is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written and illustrated by

Fumi Yoshinaga is a Japanese manga artist known for her shōjo and boys' love works. Life Fumi Yoshinaga was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1971. She discovered amateur manga, doujinshi, in junior high school, when a friend showed her a doujinshi depicting a roman ...

. The

slice of life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a character ...

series focuses on the relationship between Shiro Kakei and Kenji Yabuki, a middle-aged gay couple living in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan. The manga has been serialized in the

manga magazine Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used ...

Morning Morning is the period from sunrise to noon. There are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and night) because it can vary according to one's lifestyle and the hours of daylight at each time of year. However, morning strict ...

'' since February 2007, and was adapted into a live-action television drama by

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...

that aired on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

in 2019; a film sequel to the television drama was released in November 2021. Both the manga and its live-action adaption have received widespread critical acclaim, winning a

Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially w ...

, a Galaxy Award, and multiple Television Drama Academy Awards.

Synopsis

''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' follows Shiro Kakei and Kenji Yabuki, a middle aged gay couple living in Tokyo, Japan. Shiro is a serious and reserved

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, while Kenji is cheerful and outgoing

hairdresser A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be refe ...

. Each chapter in the series focuses on Shiro and Kenji as they encounter a particular comedic or dramatic scenario, often focused around issues of domestic life,

workplace humor Office humor, also often called workplace comedy, is humor within the workplace, in particular, office, environment. It is a subject that receives significant attention from students of industrial and organizational psychology and of the sociolog ...

, and

LGBT rights in Japan Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Japan face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents, although the social component is more reliable than in many Asian countries. Same-sex sexual activity was criminalised ...

. Many of the chapters depict a sequence in which Shiro, a

gourmand A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure and interest in consuming good food and drink. ''Gourmand'' originally referred to a person who was "a glutton for food and drink", a person who eats and drinks excessively; this usage is now rare. ...

, purchases food and prepares a meal for himself and Kenji. Shiro narrates the steps to create each dish through his

internal monologue Intrapersonal communication is the process by which an individual communicates within themselves, acting as both sender and receiver of messages, and encompasses the use of unspoken words to consciously engage in self-talk and inner speech. Intr ...

, and frequently prepares meals that have significance in relation to the plot or themes of the chapter. The collected '' tankobon'' editions of the series contain the recipe for the main dish prepared in each edition. The events of the series progress in

real time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...

: Shiro and Kenji were respectively 43 and 41 years old when the series began, and as of chapter 101, are 52 and 50 years old.

Media

Manga

''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'', written and illustrated by

, has been serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' since February 22, 2007, and has been collected into

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

volumes published by

. In North America, an English language translation of the series has been licensed by

Vertical Vertical is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Vertical direction, the direction aligned with the direction of the force of gravity, up or down * Vertical (angles), a pair of angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting s ...

since 2014.

Television drama & film

A live-action television drama adaptation of ''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' was announced in ''Morning'' magazine on January 23, 2019. That same day,

announced that the series would star Hidetoshi Nishijima as Shiro and

Seiyō Uchino is a Japanese actor who is represented by Stardust Promotion is a leading Japanese talent agency, headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was founded in 1979 and invests in entertainment forms including music, cinema, and modelling. The agency h ...

as Kenji, with as screenwriter and Kazuhito Nakae, Katsumi Nojiri, and Kenji Katagiri as directors. The series aired on TV Tokyo's Drama24 programming block from April 5, 2019 to June 28, 2019, with a 90-minute special aired on January 1, 2020. performed the series' opening theme song "Kaerimichi" ("The Way Back Home"), while

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

performed the closing theme "i o you". On March 27, 2020,

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

announced that it would produce a live-action

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

sequel to the television drama. The original cast of the television drama will reprise their roles, while Nakae and Adachi will return as director and scriptwriter, respectively. The film was released on November 3, 2021.

Other media

A spin-off

yaoi ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features Homoeroticism, homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typi ...

dōjinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created ...

'' series, , has been published by Fumi Yoshinaga since 2015. The series depicts scenes alluded to in the original manga, as well as sexual encounters between Kenji and Shiro. Issues of the series have been released by Yoshinaga at

Comiket , more commonly known as or , is a semiannual ''doujinshi'' convention in Tokyo, Japan. A grassroots market focused on the sale of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, Comiket is a not-for-profit fan convention administered by the volunteer-ru ...

. A

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...

featuring recipes prepared in the television drama, , was published by Kodansha in April 2019. An

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

featuring sets and props from the television drama, as well as reproductions of pages from the original manga, toured Japan in 2019. The exhibition was displayed in

from June to July,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

from August to September, and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

in September.

Reception

Manga

Five million copies of the Japanese edition of ''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' were in print as of January 2019 and 8.4 million copies as of October 2022. The series has received positive reviews from critics, particularly for its realistic depiction of gay life in Japan, and is noted as being one of the first pieces of mainstream Japanese media to substantially portray a

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

gay male couple. Writing for ''Manga Bookshelf'', Katherine Dacey praised the series for showcasing "the realities of gay life in Japan depicted in such a matter-of-fact way," while not being "preachy or dreary." Writing for ''

ComicsVerse ComicsVerse is a comics journalism website covering comics news, reviews, analysis, and interviews with artists and writers. In addition to original written content, the site produces podcasts, videos, original webcomics, and covers news related ...

'', Melissa Padilla cited ''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' as a series that subverts typical LGBTQ manga and anime tropes, noting that it includes a "realistic depiction of a gay couple who are adults rather than high school or college students" and that it "tackles gay issues while still maintaining a leisurely, slice-of-life pace." ''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' was a nominee for the inaugural Manga Taishō Award in 2008, and a jury recommendation at the 13th

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by ...

in 2009. In 2019, the series won the

for Best General Manga. It has been listed for Book of the Year three times by

Media Factory , formerly is a Japanese publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing. History It was founded on December 1, 1986, and its headquarters are situated in Shibuya, Tokyo. It is a subsidiary of Recruit Co., Ltd. Media Factory was possi ...

's ''Da Vinci'', placing sixth in 2014, fiftieth in 2016, and second in 2020.

Television drama

''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' was the most-awarded series at the 101st awarded by

Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...

, winning Best TV Series; Best Actor in a Leading Role for Seiyō Uchino (with Hidetoshi Nishijima placing second); Best Screenplay for Naoko Adachi; and Best Director for Kazuhito Nakae, Katsumi Nojiri, and Kenshi Katagiri. The 16th given by

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

was awarded to ''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' for Best TV Series and Best Actor in a Leading Role, the later of which was won by both Nishijima and Uchino. The series was additionally awarded the July 2019 Galaxy Award, given by the Japan Council for Better Radio and Television.

Analysis

Portrayal of gay domestic life

Writing for ''

Culture, Society and Masculinities ''Culture, Society and Masculinities'' was a peer-reviewed journal first published in early 2009 as the fifth published by Men's Studies Press, and closing at the end of 2016. Culture, Society and Masculinities complements the field's pioneering ...

'', Katsuhiko Suganuma notes that the relationship between Shiro and Kenji is depicted as largely non-sexual, contrasting stereotypical media portrayals of gay men as

hypersexual Hypersexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased libido. It is controversial whether it should be included as a clinical diagnosis used by mental healthcare professionals. Nymphomania and satyriasis were terms previously used for the c ...

or sexually deviant. Far from reinforcing equally permissive stereotypes of gay men as emasculated, Suganuma argues that by not depicting Shiro and Kenji's sex life, the series "intentionally ignores the expectations of the curiosity-ridden heteronormative public" to focus on the domestic lives of gay men. Consequently, he cautions against interpreting ''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' as being merely

assimilationist Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially. The different types of cultural assi ...

homonormative Homonormativity is the privileging of heteronormative ideals and constructs onto LGBT culture and identity. It is predicated on the assumption that the norms and values of heterosexuality should be replicated and performed among homosexual peopl ...

, arguing that it "provides readers with occasional instances of modification of gender and sexuality norms in contemporary Japanese society."

Portrayal of masculinity

Xuan Bach Tran has noted that while cooking media featuring men in Japan typically foregrounds competition and pursuits of excellence, as in series such as ''

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle bui ...

'' and ''

Oishinbo is a long-running Japanese cooking manga series written by and drawn by . The manga's title is a portmanteau of the Japanese word for delicious, ''oishii'', and the word for someone who loves to eat, ''kuishinbo''. The series depicts the ...

'', ''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' depicts cooking as merely a hobby and a necessity for life. While Shiro embodies many of the traits of the " herbivore man"—he is unambitious in his career, and largely socially withdrawn—he falls out of this category through his love of cooking, and derives his masculinity from "self-care and expressions of selfhood". Suganuma concurs in ''Culture, Society and Masculinities'' that as Shiro's utilitarian cooking style is neither archetypically masculine nor archetypically feminine, it " istancesitself from a polarized gender binary."

References

External links

''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' official manga website

''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' official manga blog
(inactive)
''What Did You Eat Yesterday?'' official television drama website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:What Did You Eat Yesterday 2007 manga 2000s LGBT literature 2010s LGBT literature 2020s LGBT literature 2010s Japanese LGBT-related television series 2019 Japanese television series debuts 2019 Japanese television series endings Cooking in anime and manga Fumi Yoshinaga Gay-related films Gay-related television shows Japanese LGBT-related drama television series Japanese LGBT-related films Japanese television dramas based on manga Japanese-language films Kodansha manga LGBT in anime and manga Live-action films based on manga Manga adapted into films Seinen manga Slice of life anime and manga TV Tokyo original programming Toho films Vertical (publisher) titles

Synopsis

Media

Manga

Television drama & film

Other media

Reception

Manga

Television drama

Analysis

Portrayal of gay domestic life

Portrayal of masculinity

References

Further reading

External links