A Cat’s Perspective

Written by Richard Booth’s Bookshop, September 2024

Globally, there is a significant amount of folklore associated with cats, ranging from the belief that they are associated with witches to the belief that they are sacred animals. However, nothing quite compares to the contradictory Japanese folklore, wherein cats are either considered to bring good luck, or have monstrous and supernatural tendencies.

Naturally, as with most folklore, there are many variations of each story. Some argue that a Lord was stood beneath a tree when he saw a cat waving at him. As the Lord moved closer to the tree, a lightning bolt struck the tree, thus leading to the belief that cats bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. In complete contradiction to this, it is also subjectively believed that cats can become demonic, with some of the most intimidating versions being bakeneko or shapeshifters, and kasha or corpse-eaters. Quite intense concepts, really.

This dichotomy in folklore lends itself remarkably well to fiction; suddenly a cat can either become a loving, good-fortune-giving pet, or a demonically possessed animal who could take revenge on its owner. This opens up the world of fiction into a much less limiting concept of what a cat symbolises, allowing authors to mould and characterise cats in-line with whichever form of folklore legend is best suited to their literary creation.

Thankfully, the majority of the books featuring cats as a protagonist that we have encountered at the bookshop follow the folklore tales that cats can bring good fortune, foster companionship and support their human owners through life changes.

In complete contrast to this however, other theories include that cats are featured so prominently because the story is written from their perspective: cats have the unique perspective in that they can observe the entire happenings within a home without significantly impacting the plot. If you contemplate this theory, you will notice that books written in the third person could easily be narrated by a cat.

Interested in exploring the concept yourself? Why not pick up a copy of one of our most popular translated Japanese fiction, involving cats? We stock titles including: The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide; Kafka by Haruki Murakami; Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa; The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa; Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi; The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai. All available to reserve through the website by clicking on the images below, or calling in to see us.