Can you believe it? This is the last summary for Kiki! As always, if you have any questions about particular details/wording in this chapter that aren’t covered here, please let me know!
Week 22+23: Chapter 11 Summary (SPOILERS)
Spring has finally come to Koriko. Sitting by the window while hugging her knees, Kiki murmurs that in just a few days it'll have been exactly a year since her and Jiji arrived, which means they can go visit their hometown again. For some reason, she feels both happy and scared. When Jiji asks her what's wrong, Kiki asks him whether he thinks she's become more adult and whether she's really become independent. Annoyed, Jiji reassures her that she's done excellent the past year.
Although the decision to follow in her mother’s footsteps was something most girls would do, the decision to settle in Koriko and start a delivery business had solely been Kiki’s decision. Even though there had been many challenges, she had done a lot the past year. Despite this and Jiji’s words, she felt unexpectedly anxious and wanted reassurance from someone else that she really had made it. Jiji asks her if this means she’s going to put off visiting their hometown. Kiki says of course not, then hopping up from the chair, tells him that they need to get to work and that in a way going back home is just another job as they are “delivering” themselves to her parents. With both Kiki and Jiji now in a better mood, they get ready to let Osono know about their trip back home.
Kiki and Jiji let Osono know that they’ll be going back home soon for a little while. When she asks how long they’ll be gone, Kiki tells her around 15 days, as she wants to relax a bit. Osono teases her, telling her that usually when people say “a little while” they mean 10 days and tells her to come back to Koriko soon. Going back to the shop, she calls Tombo to let him know as well. However, the entire call all he does is ask questions about flying, which leaves Kiki a bit unsatisfied. She then calls her regular customers and her friend Mimi as well. With that done, she also writes a sign for the front of the door to let people know about the temporary closure.
Later that night, Kiki tells Jiji that they’ll spend tomorrow cleaning the shop, and then the day after that they’ll head back to their hometown. Excited, Jiji runs in circles trying to chase his tail. However, he stops suddenly to ask Kiki what they’ll be bringing back as souvenirs. When she tells him that they have lots of stories they’ll be bringing back with them, Jiji is dissatisfied and asks her what ended up happening to the belly bands she was knitting, and complains that she never finishes what she started. Calling him rude, but unable to keep a straight face, Kiki pulls out a paper bag from the cupboard and dumps its contents on the ground.
Turns out, she’d been knitting Jiji a small bright blue and silver patterned belly band in secret for him to wear on the trip home. After she puts it on him, Jiji is at a loss for words and continues to run happily in circles. She also reveals that she’s knitted belly bands for her mum and dad too. Jiji calls her sneaky and can’t believe she was able to hide it, to which she replies that a good secret makes things three times better. Jiji keeps this phrase in mind for the future.
The next day while Kiki and Jiji are cleaning, Tombo rushes into the shop panting and, with a face so red he looked angry, shoves a package at Kiki. Inside is a small, pink shoulder bag with a black cat embroidered on it. She tells him she likes it, which causes him to blush. Then, confirming that she’s leaving tomorrow, he rushes back off again. When she opens the bag, she notices a small note inside from Tombo that says that tomorrow he’ll be waving from the bridge over the big river. Jiji asks her what she was looking at, to which Kiki replies its nothing before putting it back in the bag and patting it slightly.
The next morning, Kiki gets ready to set out. Looking back at her shop, she feels close to tears as she thinks about how each item in the shop holds memories from the past year. Osono and her husband come out of the bakery next door and hands her a big bag of bread, asking her to deliver it to Kiki’s mum. Noticing that Kiki looks a little sad, Osono tells her to make sure to come back and tells her that everyone is so happy to have a witch as their neighbour. Giving Osono a big hug, Kiki tells her that of course she’ll be back.
With the souvenirs dangling from the handle of her broom, her and Jiji set off. Flying towards the bridge over the big river, they see Tombo sitting on his bike, waving both hands. Waving back at him, she ends up flying two laps around the bridge before picking up speed and flying to the north. With Tombo growing smaller behind them, they fly in a straight line back home. Along the way, she notices how her broom flies so smoothly now compared to how unruly it was before, almost the same as her mum’s used to. She also starts to think about the people of Koriko and all the small joys and surprises she’s shared with them. As she continues to fly, it feels as though she’s able to leave her earlier unease behind her.
The two arrive back in their hometown when the sky is dark and full of stars. Flying over it, hear and see the familiar sound of bells, still hanging from the tops of trees. Arriving at their house, the two land quietly in the garden. Sneaking up to the door, they pretend to be a delivery man, shocking Kokiri when they burst in the house. Noticing the noise, her father also comes into the kitchen and Kiki happily reunites with her parents. Kiki and her mum talk nonstop while Jiji and her dad watch on, surprised that two people could have that many words in them.
Eventually, Kiki gives her parents the souvenirs she brought back, both the bread and the belly bands she’d knit. As they’re talking about the belly bands and how Kiki is pretty sure the old lady has special powers, Jiji pops up from under the table and drops a small purple shell on the ground from his ear, surprising Kiki’s mum. Kiki is also surprised that he kept it a secret, so he whispers to her that he found it last summer when they were at a beach and repeats the phrase she told her that good secrets are three times better.
After talking a bit, Kokiri turns to Kiki and Jiji and earnestly tells them how wonderful they’ve become. Hearing this, Kiki realizes that the person she had wanted to ask for reassurance from this whole time was her mother, and hearing her say this filled her with new confidence. The two continue to talk, with Kiki bringing up the topic of flying and how even though she’s a witch, it’s good to walk every now and again, as it gives you the opportunity to meet people and show them witches aren’t scary. Hearing this, her dad looks at Kiki as if seeing her for the first time.
From the next day onwards, Kiki fell back into the same rhythm she had back when she lives with her parents. And when walking around town, everyone wanted to talk to her. While at first, Kiki was full of appreciation for her hometown, after five days she started to think again about the people of Koriko and her shop. Eventually, she tells her parents that she thinks she’ll go back to Koriko in the next day or two. Her dad is surprised, as she had originally told them she’d be there for 10 days. When she explains that she can’t stop thinking about her customers, he tells her not to start worrying about those types of things. However, her mother tells her about how she felt when she was a girl and how she also felt the compulsion to return to her chosen town whenever she visited home. She tells Kiki she should go back, but also tells her to come visit again next year.
The next day, Kiki and Jiji fly to the hill overlooking the town. Kiki tells Jiji that she’s decided to go back early, and the two talk a bit about what souvenirs they’re going to bring back to Koriko. for Tombo, she’s decide to give him one of the biggest bell from the trees. Jiji remarks that this is a much better idea than a fountain pen. Closing her eyes and smelling the scent of the grass, Kiki thinks about how lovely it is to have somewhere to return home to, and also feels like she’s discovered a new aspect of herself. When she returns back to the house, Kiki’s mum laughs at her, as the imprints of grass are still clear on her face. That afternoon, the two of them gather the bells from around town. Both her and her mum are a bit sad about it, but Kokiri tells her she’ll take good care of them until Kiki needs them again for her own daughter.
Then, Kiki was once again saying goodbye to her parents. However, compared to when she had first set off on her coming-of-age day, there were none of the sharp emotions from before. Saying see you later, the two set off in a straight line back to Koriko. Occasionally, she would hear the light sound of the bell in her bag, which would cause her to fly even faster. Before long, she could see the ocean shining far off and Koriko’s buildings, which looked like square and triangle building blocks. Pointing, Kiki shouted, “look, it’s our town!”
Lots of feelings about this chapter. As the last chapter of the book, this chapter wraps things up with a bit of a neat bow. Looking back on the rest of the book, you can really see how it focused on the feelings of uncertainty that come with growing up. However, the last chapter ends on a bit of a positive and hopeful note, showing how Kiki has started to overcome some of that uncertainty. What were other people’s thoughts on this chapter or the book as a whole?
Although participation in this book club definitely dropped off, I’m hoping that this thread can continue to be useful to others as they read through the book. Regardless of whether you ended up finishing the book or not, thank you to everyone that ended up joining and discussing things. Although I’d read through the first half of Kiki years ago, it was nice to pick it up again and actually finish it. Running this club definitely held me accountable for actually finishing it!
On a personal note, even though my Japanese level is at a place where reading Kiki was a bit of a breeze, I think writing the summaries for each chapter really forced me to make sure I was understanding the material at a deeper level than I would have if I had just been reading through it regularly. So thank you to the person that originally requested them!
Anyway, congrats again on everyone who ended up finishing the book! It’s been a pleasure~
good job
I’ve got N1 coming up in a few weeks as well, so hopefully all this reading is going to help me finish that in time.