A story of a 50-something learning from scratch that overlaps with "Toki Sude ni O-Sushi!?" | Thoughts on "Yoyaku College ni Ikimashite"
Watching the drama "Toki Sude ni O-Sushi!?" reminded me of Yasuko Mitsuura's "Yoyaku College ni Ikimashite".
It is a collection of thoughts on her two years diving into a chef training college in her 50s, and a story about the change where she "stopped feeling ashamed to ask for help."
I picked up this book after watching Toki Sude ni O-Sushi
After watching the drama "Toki Sude ni O-Sushi!?", I took out a book by Yasuko Mitsuura that I had tucked away.
It is "Yoyaku College ni Ikimashite."
The protagonist of the drama "Toki Sude ni O-Sushi!?", Minato, is a 50-year-old single mother who enrolls in a sushi academy where you can "become a sushi chef in 3 months" after her son becomes independent.
It is a work that depicts her days of training under a strict master, refusing to let anyone tell her it is "too late."
It is a TBS Tuesday drama, and Hiromi Nagasaku has been starring in it since April 2026.
Thinking, "I've seen this structure somewhere," I searched my bookshelf and found "Yoyaku College ni Ikimashite," which I had been meaning to read.
A woman in her 50s dives into a professional culinary school from scratch.
She changes while clashing with a strict master.
No one says it is "too late"—.
The drama and this book are different works. But the structures overlap.
Minato is on the screen.
Mitsuura-san was in the book.
The two overlapped in my head, and I opened the book I had been meaning to read.
The book titled "Yoyaku College ni Ikimashite"
This is an essay about the two years Yasuko Mitsuura spent diving into a college in Vancouver in her 50s, released by Bungeishunju in October 2025.
An essay about attending a chef training course in her 50s for two years
In the summer of 2022, Yasuko Mitsuura enrolled in a professional chef training course at a public college in Vancouver.
She took a break from her entertainment career, and her two-year student life began in an environment where English was barely understood.
Amidst classes described as having "military-like strictness," she experienced language barriers, physical exhaustion, and trouble with multinational classmates.
Even so, it is written with humor, and it is not a confessional book or a moving memoir, but has a unique calmness as an essay.
Continuity with the previous work, Yoyaku Canada ni Ikimashite
The previous work, "Yoyaku Canada ni Ikimashite" (September 2024, 240 pages) is a book written about the time leading up to her move to Canada, and this book is a sequel to the previous one.
Reading both books, the gap between the "self before departure" and the "self two years later" is significant.
You can follow the full picture of Mitsuura-san's transformation more clearly.
Since you can purchase both books at Rakuten Books, please try reading them together starting from the previous work.
A story about no longer feeling ashamed to ask for help
What remained with me most after reading was the story of the "change" that occurred within Mitsuura-san.
Things that changed while language, skills, and body could not keep up
In an environment where language barriers, lack of skills, and physical inability all weighed on her at once—the biggest change that occurred in Mitsuura-san was that "she no longer had resistance to asking for help."
Admitting 'I can't' and saying it out loud.
It wasn't that I could do it from the start.
Yet, the process of gradually becoming able to do things turns into a question for yourself as you read.
The fear and sense of liberation of learning from scratch in your 50s are depicted simultaneously.
A sense of integration that everything makes up who I am today
The feeling that 'everything makes up who I am today' is a theme mentioned by many readers of this book.
The perspective that past choices, hardships, and failures all have meaning hits home, especially for those in middle age and beyond.
There is warmth within the matter-of-fact writing style.
It is characterized by being readable with the composure of an essay, rather than being a 'confession book' or an 'emotional memoir'.
A story where Mitsuura-san stopped being someone else's business while reading
While reading, I could no longer look at Mitsuura-san as 'someone with a distant story'.
The true nature of the feeling of envy
When reading about Mitsuura-san's choices, a feeling of envy arises.
It's not 'I'm envious because you have a dream'.
It's the part about 'breaking free from roles and customs and acting only for yourself'.
Minato from the drama also moves with the same structure.
She dives in the moment 'her own time' arrives after her son becomes independent.
While watching Minato, 'envy' and 'what will I do' alternate in my mind.
The longing and fear of starting from scratch in your 50s
Weren't Mitsuura-san and Minato afraid? That question naturally arises. As you read the book, you realize it wasn't that they weren't afraid.
It is a story about how they moved forward anyway.
Whether you see the age of 50 as 'late' is ultimately up to you to decide.
After finishing Mitsuura-san's two years, I started to feel a bit concerned about the time I've spent using 'it's too late' as an excuse.
It had a different feel than watching a drama.
I want these people to read it
This book is by no means light reading, but it is worth reading.
I especially want these people to pick it up.
People who watched the drama 'Toki Sude ni Osushi!?' and felt Minato's story was not someone else's business
People who have been telling themselves 'it's too late'
People for whom the challenge of starting from scratch in their 50s and beyond has stopped being someone else's business
You can purchase both books at Rakuten Books.
Search for'Yoyaku College ni Ikimashite'at [Rakuten Books]
Search for 'I Finally Went to Canada' on [Rakuten Books]
