"Watanabe-san," written and illustrated by Naoko Kitamura (Published by Kaiseisha Ltd., 2018)

Story outline

Watanabe, an anthropomorphic pot, is a master at cooking various dishes, and operates a take-out store. After receiving an order for an "oden" hot pot dish, Watanabe takes in ingredients such as eggs and daikon radish. Once the fire is on, the ingredients simmer, and the delicious oden is soon ready. After dealing with a stream of customers, the last boy orders "spaghetti Neapolitan," or "Naporitan" in Japanese. Watanabe is puzzled by this unfamiliar request, which usually requires a pan for cooking the ingredients and a pot for boiling the spaghetti, but comes up with a way to cook it in a single pot and serves it successfully.

Young readers will immediately be drawn into this very unique story, in which the main character is a pot, or "nabe" in Japanese, and can cook. Perhaps anticipating that many people will be tempted to eat spaghetti Neapolitan after reading this book, the last page offers a recipe for making it in one pot, Watanabe's way.

Vocabulary, culture tips

Gutsugutsu -- This is an onomatopoeia that describes the state of food boiling or simmering in a pot. When teaching others how to cook, we might say, "Gutsugutsu shite kitara, hi o yowamete kudasai" (When it starts to simmer, please turn down the heat.)

Meijin -- This means someone who excels at something -- in other words, a master or an expert. For example, if a boy named Kei is good at jumping rope, we say, "Kei wa nawatobi meijin da ne" (Kei is a master at jumping rope.)

Hirameita -- This is the past tense of the verb "hirameku," which means to come up with an idea. In the picture book, it is used in the scene where Watanabe comes up with the idea of how to make spaghetti Neapolitan.

Cooking loving children

My sons love to cook. They seem to be happy to be given more and more tasks, from peeling onions and tearing lettuce by hand to peeling carrots and potatoes with a peeler, chopping up ingredients with a knife, and frying them with a wooden spatula.

I only let them help me cook when I have time to spare, so it is something special for them, and perhaps that is why they are willing to do it. Just the other day, I made roasted chicken wings and cream stew with my oldest son, who is 8 years old.

While making the marinade for the chicken, my son didn't like the smell of the red wine. But the chicken tasted delicious and he was satisfied with the result. I think it is great that by cooking together, children learn new things, such as the role of red wine, as in this case.

One of the factors that led my sons to become familiar with cooking was TV shows. They often watch "Go! Go! Cook R'n," a program on NHK's educational TV channel in which children cook. They also watch "The Great British Bake Off," where amateurs compete in baking skills. In the latter, sweets are often made, and I sometimes hear my sons saying, "I want to try this."

My oldest son also likes to read children's cookbooks, and one evening he was browsing through the pages. When I was about to start preparing dinner, he said "I want to cook a menu of my choice for dinner tonight." I was very happy to hear him say so, but when I told him that we didn't have the ingredients to meet such a short-notice request, he seemed very displeased.

I haven't let him cook by himself yet, but now that he knows how to cook with just one pot from this book, I think he will be able to make spaghetti Neapolitan by himself in the near future -- after a bit of practice together, of course!

(By Risa Koshiba, The Mainichi Staff Writer)

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(This is Part 18 of the "Learning from Japanese picture books" series, which introduces recommended Japanese picture books, along with related terms and culture that foreigners living in Japan may find useful. Most titles can be found in bookstores or libraries throughout Japan. The next issue will be published on Nov. 22.)

Profile: Risa Koshiba is a mother of two boys and loves picture books. She believes that picture books can help improve literacy, and says they helped her children learn how to read and write Japanese. She is also interested in teaching Japanese to foreigners, and tutored students in Japanese and taught the language to children when she was a university student in the United States.