Tokyo, Japan

The entirety of Sweet Bean Paste is set in present-day Tokyo, Japan. Sentaro and Wakana live in the city center while Tokue lives in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. When the boss discovers where the older woman lives, her past Hansen’s disease diagnosis is revealed. In the narrative past, Japan legalized the internment of individuals with Hansen’s disease and forced them to live in a closed ward sanitorium on the outskirts of the city. Even after the repeal of the Leprosy Prevention Act, residents of Tokyo continue to be prejudice toward people who live in the sanitorium. Customers stop visiting Doraharu, afraid that they will contract the illness from Tokue, despite the fact that no cases of Hansen’s disease have been reported since the nineteen forties.

Doraharu

Doraharu is a small bakery that specializes in dorayaki, sweet pancakes filled with bean...