The Travelling Cat Chronicles

by Hiro Arikawa

Human beings are basically huge monkeys that walk upright, but they can be pretty full of themselves.

A stray cat’s skill lies in building up a complex web of connections in order to survive on the streets.

So Satoru moved with me to a new place in the same town. Going to all that trouble to move just for the sake of one cat—well, maybe I shouldn’t say this, being a cat myself, but that was one fired-up cat lover.

“Have you been laid off?” “Not exactly, well—in any case, we just can’t live together anymore.”

Is he maybe sick and he doesn't want Nana to be left alone?

The two boys tried to calm the kitten, but cats don’t often listen.

Every living creature on earth is born with an instinct to kill! You can try to dodge it by bringing in vegetarianism, but you just don’t hear a plant scream when you kill it! Hunting down what can be hunted is a cat’s natural instinct! Sometimes we hunt things but don’t eat them, but that’s what training is all about.

“Sometimes, I get the feeling he can understand what people are saying. He’s pretty bright.” Humans who think we don’t understand them are the stupid ones.

Because it was a very special thing—to have your own cat in your own home.

Feeling the weight of a cat’s paws pressing into your shoulders in the middle of the night—not much beats that.

Distant relatives you hardly ever see are, to a child, like total strangers. Friends are much closer. Why don’t adults understand that?

Seeing his best friend off before he moved away, Kosuke had never felt such deep contempt for his father.

And rightly so!!

“What with my father being so arrogant and selfish, maybe I shouldn’t have tried so hard to be a good son.”

“Some people really shouldn’t become parents. There’s no absolute guarantee when it comes to the love between a parent and their child.”

If things aren’t good, I have no problem saying so. Because cats are creatures that can say no.

If you don’t mourn a dead cat properly, you’ll never get over it.

It’s about time you cut the strings and got over your father. Cats, you know, are independent from their parents six months after they’re born.

Cats have their own preferences when it comes to music.

There’s a proverb that says a child is the glue that keeps a husband and wife together. A child who was never any trouble might keep things peaceful from day to day, but when push came to shove, that child would finally come unstuck.

“Aren’t you happy? Satoru Miyawaki is bringing his cat for the very first time.”

Our silver van was like a magic carriage. Every time I got into it, it carried me to a place I’d never been before. At that moment, we were without doubt the greatest travelers in the world. And I was the world’s greatest traveling cat.

Why am I such a low, mean person, when all I want is to be the kind of man Chikako won’t be ashamed of? thought Sugi.

Unlike himself, shamefully struggling to be the kind of man Chikako could be proud of, Satoru was already there.

Sugi is rather manipulative. But also almost sympathetic.

Satoru was a rival he would never be able to beat.

upbringing, and though he had more to be thankful for than Satoru, he began to feel dissatisfied with life. He started arguing with his parents over nothing, saying malicious things, sometimes reducing his mother to tears.

If drinking isn’t fun, then why do it?

Excellent question.

Among cats, when a female chooses a mate, it’s a very clear-cut thing. Not just among cats, but with all animals, the female’s judgment about love is absolute.

The kind of rough language to which I can’t subject you polite ladies and gentlemen.

Breaking the fourth wall.

And he felt his sense of inferiority and jealousy diminish a little. The next time I see Satoru, I know I can be a much better friend. Now that is a happy thought.

Even so, this dogs okay, cats not okay attitude is really offensive from a feline perspective.

Valid.

Cats might not seem it, but we are nothing if not patient.

“Don’t leave me . . . Stay with me.” Ah-hah! Finally. Finally, he had said what he really meant.

How could I ever leave him, having experienced that kind of love? I will never, ever, leave him.

Satoru was no longer a child. And I’m a former stray. So this time we should be able to make things work out. Okay, let’s get back on the road! This is our final journey. On this last trip, let’s see all sorts of wonderful things. Let’s make a pledge to take in as many amazing sights as we can.

myself as a cat who still hadn’t lost his identity as a hunter. And for me, as a hunter, I can tell you that I’m not going to back away from what lies ahead for Satoru.

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.

The two of us were on exactly the same wavelength.

Satoru and I would remember this rainbow for the rest of our lives. We stood there for a long time, until the weather cleared and the rainbow evaporated into the sky. This was our final journey. On our last journey, let’s see all kinds of amazing things. Let’s spend our time taking in as many wonderful sights as we can. That’s what I had pledged yesterday, when we set off. And what incredible sights we saw. Shortly afterward, we arrived in Sapporo, and our journey drew to an end.

At Satoru’s urging, Noriko very timidly reached out a hand. If that didn’t deserve a bite, I didn’t know what did. However, I’m a grown-up cat and I restrained myself, so, everyone, feel free to shower me with praise.

Learning to have some insight into other people’s sensitivities was, she concluded, more difficult than mastering the law.

Amen.

I am Satoru’s one and only cat. And Satoru is my one and only pal.

And a proud cat like me wasn’t about to abandon his pal. If living as a stray was what it took to be Satoru’s cat to the very end, then bring it on.

Satoru left behind a list of people he was close to or who had helped him in one way or another, together with a note requesting that they all be contacted and thanked. Which Noriko duly did.

What a simply generous and kind man. I hope there are people like him in the real world.

I was in the hospital to see him off.

You know something, Satoru? After you passed away, the people who miss you all became connected.

Forever and ever I am your cat, Satoru. That’s why I can’t become Noriko’s.

Bert.

My story will be over soon. But it’s not something to be sad about. As we count up the memories from one journey, we head off on another. Remembering those who went ahead. Remembering those who will follow after. And someday, we will meet all those people again, out beyond the horizon.