THE YOUR CAT BOOK CLUB
We delve into a book about a wandering cat who shows our lives are more connected than we think.
‘The Cat and the City’ is the book up for discussion this month.
...that’s when I decided to write about a cat who travels through the city.
For anyone who reads Japanese literature, Bradley’s debut novel feels like strangely familiar territory.There is that same liminality, a kind of magic happening in the back alleys of Tokyo.Things are not always as they seem. Bradley was born in Bath but lived in Japan for ten years, before returning to the UK to study Creative Writing at UEA and to complete a PhD focussing on the figure of the cat in Japanese literature.
Needless to say, Bradley is well-versed in Japanese literature, particularly books centring on cats. His favourite, he tells me, are ‘A Cat, a Man, and Two Women’ by Tanizaki Jun’ichiro- and ‘I Am a Cat’ by Natsume So-seki.Though proficient in Japanese, the author was still conscious of being an outsider while writing his debut story.
“I think books by outsiders (and this is true of all cities and places) can be interesting because they show a different perspective from a local’s,” he said.“I love reading about Natsume So- seki’s time in London because he viewed London from a completely different perspective.”
SIMILAR, YET DIFFERENT
Described as a “love letter to Japan” by fellow author Rowan Hisayo Buchanan,‘The Cat in the City’ contains many of the ingredients found in Japanese literature. And yet there is something different from this outsider perspective: perhaps it is the different inherited cultural framework and tone.The difference is also in the many references to cultural curiosities, such as the Yakuza and being unable to wear tattoos in the onsen, things a person would naturally learn as an outsider from reading and living there, and regard as worthy of inclusion.
The most apparent borrowings from Japanese literature are the way the outer world of characters reflects the inner world, and the enigmatic, quasi-magical cat, who is the backbone of all these stories. It is strange that so few books in English literature would feature prominent cats, when, according to the PDSA, 24 percent of the UK population own cats. Why is it that Japan has so many literary cats — and the UK doesn’t?
Since the Christianisation of Europe, the cat has suffered a blow to its reputation. Once venerated and mummified with the pharaohs in Ancient Egypt, cats became an omen of ill-fortune, associated with heathenry and black magic.
While the viral cat of the internet is restoring the cat to some of its former grace, this denigration of the cat was not quite so apparent in Japan, where so many paintings, folk tales, and books historically centre the feline.
Cats appear in Japanese folk tales as monstrous shapeshifters, but they are also beloved by many for their cuteness and association with protection. In Japanese shops, restaurants, and homes, the kawaii Maneki-Neko is everywhere.Traditionally a ceramic calico, with a paw raised, it is thought to bring good fortune to its owner.
The story of cats in Japan is an interesting one.“Cats were not indigenous to Japan,” Bradley explained,“They were actually brought across on boats alongside Buddhist scriptures from mainland Asia, to stop the rats and mice from eating the scriptures. These cats were then taken to temples, too, which meant that cats and Buddhist priests struck up close relationships, which you then find in early folk tales in Japan.
“The average citizen wasn’t familiar with the animal, and at that time, Japan was vegetarian, but they used fish oil in the lamps. Citizens would see the cats walking on their hind legs trying to get at the fish oil, with the light from the lantern reflected in their eyes, scaring the townsfolk at night.This developed into two different types of mythical shape-shifting cats in Japanese folk tales called nekomata and bakeneko.”
CONNECTING CHARACTERS
Reminiscent of the way cats were venerated in Ancient Egypt, Bradley tells me that cats were prized and kept by nobility as pets.
“The Tale of Genji — written by a female member of the Heian court, Murasaki Shikibu, and often considered to be the first novel in the world — contains a key scene involving a cat, which was then illustrated in many versions of the manuscript. This led to many artists depicting cats in their work, most famously Utagawa Kuniyoshi.”
We must return again to
So- seki, one of Bradley’s favourite authors, who penned ‘I am a Cat’, in the early 20th century.“So-seki was the godfather of the modern Japanese novel
(and studied English literature in London in 1902), and he inspired many writers to write about cats. So much so that I have coined a term the purr-thethic fur-lacy — a parallel to the phenomenon in Western literature whereby a character’s inner emotions are reflected in the weather (the pathetic fallacy). But in Japanese novels, we often find the emotions or feelings of characters reflected in the behaviour of a cat.”
The calico in ‘The Cat and the City’ is most certainly an amalgamation of all the literary cats Bradley read about, as well as the real ones who roam the streets of Tokyo. He says: “Whenever I encountered cats on the streets of Japan, I felt a strange connection to them.
“They would look at me and I felt no judgement in their eyes.They didn’t care that I was a foreigner, that I wasn’t Japanese.To them,
I was just another human and they didn’t have any preconceptions or ideas of who I was as a person based upon my nationality or place of origin. I found that extremely comforting.
“But it also got me thinking, what has this cat seen?
What are some of the hidden dramas that he or she has witnessed — the things that happen when people think no one is watching? That’s when I decided to write about a cat who travels through the city and connects characters.”
In truth, most of us value cats for their independence, but sometimes struggle with the knowledge that our cats’ love is polyamorous rather than monogamous. Sometimes they visit neighbours to be fed and petted. Sometimes they might roll over on the pavement and have their belly tickled by a stranger. Perhaps there is some silver lining there. During the last year in particular, many of us will have felt alone, or isolated from our communities. In the sixth short story of the book, a teacher tells her student,“… no character truly exists in isolation.”The little cat and its wanderings — like our own cats — remind us this is true.
Bradley has a tuxedo cat named Pansy.“She’s a rescue cat who was found in a bin in Great Yarmouth, completely bald. She has a great life now though,” he explains. If you want to follow Nick Bradley’s work or see pictures of Pansy, follow him on Instagram: @nasubijutsu