BookTalk Chef Akane Eno prefers poetry in her native language

Who: Tokyo-born chef Akane Eno, 47, who heads fine-dining kappo restaurant Ichigo Ichie in Orchard Road. The restaurant name references a Japanese idiom which encapsulates the idea of treasuring a unique moment in time. Chef Eno has led the restaurant since it was founded in 2020, a feat in the male-dominated Japanese culinary world. An avid fan of essays and poetry in her native Japanese language, she believes that cooking is also an art form.

- Ong Sor Fern Arts Editor

"I am reading Two Billion Light-Years Of Solitude (1952) by Shuntaro Tanikawa. I first read some of his poetry when I was young and I enjoy how his writing is not overly complicated but carries depth that sparks the imagination.

Recently, I came across a paperback edition of his first poetry collection at Kinokuniya bookstore. What made it especially exciting was that it was a bilingual edition, featuring both the original Japanese text and its English translation. I bought it immediately.

I read the book in its Japanese version, but have also looked at the English one to see how the translators have interpreted the original. It is unusual to see two different languages available in one book.