Excerpt from The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa, Philip Gabriel, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

No. Dad hates cats, so that won't work. He caught his own kneejerk reaction; he was worrying, as usual, about what his father might think.

This was exactly why his wife had got fed up with him. Kosuke was the one running the business now, and there was no need to worry about how his dad would feel about things. Yet stillhe did.

So, partly as a reaction against his dad, he threw his name ? Kosuke Sawada – into the bowl as a candidate willing to take in his childhood friend's cat.

Satoru Miyawaki wasted no time coming over to Kosuke's place, arriving on his day off the following week in his silver van, along with his beloved cat.


When he heard a car engine outside his shop, Kosuke wandered out to find Satoru pulling into the shop's parking lot.

'Kosuke! It's been ages!'

Satoru took his hands off the wheel and waved out of the open driver's-side window.

'Just hurry up and park,' Kosuke urged. He was excited to see Satoru. The guy hadn't changed at all since he was a kid.

'You should have parked at the end. It's easier.'

There were three parking spaces for customers right in front of the shop and Satoru had pulled into the spot furthest from the entrance, where a small shed and piles of boxes made it a tight fit.

'Ah, is that right?' Satoru said, scratching his head as he got out of the car. 'I didn't want to take up a space in case a customer needed it. Well, it's done now.' He took the cat cage from the back seat.

'Is that Nana?'

'Yep. I sent you a photo so you could see how his tail is shaped like a seven. Great choice for a name, don't you think?'

'I don't know if I'd call it great, exactly … You always choose kind of quirky names … Like Hachi.'

Kosuke ushered them into his living room and tried to get a good look at Nana's face, but all Nana did was give a moody growl and turn himself around. When Kosuke peered inside, all he could make out was the black hooked tail and white rear end.

'What's the matter, Nana? Nana-chan …?'

Satoru tried to coax Nana out, but eventually gave up.

'Sorry about that. He must be nervous about being in a different house. Give it some time and I'm sure he'll settle down …'

They left the cage door open and sat on the sofa together to reminisce over old times.

'You're driving, so alcohol's no good. What would you like to drink? Coffee? Tea?'

Kosuke brewed two cups of coffee. Satoru took his carefully and asked, innocently enough, 'Is your wife here today?'

Kosuke had intended to avoid the issue but, after an awkward silence, failed to come up with a plausible excuse.

'She went back to her parents' place.'

'Oh …'

Satoru's face was hard to describe. A sorry I didn't realize that was such a sore point kind of look.

'Is it okay for you to make a decision about the cat on your own? Won't you two quarrel about it when she comes home?'

'She likes cats. In fact, taking the cat might lure her back.'

'Yeah, but not everybody likes the same type of cat.'

'I forwarded those photos of Nana to her and asked her what she thought, and she said I should do whatever I like.'

'That doesn't sound like she's on board with the idea.'

'It's the only time since she left that's she's answered one of my emails.'

Taking the cat might lure her back – Kosuke had said it as a joke, but he was actually hoping it might be true.

'She's not the type of woman to chuck out a cat. And if she never comes home, then I'll look after it myself. Either way, I don't see any problem.'

Excerpted from The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.