avg rating — 7,484 ratings — published 1994 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hardboiled & Hard Luck by Banana Yoshimoto, Michael Emmerich (Translator) 3.74 avg rating — 7,151 ratings — published 1999 — 37 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Banana Yoshimoto…

Series by Banana Yoshimoto

王国 [Ōkoku] (4 books)
by

Banana Yoshimoto,

Gala Maria Follaco (Translator)

3.42 avg rating — 2,694 ratings

吹上奇譚 (4 books)
by

Banana Yoshimoto,

吉本ばなな

2.83 avg rating — 2,020 ratings

Quotes by Banana Yoshimoto (?)

“Sometimes people put up walls, not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.”
― Banana Yoshimoto

806 likes

“As I grow older, much older, I will experience many things, and I will hit rock bottom again and again. Again and again I will suffer; again and again I will get back on my feet. I will not be defeated. I won't let my spirit be destroyed.”
― Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen

tags: defeated, destroyed, older, spirit, suffer

624 likes

“That's the advantage of insomnia. People who go to be early always complain that the night is too short, but for those of us who stay up all night, it can feel as long as a lifetime. You get a lot done”
― Banana Yoshimoto, N.P

tags: insomnia, night

616 likes

See all Banana Yoshimoto's quotes »

Polls

October 2023 Short Story/Novella Poll

The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh

39 votes, 24.7%

Boys and Girls by Alice Munro

34 votes, 21.5%

And of Clay Are We Created by Isabel Allende

29 votes, 18.4%

2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

28 votes, 17.7%

Kitchen title story by Banana Yoshimoto

28 votes, 17.7%

158 total votes

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