Award-winning translator Philip Gabriel—best known for his translations of the celebrated works by Haruki Murakami, Senji Kuroi and Nobel Prize-winner Kenzaburo Oe—beautifully captures Arikawa’s distinctly witty, yet penetrating voice through carefully shaped, eloquently rendered prose.
Narrated in turns by Nana the cat and his kind-hearted owner Satoru, readers are easily drawn into Arikawa’s whimsical storytelling as the two friends embark on a journey through the prefectures and seasons of Japan. On a mission to find a new home for his cherished pet, Satoru reconnects with three of his long-time friends, each from a pivotal moment in his past. Nana, ever audacious and deeply loyal, easily charms with his dry humor and perceptive observations of the world around them along the way.
Reminiscent of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Arikawa’s exquisitely nostalgic portrayal of life in Japan and her diverse range of intimately depicted characters are an ode to thepilgrimage of life. THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES moves through comfort, joy, and sorrow as it explores the wide spectrum of the human condition.
Sometimes you have to leave behind everything you know to find the place you truly belong...
Nana the cat is on a road trip. He is not sure where he's going or why, but it means that he gets to sit in the front seat of a silver van with his beloved owner, Satoru. Side by side, they cruise around Japan through the changing seasons, visiting Satoru's old friends. He meets Yoshimine, the brusque and unsentimental farmer for whom cats are just ratters; 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. There's even a very special dog who forces Nana to reassess his disdain for the canine species.
But what is the purpose of this road trip? And why is everyone so interested in Nana? Nana does not know and Satoru won't say. But when Nana finally works it out, his small heart will break...
The Author
Hiro Arikawa won the tenth annual Dengeki Novel Prize for new writers for Shio no Machi: Wish on My Precious in 2003, and the book was published the following year. It was praised for its love story between a heroine and hero divided by age and social status, and for its depiction of military structures. Although she is a light novelist, her books from her second work onwards have been published as hardbacks alongside more literary works with Arikawa receiving special treatment in this respect from her publisher, MediaWorks. Shio no Machi was also later published in hardback. Her 2006 light novel Toshokan Sensō (The Library War) was named as Hon no Zasshi's number one for entertainment for the first half of 2006, and came fifth in the Honya Taishō for that year, competing against ordinary novels.
She often writes about the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and her first three novels concerning its three branches are known as the Jieitai Sanbusaku (The SDF Trilogy); she also wrote about the fictional Library Forces in the Toshokan Sensō series. Raintree no Kuni, which first appeared as a book within a book in Toshokan Nairan was later published by Arikawa as a spin-off with another publisher. It was adapted into a film titled World of Delight released on November 21, 2015.[2][3]Her novel Shokubutsu Zukan (ja) will be adapted into a film titled Shokubutsu Zukan: Unmei no Koi, Hiroimashita and scheduled for release on June 4, 2016.
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