Written by: Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor
“The amount of time you spent together probably matters, but less time doesn’t mean less love. Whether it’s a day or year, human or cat, and even if we may never see them again, there are those who are irreplaceable in our lives.”
All it took was for me to see one quote from Syou Ishida’s book, “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat,” on Instagram — and I was hooked.
The novel, translated from Japanese by E. Madison Shimoda, explores the concept of prescribing a cat as medication for those who find the mysterious Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul. Often puzzled by this strange prescription, patients “take” their cat for the prescribed amount of time and find monumental changes in their lives.
After falling in love with “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat,” I quickly searched for more translated works by Japanese authors, and found “Days at the Morisaki Bookshop” by Satoshi Yagisawa and “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi at The Book Bin in Salem. With similar life-changing premises as “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat,” it made me wonder why these novels were becoming so popular in the US. After all, until recently, I had never seen any books translated into English from another language in stores unless they were manga.
“In Japanese fiction, readers are finding comforting stories about ordinary lives transformed by small adjustments of attitude, suggesting positive change is something we can all reach if we are open to it,” said Jane Lawson, deputy publisher at Doubleday Publishing, suggesting that readers are finding what may not be in English literature in its Japanese counterpart.
This then led me to Korean Dramas, or K-Dramas, subbed and dubbed anime, movies and shows. Slice-of-life plots and heroes with super abilities were the majority of what I found, but they all had one similar theme: a life-changing experience for the better.
The popularity of Japanese literature, K-dramas and other media from these regions is part of the “Hallyu,” or Korean Wave, that started in the 1990s and gained momentum in the 2000s. Who could forget Psy’s hit song “Gangnam Style,” which rocked 2012?
As these books continue to hit shelves and gain popularity, I would recommend them wholeheartedly. It wasn’t until I read “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat” that I realized how close to home Ishida’s words had hit and how my own cat has helped me immensely in the last few months, even as he bites my hands while I type this.
Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu
