Lion's Treats
Translator's Note
Author's Note

Second Place at the Bookstore Awards! A moving novel that thrilled Japanese readers immediately after its release.
Do you have a moment in your life you'd like to return to?

★2020 Bookstore Awards 2nd Place Winner★
★2021 NHK Drama Original Novel★
★Exceeding 220,000 copies sold★

Sunday at 3pm,
Where the world's warmest snacks are made.

A journey into the memories of those who have reached the end of their lives
Special snack time is coming!

The latest novel by Ito Ogawa, author of "Tsubaki Stationery Store"

What would we think if one day we suddenly found ourselves at the end of our lives?
As the author says, “Death is something that comes with being born,” “Lion’s Snack” is a work that depicts the meaning of life and death, which are like two sides of a coin, in a calm yet bright tone.
The novel begins with the protagonist Shizuku's journey across the sea on Christmas Day, on a ship bound for the Lion's House.

Shizuku, who is unmarried, has no children, and cannot rely on her parents, is a cancer patient who was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of thirty-three.
Deciding to spend the rest of her days in a warm place, gazing at the sea each day, rather than undergoing painful life-extending treatment, she arrives on a quiet island in the Setouchi region, known as the "Mediterranean of Japan."
It is called 'Lemon Island' by mainlanders because it was a place where many lemon trees were cultivated in the past.
Shizuku expresses her feelings about arriving at the place where she will spend her last days:

“I want to melt into the wind like this.
I boldly took off the mask I had been wearing since I left the house.
It's a feeling of liberation I haven't felt in a long time.
The fresh air flowed in with a powerful gust, reaching deep into my lungs.
Just to taste this feeling is worth the trip to Lemon Island.
“It felt like the inside of my lungs were being washed clean with air (p17).”
Shizuku arrived at the 'Lion's House' carrying only a suitcase containing the shroud she would wear when she passed away.
She still feels unfamiliar with the idea of ​​hospice admission, which she had only heard of, and although she has never actually been inside Lion's House, she thinks it has a similar atmosphere to a cocoon, enveloped in soft light, or to the midwife's office where she visited a friend's baby after he gave birth.
And then he hears some confusing words from 'Madonna', the caretaker of Lion's house who guides him to the room he will be staying in.

“Because in a sense, birth and death are back to back.
It's just a matter of which door you open.
“Even if it’s an exit from this side, it’s an entrance from that side (p21).”

“As I follow the story, faces, seasons, and tastes come to mind, and I find myself crying happily.”
- Jeong Se-rang (novelist)

The Lion's House has one unique event outside of mealtime.
Guests who spend the rest of their lives at Lion's House are invited to a special snack time on Sundays at 3 p.m.
Every week, we make a snack that recreates someone's deep-seated memories and share it with everyone.
If you write down your story on the order form about when, where, and what you ate and what you felt, Madonna will decide the snack of the day through a drawing.

The stories of people who have lived different lives, like snacks that taste and look different, unfold in an exciting way: a snack that my mother, who was always kind to my younger sibling, made for me just once; a snack I first tasted on a trip to Paris to pursue my dream; a snack filled with memories of my father who suddenly became a poor immigrant; a snack that my wife gave me when she visited me in the hospital after a divorce; etc.
As the identities of the guests are revealed one by one during snack time, Shizuku has a hard time choosing the snacks she wants to eat again, and unexpected moments of farewell also come...


When you see something beautiful and have a feeling that it is beautiful,
The best days of your life begin

Snack time on Sunday afternoons at 3pm is a routine that reminds guests at Lion House that time still passes and life goes on, and it's the only event that provides the 'joy of waiting'.
Even if death is imminent and could come at any moment, as long as you are alive, you will still have the opportunity to attend the next snack time.
Although her body grows weaker day by day, Shizuku's mind becomes healthier than ever while staying at Lion's house.
And he realizes that his past life, the days that were sometimes terribly lonely, and the days that led him to the Lion's house with terminal cancer were not in vain or meaningless, and he says this.

“Living each day properly.
Life ends anyway, so instead of giving up, enjoy life to the fullest until the very end.
“My goal now is to live fully and meaningfully until the very end, like a cream-filled bun from one end to the other (p191).”
Ito Ogawa, the author of "Lion's Snack," said that he had a hard time accepting his mother's independent way of thinking, and so he spent a long time distancing himself from her as an adult.
Then one day, I received a phone call from my mother, telling me that she had cancer.
Ogawa Ito, who revealed that a single word from his mother at that time was the impetus for writing this story, also left the following reflection in his postscript.
“Everyone dies.
But there may be an overwhelming number of people in the world who, like my mother, feel death as an unknown fear.
“I want to write a story that will make the reader feel less afraid of death.”

I ate well, the taste of unforgettable happiness

What do people regret most when they die?
To put it the other way around, this novel asks what is most important in our lives.
Every time she attends a snack break that may be her last, Shizuku savors a little of the sparkling moments in the lives of people who have walked different paths.
The times I shared unforgettable memories with my loved ones, the times when I got hurt and broke down but still got back up, the times when I felt full of joy doing things I loved, even if they seemed trivial… … .
If I remember those times without forgetting them, I think I will be able to speak calmly and with a smile on the last day of my life.
Like Shizuku, who regained her healthy spirit and finally wrote down her own 'nostalgic snack' in a letter of order.

“It was good to be alive.
I'm so glad I got to meet this day.
“A feeling of gratitude flutters inside me like a spring breeze (p191).”


★★★ Reviews from Amazon Japan readers
- I feel like I've finally read something that warms my heart.

- After reading it all, tears welled up in my eyes.
One of the novels of a lifetime.
- As I read, I was overcome with a feeling of my heart being purified.

- Gently relieves the fear of death that will come one day.
- I thought, this is a good way to end life.
- I couldn't stop crying, so I hugged the trash can and read.