Her writings have been called “shallow” by some critics but for her legions of fans, Banana Yoshimoto’s literary works journey into the depths of the soul of Japan’s younger generation.

Indeed, Yoshimoto’s novels and short stories often revolve around people in their late teens or 20s, who invariably are on the path to self-discovery. Her characters often are “misfits” by Japanese standards, although Yoshimoto would rather describe them as being “in search of their identities”.

“The younger generation in Japan is not ready to conform to the rigid rules of traditional Japan,” she explains. “My writing is about these people who want to lead their lives in their own way.”

"The younger generation in Japan is not ready to conform to the rigid rules of traditional Japan," she explains. "My writing is about these people who want to lead their lives in their own way."

Only 32 years old herself, Yoshimoto took Japan by storm eight years ago with her debut novel, ‘Kitchen’ that she wrote while working as a waitress. She would write during her short breaks, but managed to finish the book in three months.

The slim novel, which has a 19-year-old orphan as narrator and a transvestite-and-son tandem as the other main characters, won her Japan’s New Writers Prize in 1989. It was later translated into six other languages including English, Korean and Italian. In 1993, ‘Kitchen’ took Italy’s Scanno Literary Prize.

Nearly three million copies of ‘Kitchen’ have been sold worldwide since it was first published and Yoshimoto’s subsequent books also have made the bestsellers’ list.

According to literary critic Shun Akiyama, Japanese women are particularly taken by Yoshimoto’s stories. Unconsciously echoing Yoshimoto’s own explanation of her work, Akiyama observes: “She has a special message for them in her writing, which features characters who do not want to live like their parents did.”

Yoshimoto reiterates that she is interested in writing about people who are “different from the everyday character”.

“This is because I feel it takes courage and sensitivity to be yourself in a society as rigid as ours,” says Yoshimoto, who had decided on her unusual first name because of her love for the “grandeur of the banana leaf”.

Unmarried, Yoshimoto could very well be the model for some of her non-conformist characters as she lives alone – apart from dogs – in a small Tokyo apartment. Her boyfriend lives nearby, and while other celebrities her age would probably have full social calendars, Yoshimoto prefers days devoted to writing and meeting up with friends.

“I am not keen to lead a life under the limelight,” she says. “I just want to relax and enjoy at my pace.”

Yoshimoto says it is hard enough to be young and independent- minded in Japan. “One of the best moments of my life was when I was awarded the 1996 Fendi Literary Award in Italy,” she says. “I saw all around me young people who seemed to be a respected force in Italian society. I was envious because Japan is not like that.”

That is why young Japanese wind up feeling alone and lost, she explains. Not surprisingly, loneliness is a recurring theme in Yoshimoto’s stories, along with people’s search for true happiness and sense of self.

In ‘A Strange Tale by the River’, which is included in the short story collection ‘Lizard’, the female protagonist takes a trip to self-discovery through sex. The main characters in the rest of the stories make similar journeys, albeit through different means.

The novel ‘Melancholia’, meanwhile, is on one level about a woman trying to come to terms with her sister’s death. But the story also reflects the increasing fascination that young Japanese have with the spiritual world, and their longing for something deeper than material success.

Literary critics say Yoshimoto’s works deserve praise if only because they show the Japanese as people who express their emotions and passions – in sharp contrast to the stoic, hardworking image portrayed to the rest of the world.