Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet refers to the Panama Hotel, and the descriptors of both "bitter" and "sweet" are a shout-out to how emotionally charged the place is. It's so emotionally charged, in fact, that we dedicate an entire page in our "Symbols" section to unpacking it, so you should probably check it out if you haven't already. The quick and dirty version we'll offer up here is that Henry's memories of Keiko—which in many ways center around the Panama Hotel—are both sad and wonderful at once. Henry and Keiko's relationship is far from simple, and the title references the complications that bring them together… only to tear them apart.