‘I make my own milk tea’: Japanese artist on her love for Hong Kong cuisine, topic of her exhibition in the city

Japanese illustrator Mitsuko Onodera is known for her whimsical watercolour paintings depicting everyday foods in Hong Kong; some are about to go on show

‘She’s able to capture a beautiful moment many of us wouldn’t have noticed. Because of Onodera, I started to notice Hong Kong’s everyday colours,’ curator says

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Japanese illustrator Mitsuko Onodera, known for her whimsical paintings depicting food in Hong Kong, talks about her love of the city’s cuisine ahead of the opening in Wan Chai of an exhibition of her work. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 12:45pm, 11 Apr 2024Updated: 12:46pm, 11 Apr 2024

A waiter with thinning hair in knee-length cargo shorts, sneakers and a white cha chaan teng button-down is in motion.

He is hoisting a large steel baking tray high above his head, with just a flimsy towel protecting his hands from the tin’s residual heat, while a procession of freshly baked pineapple buns flies over him, magically suspended mid-air.

This whimsical painting, rendered in two panels, is the work of Japanese illustrator Mitsuko Onodera, a Japanese illustrator with a deep love and appreciation for Hong Kong – and specifically, its foods, its people and its shop cats.

The illustration of a waiter at work in Kam Wah Cafe in Prince Edward, Kowloon – known for its milk tea and pineapple buns – has been fashioned into the promotional image for her exhibition in Hong Kong, scheduled to open at Word by Word Book Store in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island on April 13 and which will run until May 12.

“The Taste of Hong Kong Through My Eyes” will feature a selection of her watercolour paintings depicting Hong Kong foods, many of which were exhibited in Tokyo in 2023 under the title “Have You Eaten Yet?”.

The exhibition is curated by Kennis Chan, who connected with Onodera over food more than five years ago and discovered a kindred spirit in her.