By Abidgail Merta Ganggang
Book title: The Cat and The City
ISBN: 978-178-6499-91-2
Author: Nick Bradley
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Publication Year: 2020
Sometimes I feel like this whole city is one vast organism. It’s like a human being that we’re all part of. But we’re restricted by the roads, by the waterways, by the tunnels, the trains. It’s like our paths are all laid out for us, and there’s no way of deviating from them. That’s what makes that cat different from us.
– Nick Bradley
“The Cat and The City” is a story that examines Tokyo and its people through the perspective of a stray cat. At least, I believe it’s from the point of view of a cat, and it’s completely different from what I expected from the cat cover.
It is more of a collection of stories from inhabitants of Tokyo from different walks of life than a cosy Japanese cat story. Some parts are heavier than others, and not everything in the metropolis is beautiful.
Filled with interwoven short stories, the book is set in the period leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which I believe was before the pandemic era begins. In preparation for the global spotlight, the municipal government is attempting to “clean up the streets”.
A little calico cat weaves in and out of the lives of the characters as she trawls the sprawling mega-city. Each narrative, which features a diverse cast of characters, contributes to a vivid portrayal of the bustling, vibrant Tokyo.
With an impressively crafted sense of place, Bradley’s Tokyo is evocative, atmospheric, and immersive.
The book, which is written by an English author about Japan, engages with a lot of stereotypes, unlike most of the Japan-centric books I’ve read.
The characters stroll through neon-lit streets, visit Izakayas after work, picnic in cherry blossom-lined parks during sakura season, and frequent cat cafes, onsens, and endless convenience stores.
The author does not shy away from certain difficult topics, such as alcoholism, broken families, homeless people, loneliness in the city, among others.
There are also salarymen (male white-collar employees), “hikikomori” (the severe avoidance of social contact), and Yakuza (powerful Japanese criminal organisations).
Characters grumble about the Senkaku Islands dispute and mutter the influx of “gaijin” (foreigners). Having said that, this is a considerably grittier and less sanitised depiction of Tokyo than one might expect from Bradley’s point of view.
But that’s fine with me because it adds to the story’s depth. It wasn’t what I expected, but it wasn’t bad either; it was simply different. There’s also a cat in it that connects all the stories.
The book is fascinating because of its rich literary allusions, multiple genres, and nuanced depiction of life, loneliness, and the struggle for connection in modern Tokyo.
One of my favourite scenes occurs early in the story, in Chapter 1, when one of Tokyo’s last art tattoo masters, who lives in a back alley in a quiet neighbourhood, is visited by a high school girl.
She wants a tattoo of, not a giant black-widow spider or an enormous, coiled snake from a renowned folktale, as in The Tattoo Murder Case, but a map on her back.
She requests a map of Tokyo be placed on her precious skin by the master’s hand. The master opens his laptop, launches Google Maps, and begins his work.
Another is in a rift at Tokyo Ueno Station, where a homeless man gets rousted from his shelter and scampers down an alley through decaying buildings.
He has only a few moments to gather all of his personal belongings, everything he owns wrapped in a cloth bundle. When he arrives at his new safe haven, he gently unfolds his bundle to count his belongings and pulls out The Makioka Sisters.
Personally, I believe Bradley wants his readers to understand what it means to be a Zainichi (a Japanese resident) in Tokyo today.
Overhearing two young women exchanging private conversations while they freshen their makeup in the lady’s room … one says that if her secret was ever revealed, her professional career would be over.
Aside from that, he wants us to grasp what it’s like to be a woman travelling Tokyo’s crowded train carriages every day, being touched and groped, and having to gather the confidence to yell the slogan from a cartoon poster “Chikan is a crime” (Molestation is a crime).
Is it true that everyone who lives in Tokyo despises living in Tokyo? Or do they have both a quiet love and affection for the city and a strong desire to escape in their hearts?
One or more characters who live in Tokyo and its surroundings are followed in each chapter.
There are many office workers on crowded trains, a tattoo artist, several homeless people, a taxi driver, two police officers, a sweet old lady, an American translator, and a couple hunting for their son’s lost cat (the one from the cover that appears in every chapter).
Having completed his PhD dissertation on the role of cats in Japanese literature, Bradley’s knowledge of Japanese culture and of Tokyo is evident from the first page.
We can follow them around several districts of Tokyo, only to learn that their lives somehow intertwine in this vast metropolis.
