Latest news with #Rika
TimesLIVE
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
‘Butter' is a novel to be savoured slowly but it can also be devoured
Butter Asako Yuzuki Fourth Estate I received Butter courtesy of Exclusive Books, and I devoured it with the same eagerness and delight that threads through its pages. Asako Yuzuki's novel is a feast of sharp social commentary, rich sensory detail and unsettling intimacy. I couldn't put it down. So entranced was I by her descriptions that I even tried a few of the dishes mentioned, most notably the rice with butter and soy sauce. Perhaps I used the wrong kind of butter, because in the end, reading about the dish proved far more satisfying than eating it. 'Men putting on weight is different from women putting on weight.' So declares the boyfriend of Rika Machida, a Tokyo-based journalist on the cusp of making history as the first woman on the editorial desk at the Shūmei Weekly. It's a seemingly offhand comment, but in Butter, Asako Yuzuki wields such moments like a cleaver, cutting straight through the fatphobia and quiet misogyny baked into everyday life. What follows is a compelling, genre-blending novel that interrogates gender, appetite, trauma and the politics of the body with a sharp, satirical edge. Loosely inspired by the real-life case of Kanae Kijima, dubbed the 'Konkatsu Killer,' a home cook convicted of murdering three male lovers, Butter reimagines her as Manako Kajii, or Kajimana. Like her real-life counterpart, Kajii is a target of relentless media body shaming. But beyond the headlines, Yuzuki builds a complex character: a culinary seductress whose gourmet tastes and unapologetic appetite spark both fascination and revulsion. When Rika, under pressure to land a sensational scoop, writes to Kajii requesting the recipe for an infamous beef stew — reportedly the last meal of one of her victims — it unexpectedly opens the door to a series of visits at the detention centre. What begins as journalistic curiosity evolves into something far more intimate and unsettling. When Kajii quips, 'There are two things that I simply cannot tolerate: feminists and margarine,' Rika is both repelled and intrigued. Her encounters with Kajii stir questions about desire, denial and the burden placed on women to be both nurturing and ascetic, soft yet stoic. As Rika starts to indulge in the rich, buttery meals Kajii speaks of, her own weight begins to creep up, inviting the same misogynistic scrutiny faced by Kajii. The more she eats, the more blurred the lines become between observer and subject, journalist and accomplice. At times, Rika even catches glimpses of herself in Kajii, clouding her moral compass and sparking chilling self-reflection. 'Are you telling me all three men died of natural causes?' her best friend Reiko demands. 'Their demise brought on because they couldn't keep up with her lifestyle?' Yuzuki's greatest triumph is in framing the act of eating as its own kind of mystery, one that leads us back to childhood, family dynamics and emotional hunger. For both Rika and Kajii, the connection between food and fatherhood becomes a key to understanding their present lives. Butter is satisfying when it leans fully into its sensual, food-soaked prose. Yuzuki's descriptions are so decadent they practically melt off the page. 'This was a different kind of deliciousness,' she writes. 'A more blatant, forceful deliciousness, that took hold of her from the tip of her tongue, pinned her down, and carried her off to some unknown place.' In Butter, food is never just food. It is seduction. It is rebellion. It is shame. And it is survival. This is a novel to be savoured slowly … but also, perhaps, devoured.
Tokyo Reported
10-07-2025
- Business
- Tokyo Reported
Trio suspected of collecting ¥500 million in FX investments without license
KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested three persons for allegedly running an unlicensed investment business that is believed to have collected nearly 500 million yen from over 30 people, reports the Asahi Shimbun (July 9). On 11 occasions over a one-year period through last August, Kiyofumi Takamori, the 77-year-old CEO of the Sapporo City-based investment company Earth One, his wife, 55-year-old Rika, and Yasunori Tanaka, 49, are suspected of collecting a total of around 70.3 million yen in forex exchange investments without a government-approved license from three customers, including a woman in her 40s from Yokohama City. In soliciting the funds, one of the suspects claimed, 'If you invest, you will receive 10 times that amount in seven years.' The suspects also disguised the investments as being actually advice fees, calling them 'advisory contracts.' In commenting on allegations of violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, Kiyofumi Takamori partially denied the allegations, 'It's true that we conducted transactions without registration, but we did not disguise the contracts.' Meanwhile, Tanaka admits to the allegations. Rika denies involvement. Kiyofumi Takamori, left, his wife Rika, center, and Yasunori Tanaka (X) According to police, no dividends were paid to the three victims. As well, the suspects hardly responded to requests for refunds. Prefectural police believe that Takamori and his associates raised approximately 485 million yen from at least 34 people between September 2021 and October 2024. Prefectural police are currently investigating the flow of money received from customers as the investigation continues.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wednesday's Warrior: ‘Bradley Buddies' comfort passengers at Bradley International Airport
WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (WTNH) — A warrior with four legs, a happy, wagging tail, a smiley face and a comforting presence. Meet Rika, a beloved member of Bradley Buddies. 'It's like traveling with Miss America,' Deborah Goodwin, Rika's owner, said. Wednesday's Warrior: East Haven woman celebrates 107th birthday Rika and Deborah have spent two and a half years with Bradley Buddies, a program that provides therapy dogs to comfort passengers and staff. 'We come to the airport once a week. Rika has friends at TSA, we visit with passengers, check in with crew who might be here,' Goodwin explained. Rika brings happiness to everyone she meets. 'We make it a better day. People love her. Passengers will sometimes remember her from one trip to the next.' Rika's impact stretches beyond Windsor Locks, recently reaching Los Angeles. 'We worked in Pasadena and Altadena. So, we were supporting the Eaton fire folks who had been displaced by it,' she said. In January, Rika responded to the devastating Southern California wildfires. 'To know that she got people through that is just huge,' Goodwin said. Rika was there, comforting people who were waiting for hours for aid. 'Their job was to interact with people, help with the frustration of waiting in line, and provide that emotional support. We had people hugging her, we had people petting her, we had people trying to share their food with her,' she said. A bright spot in dark times. 'She just loves everybody. She's happy to see you. It doesn't matter that you are having a bad day or that you are angry or that you're frustrated—she's still happy to see you,' she said. Rika's gift for comfort starts at her home base. 'Rika never could have done what she did if we didn't work here at Bradley. She's learned how to deal with diverse crowds, she's learned how to deal with people's heightened emotions,' she said. Rika, short for Paprika, traveled to LA with the hope animal-assisted crisis response team. The next time you fly from Bradley, make sure you look for our friend Rika! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
