Hiro Arikawa

Against the backdrop of changing seasons in Japan, we meet Spin, a kitten rescued from the recycling bin, whose simple needs teach an anxious man how to care for his own baby. A colony of wild cats on a holiday island shows a young boy not to stand in nature's way; a family is perplexed by their cat's devotion to their charismatic but uncaring father; a woman curses her cat for constantly visiting her at night; and an elderly cat, Kota, hatches a plan to pass into the next world as a spirit so that he and his owner may be together for ever.

Bursting with empathy and love, The Goodbye Cat exquisitely explores the unstoppable cycle of life, as we see how the steadiness and devotion of a well-loved cat never let us down. A huge bestseller in Japan, every page is a joyous celebration of the wondrousness of cats and why we cannot resist sharing our lives with them.

Seven Cat Stories

The Goodbye Cat

みとりねこ

Cynthia

The idea that the soul could fall away was a concept unique to Okinawa, where they believed it could be triggered by a great shock or surprise. In that event, you had to pick up the fallen soul and return it to the body. If you didn't, you'd become depressed, your body would start to ache and, in the worst case, you could become seriously ill.

The Goodbye Cat quotes

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