129

The rice cooker from Seijun Suzuki's 1967 film, Branded to Kill, is undeniably the most photogenic cooking appliance in the world. The slowly opening curtain is an admirable supporting cast member.

59

Early yesterday morning there was the tiniest glint of sunlight on the black plastic of the rice cooker as I circled around it. Last night there was a smiling, waning crescent moon set against a dark sky and the soft purple glow of the bug lamps along the running path. Today the kitchen soap bottle is refracting long green streaks across the countertop. Tomorrow when the moldy zombies emerge from the hospital next door there will also be red and green. The sequence is as follows: yellow, black, white, black, purple, black, green, white, red, green; yet the implications are inscrutable.

51

I realize that the typical Western plating of starch at ten o'clock, meat at two o'clock, and vegetables at six o'clock doesn’t work with a bento box because there are “o’clocks” in the middle, as well as around the perimeter. Rice is often consumed at every meal – 09:00, 12:00, 18:00 (plus potential onigiri rice snacks at 16:00 and 22:00?) – so I have stopped looking at my watch while dining, or even wearing my watch.