“She wanted for these nameless recipes she'd invented to go rippling out into the world, changing colour and shape as they went, just like the drop of a hidden ingredient which you added to the soup at the very end. Rika wanted to go on living with a sense of that chain reaction stored inside her. She wanted to see Kaji again too. She wanted to meet her and tell her that this world deserved to be lived in. Or, no -- that this world deserved to be tasted, greedily.” LoveHateRelationshipsFateFoodMen And Women Book:Butter Source: Butter
“Walking around Shibuya in uniform, the eyes of men of her father's generation had pored over her, sizing her up, before they held up the number of fingers to indicate the price they'd be willing to pay. It wasn't just once or twice that this had happened to Rika, but on numerous occasions.” LoveHateRelationshipsFateFoodMen And Women Book:Butter Source: Butter
“Reiko looked up at her uncomprehendingly. Her jaw looked more sharply pointed than the last time Rika had seen her. The wrists sticking out of her jumper looked as though they might snap in two at any moment.” LoveHateRelationshipsFateFoodMen And Women Book:Butter Source: Butter
“That was how I came to realise: for all their knowledge of literature and the arts, my parents weren't in the habit of thinking deeply about anything. They were, in fact, profoundly superficial people who were happy if they could spend their days enjoying themselves, surrounded by things they liked and which were pleasing on the eye.” LoveHateRelationshipsFateFoodMen And Women Book:Butter Source: Butter
“Even the bitter taste of guilt became a welcome ingredient in the dish of her current feelings, somehow accentuating its texture.” LoveHateRelationshipsFateFoodMen And Women Book:Butter Source: Butter
“We've come to use the word "evolution" as though it were a resolutely positive thing, but all it means is that the species best-adapted for a particular environment survive, and the others die out.” LoveHateRelationshipsFateFoodMen And Women Book:Butter Source: Butter
“Caring for, supporting and warming the hearts of men is women's god-given role, and, without fail, performing it makes women beautiful. They become godesses.” LoveHateRelationshipsFateFoodMen And Women Book:Butter Source: Butter
“Women's obsession with work and independence and so on is the source of their dissatisfaction. When women surpass men, their chance for romance slips away from them.” LoveHateRelationshipsFateFoodMen And Women Book:Butter Source: Butter
“The budget examiner's fawning attitude as he tried to cosy up to her flipped the moment that Rika brushed his hand away....She had no doubt that if something similar had happened previously, she'd have been blunged into violent self-loathing for days, having given him the opportunity to act as he did.” LoveHateRelationshipsFateFoodMen And Women Book:Butter Source: Butter
“Japanese women are required to be self-denying, hard-working and ascetic, and in the same breath, to be feminine, soft and caring towards men.” LoveHateRelationshipsFateFoodMen And Women Book:Butter Source: Butter