If you have ever found comfort in the company of a cat, the smell of old books, or a steaming cup of coffee, then these cathartic Japanese novels will feel like coming home. Blending magical realism, emotions, and humour, each of these stories explores themes of healing, human connection, and the ways love and kindness change lives.
Featuring talking felines, time-traveling cafés, and bookstores that appear and disappear, these books are meditations on grief, memory, and second chances. They are sojourns for lost souls. Whether you are a longtime fan of Japanese literature or just dipping your toes into it, this collection of novels will help you take pause and reassess your life in a fast-paced world.
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
Hiro Arikawa’s books The Travelling Cat Chronicles and The Goodbye Cat are popular around the world. (Penguin Random House)
The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a touching and beautifully written Japanese novella that explores the relationship of pets with their humans. Narrated by a witty, perceptive and fiercely independent cat named Nana, who was adopted from the street, it chronicles their journey across Japan to visit people from Satoru’s past. On the surface, it is a sweet road trip, but underneath lies a deeper emotional story about loyalty, memory, and the ways people and animals shape each other’s lives. Nana’s sardonic yet affectionate perspective makes the book both humorous and heartwarming. Without being overly sentimental, it examines how small acts of kindness can have lasting effects and how love can be expressed in meaningful ways. You do not need to be a cat lover to appreciate this story. If you like it, also check out The Goodbye Cat by the same author.
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Before the Coffee Gets Cold series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, which includes five books, takes readers through a journey through time and space. (Source: panmacmillan.com/blogs)
How many times have you wished that you could get your hands on a time machine? Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, which includes five books, takes readers through a journey through time and space. The Funiculi Funicula cafe in Tokyo and its sister café in Hakodate give its patrons a unique opportunity to travel to the past or future, so long as they follow strict rules and return before their coffee gets cold. Each novel introduces new characters with poignant stories of love, loss, regret, and hope, while gradually revealing more about the café’s enigmatic staff. We meat a bevvy of characters: a woman longs to meet the daughter she never raised, a man wishes to thank a friend he never properly mourned, and a wife seeks words left unsaid. These are bittersweet tales of second chances.
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop series by Satoshi Yagisawa
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop was the debut novel of Japanese writer Satoshi Yagisawa. (Photo: HarperCollins Publishers)
Set in Tokyo’s historic Jimbocho district, home to nearly 200 bookshops, Satoshi Yagisawa’s Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and its sequel More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop offer an escape into the world of second-hand books and self-discovery. The series follows Takako, a young woman recovering from heartbreak, who finds solace and purpose while working at her eccentric uncle Satoru’s vintage bookstore. In More Days, Takako returns, now more grounded, and reconnects with familiar faces as the shop continues to be a refuge for oddball regulars, book lovers, and the lost. Subtle romantic arcs, literary trivia, and reflections on relationships unfold. T he novels celebrate the healing magic of books and community.
The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki
Mai Mochizuki is the author of The Full Moon Coffee Shop and Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop. (Photos: Penguin Random House and Audible)
The novella uses magic realism to to take us to a world where cats talk, astrology is accurate and cafes appear and disappear on a whim. Embracing the Japanese myth that cats repay kindness, it is the story of a mystical café that appears only under full moons to people who have lost their way. Run by talking, astrology-savvy cats, the café offers tea, sweets, and cryptic star chart readings to help visitors reconnect with their purpose. Told in three interconnected chapters, the novel introduces a struggling screenwriter, a romantically stuck director, a hopeful hairstylist, and a hesitant web designer, each with emotional wounds. It is a perfect read for fans of Japanese comfort fiction such as Before the Coffee Gets Cold. A follow-up Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop is slated be released in October.
We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida
We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida is a bestselling Japanese novel. (Source: Penguin Random House)
This is a story about how pets can transform one’s life. Set in a hidden Kyoto clinic known only to those truly in need, patients at the Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic are prescribed an unexpected remedy: a cat. Each chapter follows a different person: an overworked businessman, a disconnected geisha, a bullied schoolgirl, and others, who receive a feline companion tailored to help them face their emotional struggles. The cats are empathetic, mischievous, and deeply intuitive, offering companionship, clarity, and in some cases, challenges. Part magical realism, part character-driven healing journey, this novel is perfect for fans of The Travelling Cat Chronicles or The Cat Who Saved Books.
AloJapan.com