Deceptively simple or just a little bit naff? The Travelling Cat Chronicles

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

Thorndike Press

Pp. 327

Translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel, this novel (first published in 2015) had reviewers gushing that it was gentle, wise, witty, beguiling and full of simple but deceptive prose. I didn’t realise I was quite so cynical, but I have to wonder, is it deceptive or just simple and is it really profoundly charming or just a little bit naff?

The novel is mainly narrated by Nana, a cat named after the Japanese word for seven, which is considered to be lucky and the shape of the cat’s tail. Nana was a stray cat who was nursed by Satoru after being hit by a car. In return, Nana lives with Satoru and gives him affection. When Satoru knows he is dying, he wants to make sure Nana has a happy home so he sets off on a road trip to visit possible adoptive homes and friends.

These travels give Satoru an opportunity to spark memories and reconnect with old friends. He and Nana meet Yoshimine, the brusque and unsentimental farmer who thinks cats are just for catching rats, Sugi and Chikako, the warm-hearted couple who run a pet-friendly B&B, and Kosuke, the mournful husband whose cat-loving wife has just left him. In the pages concerning Kosuke, the point of view switches to the third person omniscient narrator who tells us about the boys’ friendship and how they bonded with a cat called Hachi (which means eight) when they were both in elementary school.

When we see Nana’s perspective he instructs us on cat behaviour, such as why they like cardboard boxes rather than special beds and toys. Nana doesn’t understand certain human idiosyncrasies including their fondness for the sea, and he also questions their need to concern themselves about burials and cemeteries. “When an animal’s life is over, it rests where it falls, and it often seems to me that humans are such worriers, to think of preparing a place for people to sleep when they are dead. If you have to consider what’s going to happen after you die, life becomes doubly troublesome.”

As well as teaching kittens to stand up for themselves and explaining feline ways, Nana also cares for his adopted human. He’s a proud cat, but he’s loyal, loving and perceptive. The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a novel about the bond between humans and their animals, but it also about the power of friendship from childhood to adults. Without the support of those he visits, Satoru would not have grown into the kind and gentle man he has become – the kind of man who would scour the country to find the perfect home for his cat.