📍 Kyoto, Japan 🇯🇵
Located in one of the winding lanes of Kyoto, with an address as convoluted and discombobulating as, “East of Takoyakushi Street, south of Tominokoji Street, west of Rokkaku Street, north of Fuyacho Street, Nakagyō Ward, Kyoto”, lies a nondescript, difficult to spot, wellness clinic called, Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul, run by Dr Nikké and nurse Chitose. People come here seeking help thinking it’s a mental health clinic and also having heard incredible healing stories, only to find Dr Nikké prescribing a cat (albeit a different cat for every patient) for any and all of their problems. Eccentric much?
The book has five chapters; Bee, Margot, Koyuki, Tank and Tangerine, and Mimita, named after the cat/s that have been prescribed. There’s a line drawing illustrating the cat at the beginning of every chapter. There are a couple of stories that stood out to me. The first is Bee. Shuta Kagawa, is unhappy with his monotonous job wherein his inability to perform the tasks, causes his manager to admonish and humiliate him incessantly. This translates to his personal life as well, having an untidy house and no social connections. On getting Bee, for the first time he starts to tidy up his place, to prevent the cat from swallowing harmful objects. Bee also becomes the reason for him losing his job, that leads him to finding a new job, which he actually starts liking and even the people he works with. Unknowingly Bee becomes instrumental in mediating this long overdue change in Shuta’s life, a change he was scared to seek and commit to, but done ever so organically by a cat.
The second is Koyuki. Megumi Minamida, is having trouble dealing with her ten year old daughter, Aoba. She constantly criticises and reprimands her, gets annoyed with anything and everything that Aoba says. Aoba is having issues at her school which Megumi dismisses as being trivial and instead wonders if she is depressed. She comes to the clinic to seek therapy for Aoba and Dr Nikké hands out a kitten. Suddenly, Megumi is transported back to her childhood, where she too had rescued a kitten but was never allowed to keep it by her mother. Megumi’s mother constantly rebuked her and never let her have any agency. Inadvertently, the kitten becomes a medium for Megumi to address her repressed emotions, making her reflect on her past traumas, that paves a way for her to assuage her daughter’s concerns and forge a new improved relationship.
As you can see, the stories are simple and have been simplistically told. They tackle complex human issues and interactions without being presumptuous and patronising. A special mention of the character nurse Chitose, whose oddities are in a league of their own.
The premise of a doctor prescribing a cat can seem bewilderingly outlandish but somehow manages to come across as heartwarming. Cats become the unlikely catalysts to troubled, irritated, grief stricken human beings in coming to terms with their choices and behaviours which in turn makes them contemplate on the same. Truth be told, cats in the book, don’t do anything magical. They just stare, eat and sleep; but for some unexplainable reason, they melt the stubborn hearts of the humans they have been prescribed to, ultimately bringing relief, joy and solace.
We’ll prescribe you a cat, is a cozy fiction, a genre which is getting highly popular in Japanese literature. The author, Syou Ishida, is Kyoto born and adores her cats. The book has been translated from the Japanese by E Madison Shimoda. The writing is easy, considerate and brings a realm of calm upon the reader. It is quintessentially Japanese in its ethos and presentation. Kyoto comes alive with its quirks and charms through the words of Syou Ishida. However, at the heart of the book is the universal language of acceptance, bonding and belongingness. There isn’t any sermonising, just quiet realisations and reassurances that lift the collective human consciousness.
This is a book that will brighten a dull day. The cats are luscious, fluffy and mysterious. I have always been a dog person, but Syou Ishida might have just converted me!
(Ps. Be ready to meet more cats in, “We’ll prescribe you another cat” releasing later this year.)
~ JUST A GAY BOY. 😺😻
the shiny diaries 