What Did You Eat Yesterday

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

By Fumi Yoshinaga

Graphic Novel/Manga
Paperback, 160 pages, 5.75 x 8.25 inches

Vol. 1: 978-1-939130-38-9 Buy.
Vol. 2: 978-1-939130-39-6 Buy.
Vol. 3: 978-1-939130-40-2 Buy.
Vol. 4: 978-1-939130-79-2 Buy.
Vol. 5: 978-1-939130-80-8 Buy.
Vol. 6: 978-1-939130-81-5 Buy.
Vol. 7: 978-1-941220-22-1 Buy.
Vol. 8: 978-1-941220-23-8 Buy.
Vol. 9: 978-1-941220-50-4 Buy.
Vol. 10: 978-1-942993-24-7 Buy.
Vol. 11: 978-1-942993-75-9 Buy.
Vol. 12: 978-1-945054-25-9 Buy.
Vol. 13: 978-1-947194-10-6 Buy.
Vol. 14: 978-1-947194-70-0 Buy.

U.S.$12.95 / CAN$13.95

Shiro Kakei, lawyer by day and gourmand by night, lives with his boyfriend, Kenji Yabuki, an out-going salon stylist. While the pair navigate the personal and professional minefields of modern gay life, Kenji serves as enthusiastic taste-tester for Shiro’s wide and varied made-from-scratch meals.

Fumi Yoshinaga’s slice-of-LGBT-life series was nominated for the first Manga Taisho Award and received a jury recommendation at the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards.

Over the past decade few female comic artists have been as beloved or as recognized for their work internationally as Fumi Yoshinaga. Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1971, Yoshinaga is a graduate of Tokyo's prestigious Keio University. A lifelong comic artist and story teller, she made her professional debut in 1994 with her short series, The Moon and the Sandals, serialized in Houbunsha's monthly Boys Love anthology Hanaoto. Since her debut Yoshinaga has penned more than a dozen, with a good number of them having been adapted into motion pictures and animated TV series. Her work on Antique Bakery sent her into international fame and she has since been nominated in the United States for the Eisner Award for her titles - Flowers of Life and Ooku.

In 2009 she was recognized with the James Tiptree Award for her literary contributions covering the topics of gender in speculative fiction in her title Ooku. Ooku also received the Osamu Tezuka Award and the Shogakukan Manga Award.

"For readers that either just want a quietly domestic story about a mostly happy couple and their lives, with lots of telling details and amusing dialogue, or adventurous cooks with a deep interest in Japanese food, What Did You Eat Yesterday? will be a savory delight.”
—Andrew Wheeler

[EAT] is really a very well written domestic story and a well-rounded portrayal of a couple who are essentially married, though they can’t be legally married under Japanese law. Being gay in Japan is not an easy thing at all, especially if one works in a conservative field like the law, or in any corporation. This manga addresses those issues in a gentle way too. One of the subtle yet more chilling scenes is when Shiro is asked for some legal advice an older friend, who is also gay and has been in a relationship for years. He wants to make a will leaving his business to his life partner, and says casually with a smile on his face that he cannot stand the thought of a single yen of his hard earned money going to his parents. The bitterness behind that smile is palpable, even in a manga”
—Makiko Itoh, author of The Just Bento Cookbook and Just Hungry

"Whichever way I look at it, whether it’s the food or the [LGBT narrative], What Did You Eat Yesterday? is a hearty manga that warms your heart with every story. It shows to us the joys of preparing food and the importance of sharing that meal with others.”
—Otaku Champloo

"I adore Yoshinaga’s art style, how crisp and detailed it is, and how recognizable and emotional her figures are...Surprising, though, was how deep and emotional some of the stories were. Shiro’s mother urges him to come out to his co-workers, which he hasn’t done, but she’s clearly struggling with his sexuality, parroting what a support group has told her. The two men argue over how open to be about their relationship. One chapter teaches us both how to make strawberry jam and how important it is to be true to yourself (instead of hiding behind a beard).”
—Manga Worth Reading

"I wouldn’t call [EAT] a ‘foodie manga’ – the food is a spice, giving you another reason to read the story about two men and their everyday lives together. It’s definitely a title worth checking out, and features a lot of what people love about Yoshinaga.”
—Suitable for Treatment