I can only write about this short book in superlatives. It is beautifully heart-wrenching and shows the power of love. You can learn from this book about friendship, loyalty, and the care of animals. I rarely cry over books, but this was an exceptional read in this sense. It touched me deeply. Partly because I’m crazy about cats and I can engage more when they are involved in a story but also because the end was heartwarmingly sad. 

Plot

The plot is quite simple. Nana, the street cat suffers an accident and breaks his leg. Before the incident, he spent hours sleeping on a silver van and a man named Satoru brought him food regularly. When Nana is in between life and death he goes back to the car and asks help from the one man who cared about him. This is the moment when Satoru becomes his owner. He takes him to the vet and takes care of him until he recovers. From there they are inseparable. 

They spend 5 years together when suddenly Satoru tells Nana that he cannot take care of him anymore and they need to find a new home for him. The reason behind this decision remains hidden until the middle of the book. They launch their road trip where the two of them will see beautiful landscapes and on the way we get to know Satoru’s life. 

There are 3 stops and 3 potential new owners on the way before the destination. During the trip, Nana and Satoru will see the sea, the Fuji Mountain, flowery meadows, and a rainbow. These all will be lifelong memories for them. 

Elementary school

The first one they visit is Satoru’s friend Kosuke from elementary school. They are reminiscing about how they found together Satoru’s previous cat Hachi and how much Kosuke wanted to keep it. However, his father was quick-tempered and didn’t let him bring home the cat. This is how it became Satoru’s. They both loved the cat but then Satoru’s parents died in a car accident and the cat had been taken by distant relatives. Nana resembles and reminds Kosuke of Hachi. They decide that Kosuke should have his own cat instead of adopting Nana.

High school

The next stop was Yoshimine who is a farmer and lives in the countryside. He met and became friends with him in high school. Together they were tending to the garden on Yoshimine’s grandmother’s estate. He was also not suitable to take in Nana because he only regarded cats as a good household asset (ratcatcher). By this time both Nana and deep inside Satoru knew that they wouldn’t be able to separate from each other.

University

The third place they visited was a pet-friendly B&B which was owned by two of his mates from university. Sugi and Chikako are married but when they were young Satoru also liked Chikako. Because of this Sugi felt a resentment for Satoru. In this meeting, Satoru told Chikako that he had feelings for her at the Uni but it didn’t change a thing and Sugi could finally let go of the past.

My review

It is always mentioned how happy, kind, and selfless was Satoru, even though he lost his parents at an early age. Sugi asked once how can he be so good when he had such a miserable life. Satoru has a completely different mindset. He doesn’t see his life miserable at all, he had very loving parents and an aunt who took care of him when he needed it. Now he has Nana as well and all these friends he made throughout his life. 

At first, it was a bit weird that the book was written from the perspective of Nana, but he has a very humorous narrative style. When the time came, and they needed to say goodbye, I think that was a beautiful part of this book. and the hope that they will meet again. 

I recommend this book with all my heart and don’t forget to prepare tissues. 

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