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Over the past few years, I’ve grown fond of cozy, chaotic, cat-centric Japanese ‘healing-fiction’ books, which feel like a warm hug from our favorite feline creature. My latest snuggle read is the 2024 release, “The Blanket Cats” by Kiyoshi Shigematsu (translated into English by Jesse Kirkwood).
It’s in the same category as another Japanese series I found comfort in: “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat” (2024) and “We’ll Prescribe You Another Cat” (2025) by Syou Ishida. The premise for all of these books is clear, yet ridiculous: a chosen-for-you cat comes home with you under mysterious conditions and you are meant to treat this cat as your own. Once your time is up, you must return the cat to wherever it came from. But you will never be the same.
In “The Blanket Cats,” we meet seven customers of a peculiar pet shop in Tokyo that offers its clients the opportunity to take home one of seven special cats, whose “magic” is felt in different ways.
But there are rules: the cats must be returned after three days; they must eat only the food supplied by the pet shop owner; and they must travel to their new homes with a distinctive blanket covering them.
Each of the seven customers is hoping a temporary feline companion will help them escape from their difficulties. They include a couple struggling with fertility issues; a middle-aged woman on the run; and two families in very different circumstances. Each cat’s (and customer’s) story is a short, simple vignette.
This type of book has become like a safety blanket for me. I know that when I flip the page, it will transport me to a safe space.
Just like the characters, I am also comforted by these “blanket cats,” so perhaps the reader is customer number eight.
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