If Cats Disappeared from the World: A Novel

By Genki Kawamura and Eric Selland

The international phenomenon that has sold more than two million copies, If Cats Disappeared from the World--now a Japanese film--is a heartwarming, funny, and profound meditation on the meaning of life.

This timeless tale from Genki Kawamura (producer of the Japanese blockbuster animated movie Your Name) is a moving story of loss and reconciliation, and of one man’s journey to discover what really matters most in life.

The young postman’s days are numbered. Estranged from his family and living alone with only his cat, Cabbage, to keep him company, he was unprepared for the doctor’s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can tackle his bucket list, the devil shows up to make him an offer: In exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, the postman will be granted one extra day of life. And so begins a very strange week that brings the young postman and his beloved cat to the brink of existence.

With each object that disappears, the postman reflects on the life he’s lived, his joys and regrets, and the people he’s loved and lost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Mar 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781250294043

Genki Kawamura

GENKI KAWAMURA is an internationally bestselling author. If Cats Disappeared from the World was his first novel and has sold over two million copies in Japan and has been translated into over fourteen different languages. His other novels are Million Dollar Man and April Come She Will. He has also written children's picture books including Tinny & The Balloon, MOOM, and Patissier Monster. Kawamura occasionally produces, directs, and writes movies, and is a showrunner. He was a producer of the blockbuster anime film Your Name.

Book preview

MONDAY

THE DEVIL MAKES HIS APPEARANCE

I couldn’t think of ten things I wanted to do before I died.

I saw a movie once where the heroine is about to die, so she makes a list of ten things she wants to do before she passes away.

Ugh, what a load of crap. Maybe I shouldn’t be so harsh. But seriously, what even goes on a list like that? A bunch of junk probably.

How would I know that? Okay, look, I don’t really know, but I tried writing that stupid list and, let me tell you, I’m embarrassed of the results.

It all started seven days ago. I had this cold that I just couldn’t shake, but I kept going to work delivering mail every day despite it. I had a slight fever that was plaguing me and a pounding migraine on the right side of my head. Since I hate going to the doctor, I was just barely keeping myself together with the help of some over-the-counter drugs, but after two weeks with no improvement I finally caved in.

That’s when I found out it wasn’t a cold. It was, in fact, a brain tumor. Stage 4.

The doctor told me I had only six months to live, tops, but I’d be lucky if I made it another week. Then he explained my options—chemotherapy, anticancer drugs, palliative care … but I had stopped listening.

I was thinking about how when I was little we used to go to the pool during our summer vacation. One time I jumped into the cold blue water with a splash, and then sank slowly to the bottom.

You have to warm up before you jump in!

It was my mother’s voice. But underwater she sounded muffled. For some reason this strange memory popped into my head. It was a moment I’d almost completely forgotten until now.

I couldn’t be in the examination room any longer. I decided to end the appointment. The doctor’s words still hung in the air as I lurched out of the room, and I ran outside screaming and knocking into pedestrians around me, ignoring the doctor’s pleas for me to stop. I stumbled and fell to the ground. When I picked myself back up again, I ran through the streets with my arms flailing around wildly until I reached the foot of a bridge and felt like I couldn’t run any farther; then I sank to my knees and let out a sob.

---

Well, no, that’s a lie. Maybe that’s not exactly what happened.

The fact of the matter is, in reality people tend to be surprisingly calm when they hear news like this.

When I found out my diagnosis, the first thought that popped into my head was that I was one stamp away from earning a free massage at the spa, and also that I shouldn’t have stocked up on so much toilet paper and laundry detergent during my last shopping trip.

But it wasn’t long until I was overcome by a bottomless sadness. I was only thirty years old. Okay, I know that means that I’ve lived longer than Hendrix and Basquiat, but somehow I felt like I still had a lot of unfinished business. There must be something, I didn’t know what, but something on this planet that only I was meant to accomplish.

But I didn’t really dwell on any of this. Instead I wandered in a daze until I reached the train station, where I spotted a couple of young guys playing guitar and singing.

This life will someday have to end, so until that final day arrives,

Do what you want to do, do it, do all you can,

That’s how you face tomorrow.

Idiots, I thought. Now that’s what I call a complete lack of imagination. No wonder they’re wasting their time singing and panhandling their lives away in front of this god-awful station.

I was so angry I couldn’t bear to wait around for the train and listen to these two guys go on any longer, so I decided to head home on foot and take my sweet time to get back to my apartment. Once I reached home, I clattered up the stairs and opened the cardboard-thin door to the cramped little space that I called home. It was then that the realization of the utter hopelessness of my situation finally caught up with me. The outlook was bad. I mean literally, for I couldn’t see a thing all of a sudden, and then I fainted right there on the doorstep.

---

When I came to, I was still lying in the doorway. God knows how long I’d been there for. In front of me I could make out the shape of a blurry, round, black-and-white ball with gray patches. The ball made a noise: Meow. That’s when I realized it was a cat. But not just any cat; it was my cat, the one I’ve been living with for four years now. He came closer and let out another meow. I took this as a sign that he was worried about me. But since I wasn’t dead yet, I righted myself and sat up. I still had a fever and my head continued to throb. Then reality hit me again and I realized this wasn’t a dream. I really was sick.

Then, out of nowhere, someone’s voice bellowed from across the room:

Hello! So great to meet you!

I looked up and there I was. I mean, it was me, standing there, looking at me. Although technically it couldn’t be me because I was still sitting in the doorway to the apartment. Maybe it was someone who looked just like me, I thought. The word doppelgänger sprang to mind. I had read something about this sort of thing in a book ages ago. There’s another you who appears when you’re about to die.

Had I finally gone crazy? I wondered. Was my time already up? My head was starting to spin, but I knew I had to tackle whatever it was that was standing before me head-on.

Um, who are you?

Who do you think?

Uhh … the angel of death?

Close!

Close?

I’m the devil.

The devil?

Yes, the devil!

And that’s how, in a surprisingly low-key kind of way, the devil appeared in my life.

Have you ever seen him? Well, I have, and he’s not what you’d expect. The real devil doesn’t have a scary red face or a pointy tail, and there’s no pitchfork in sight! The devil looks just like you. So I guess the real doppelgänger is the devil!

It was a shocking discovery and a lot to process in the moment, but what could I do about it? Here was the devil in my apartment, and surprisingly enough, he seemed like a nice guy, so I decided not to freak out and to just go along with it.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that although the devil looked exactly like me, we couldn’t have been more different when it came to our sense of style. I always dress in basic black and white. I mostly wear black slacks with a plain white shirt and a black sweater. Boring, I know, but that’s just who I am deep down—a monotone guy. I remember ages ago my mother once got fed up with my wardrobe choices. There you go buying the same thing over and over again, she’d complain, but to this day I still find myself sticking to my comfort zone whenever I go shopping.

The devil, on the other hand, dresses, um, shall we say, unconventionally? Brightly colored Hawaiian shirts with patterns of palm trees and classic American cars, board shorts, and a pair of Ray-Bans propped on top of his head—as if he were permanently on vacation. Despite it being freezing outside, for the king of the underworld, clearly it was always summer.

So what are you going to do now? he inquired.

Huh?

I mean, you haven’t got a lot of time left … you know, your life expectancy thing and all that.

Oh, that, right…

So, what are you going to do?

Well, I thought maybe I’d start with coming up with a list of ten things…

Ugh, don’t tell me you’re going to copy that old movie cliché, are you?

Yeah, sort of, I guess…

You’d really do something that corny?

You think that’s a bad move?

Well, I mean, sure, a lot of people do it and proclaim they’ll check every last item off of their bucket list … You know the kind, right? It’s a phase that everyone goes through at least once. Although I guess it’s not as if you get a second chance now, do you? Holding his sides, the devil let out a huge guffaw at this last thought.

I don’t really see what’s so funny about this…

Ah, right, right … of course. Hm … Well, I guess you never know until you try, right? Why don’t we draw up a quick list right now then, he suggested.

So I got out a sheet of blank paper and wrote at the top of the page, 10 Things I Want to Do Before I Die. Then I paused. I started feeling even more depressed immediately.

I’m going to die any day now, and here I am wasting my time writing up lists? You’ve got to be kidding.

It was difficult at first to organize my thoughts, but somehow I managed to cobble a list together, despite the fact that the entire time I was working I had to avoid the devil, who was constantly trying to peek over my shoulder. And not to mention the fact that at one point I also had to forcibly remove the cat from my desk, because like all cats he always thinks it’s good idea to sit on whatever you’re trying to work on or read.

So, after all that, here’s the list I came up with:

1. Go skydiving.

2. Climb Mount Everest.

3. Speed along on the autobahn in a Ferrari.

4. Indulge in a three-day-long feast of gourmet Chinese food.

5. Take a ride on a Transformer’s back.

6. Fly to Paris and fall in love.

7. Go on a date with Princess Leia.

8. Turn a corner just in time to bump into a beautiful woman who’s carrying a cup of coffee, then watch our passionate love affair unfold.

9. During a torrential rainstorm, run for shelter under the same awning as the girl I had a crush on in school.

10. Did I mention that I’d like to fall in love? Just once …

"Ugh, what is this? the devil asked incredulously. Are you being serious?"

Uh, well, you know…, I stammered.

C’mon, you’re not a schoolboy anymore! Frankly, I’m a little embarrassed for you.

Sorry! I’m so sorry.

Yeah, I know, I’m pathetic. I had racked my brains and this was the best I could come up with. Even the cat looked disgusted with me. I could tell he was keeping his distance.

There, there now… The devil patted me on the shoulder in an attempt to cheer me up. "Okay, tell ya what, why don’t we see about taking that skydiving trip, huh? Just a quick visit to the ATM and then it’s off to the airport we

Reviews for If Cats Disappeared from the World

[chloe.looney · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

cute but corny as hell lol felt childish a bit

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This poignant tale is bound to make you sad, yet that is not main message this novel wishes to impart. The postman is dying, and he has only his cat Cabbage for company. Yes, he has family, but he is estranged from them. He is contacted by the devil, who makes him a strange offer. He can have one additional day of life in exchange for making something disappear from the world. He wonders what the world can do without. The devil decides what will go next if the postman agrees. Does the world need cell phones? Probably not. And so the postman ponders what - and who - is really important in his soon-to-be-ending life. The climax comes when the devil offers up cats. This wonderfully thought-provoking tale is one that will have thinking about what is important in your life, people and cats included.

[knitwit2_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Certainly a “thinker”. This would be a terrific book for a group discussion. Tons of interesting elements to explore including, death and dying, the nature of evil, personal agency, and a lot more.

[hhornblower_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Devastating.
It's a simple deal with the devil story line, but handled so well. It explores the consequences of your actions, some positive, some not.
If you are at all a bit introspective, this book is for you.

[abiiharrisonn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

for such a small book (at around 200 pages), this did so much and left such a powerful impact!! the premise is original, but much like the writing style and the plot, really simple, so super easy to understand, which allows for you to really focus on the main character's / narrator's journey and character development. there were so many points that i had to stop and think about what my reaction to that particular situation would be, and so many really inspiring quotes or passages. i think i'll be thinking about this book and its messages for a long time!! also - i would absolutely die for cabbage.

[baileyc-607210 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Reading this felt like trimming my fingernails with a pencil sharpener. Between the author or translator, I don’t know whose fault that is.

[rowland_rowlands · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good existential story about the protaganist being given several choices by the devil with each having ramifications but all in all the story was well constructed.

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is an interesting surmise, I'm just not sure it worked as the central character didn't seem to have enough depth.
One day the young man who tells this story finds out that he has an incurable brain tumour and has only a limited time to live. At which point he starts writing a bucket list and wishes he has longer. At which point the devil appears. Dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, like you do. And he is offered a bargin, remove one thing from the world and gain an extra day of life.
And so he vanishes phones, movies and clocks. He gets the chance to have one more experience with each item before it vanishes, so one last phone call, one last movie etc. The surmise is interesting, what would you get rid off for one more day on the earth. But the execution seems rather poor. The central character meets up with an ex girlfriend who adores movies, and when he vanishes then, he barely gives a moments thought to what it would mean to her life. Maybe that's why they are ex... The 4th offering is cats and at this point he declines the offer. Along the way he revisits parts of his life, reviews his relationship with his mother and the broken one with his father. He is somewhere in his 30s, we find, but at times he is very childish and selfish, not considering anyone else apart from his mother and the cat.
Good idea, but the central character and the execution let it down.

[Monika · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had been thinking about reading this book for a while, because of its title and because I only read good reviews about it. And this summer I finally decided to read it, and I have to say that I liked it. It's a simple story, with few characters, but very emotional and with deep phrases that make you think.... Imagine being told by a doctor that you have little time left to live, and soon after the devil himself appears to offer you an extension on your life in exchange for you deciding to make it so that someone disappears from the world. A difficult decision? What do we have too much of? What could we live without? Should we think about others? In the end, it leaves you with a good feeling, and it's quite sentimental and full of truths. (Translated from Spanish)

[mirryi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There are moments in this book that have made me think much about those elements of my life that I easily take for granted---there are some good lines in here (disclaimer: I read the original Japanese), and the premise is fantastic. But other moments feel rather dramatic and cliche. The commentary following the end of the story proper doesn't help---its extravagant praise reads more like an advertisement than much else.

[andy5185 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was really a sweet story. A reminder of all that’s important in life - and I loved the idea of making a deal with the devil to extend your days.

[andrewrphilli-754798 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A beautiful and touching novel about loss and grief.

[dianekeenoy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was fine...

[bremo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A book that makes you reflect on the importance of life and every object. At first, I didn't like it much; the beginning of the plot was very abrupt, but the rest was very well developed and written in a way that makes you think. I highly recommend the book; it leaves a mark on you. (Translated from Spanish)

[arubabookwoman · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I mostly skimmed this slight Faustian novella. A young man learns he has only a short time to live. Still in shock, he is approached by the devil and offered one additional day of life in return for choosing one thing to "disappear" from the world. As he makes his choices, we are treated to vignettes of what life would be like if there were no phones, or no movies, for example. And then he must decide whether to live one additional day he is willing to disappear cats from the world.
There were brief spurts of interesting and slightly inspired thoughts and insights, but for the most part I think this is a skippable book, although perhaps I'm not the target audience. I found it had a very YA feel to it, and it was rather simplistic and shallow.

2 stars

[victoriacenal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is a book that, with its fluid and light plot, leads to reflect on the priorities we have in our lives, to think about the importance of the little things and how fleeting life really is; the significance of how to live day by day, what mark we want to leave in our world and on the people around us, and much more.

It is a book to which I highlighted many things, which I would undoubtedly read again and that I truly recommend. ♡ (Translated from Spanish)

[bragan_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A short, odd little fable about a man who is told he's about to die, but is then provided an opportunity to make a deal with the devil: he can buy himself another day of life, but for each day he buys, something else will be removed from the world. What might it mean, though, to live in a world without phones, or movies, or clocks, or cats? What do those things mean, specifically, to him? And is it worth the price?

These are entertaining and interesting questions. The ultimate answer we get to them, I think, risks verging onto the corny, but there's enough weird, low-key, thought-provoking charm here to make it work.

[rrkreads · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was not bad, it was not great. it was ok. Predictable, sweet, a little whimsical. This is a good coffee table book. Something you can read when you are too distracted, overwhelmed, and need a tiny dose of perspective. I wouldn't read it again, but I don't regret reading it either.

#GenkiKawamura #contemporaryFiction #scribd #audiobook #2.5starreads, #rrkreads

[Keonheeuwu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A good book, one that makes you reflect on how fleeting life is, the actions of forgiving, loving, and accepting being so essential. It is easy to read and has funny scenes ^^ (Translated from Spanish)

[Nathaly Z · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Life is a path that one only travels once. There is no second time!"

What would you do if you had one day left to live? Who would you dedicate your last call to? Who would you visit one last time? What would be the last movie you watch?

Genki Kawamura presents the story of a young postman who receives the devastating news that he will soon die due to terminal cancer. In the midst of his despair, the devil (Hawaiian version) appears to him and offers a deal: for every animated or inanimate object he agrees to disappear from the world, he will be given a day of life. As each object begins to vanish from the world, such as phones, cinema, etc., he starts to reflect on his own existence, the consequences of his desires in the world, and what his cat means to him, who is his only companion and whose existence is at stake because of this deal.

It is a simple, profound, and fun novel, despite the tragedy of having only one more day of life.

Reading: 21/2021 (Translated from Spanish)

[MariaOlga - Lectoraapasionada · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

May/27/2018

Very good and unique read, one of those books that leaves a mark and makes you think, I liked it a lot, and by the way, it's filled with my underlines.

Reality is more original than cinema! (Translated from Spanish)

[carriewuj · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This started out very promising - the narrator has just learned he has a terminal illness and not having any family (his mother is dead, his father is estranged) to process the news with, he goes home to his apartment and his cat Cabbage and in his self-mourning, he gets a visit from the devil, who looks just like him, but is a flashier dresser. The narrator is a postal worker and favors black and white, but the devil, who he comes to call Aloha, is always dressed in some variation of Hawaiian shirt, as if ready for a party. He offers the narrator a deal: he can extend his life by one day if he allows something to cease to exist. The first thing to go is phones - which might be wish-fulfillment in our dependent device days. But it pertains to all phones - how this impacts the world is not really addressed, but it does impact the narrator and causes him to reach out to others (an ex girlfriend, a friend, his father) in unique ways. Movies and clocks also disappear - again sweeping categories that surely cause havoc and have major impact, but the book is more interior and looks at the impact on the narrator - his regrets in life, his happy memories, and what he can do in the remaining time to come to an acceptance of his life choices. Not sure if it is a factor of translation or the need for a good editor, but the book lags in some places and belabors the point of what life really boils down to is choices. We just have to be sure we can live with the ones we make.

[bgknighton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Charming, delightful, whimsical. Loved it. How much is your life worth to you? What would you give up to save it? What would you regret the most -- what you did or what you didn't do?

[Comunicador · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A beautiful and different book. An enjoyable read that makes us aware of the ephemeral nature of life and what is truly essential. Everything that surrounds the main character is endearing. (Translated from Spanish)

[slevyr26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting and mildly uplifting take on life and death.

[flying_monkeys_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ahhh, my heart!! This book...sigh. Read this is you like books by Fredrik Backman, stories about the meaning of life, cats, and/or movies.

[muddyboy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A man gets diagnosed with a terminal disease with only one day to live. The devil appears and offers him an additional day of life if he is willing to get rid of one thing in the world (phones for instance). This is a very unique premise and the author is quite adept at getting into the man's head as he agonizes over what to choose. The book is very short and easy to read. Very nice first book.

[winterfox-392140 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm rather a sucker for Japanese cat books, and I snapped this one up the moment I saw that Eric Selland did the translation. Selland translated one of my favourites, Takashi Hiraide's The Guest Cat, and his poetic sensibility as a translator matched with the philosophical and whimsical premise of this book pushed me into trying it.

So this is the story of a postman who is told that he has a very small amount of time left to live, and tries to work out what to do with his remaining moments... and then is visited by the Devil, who looks just like him but with loud Hawaiian shirts, and is offered a deal: get rid of something from the world, and have your life extended by a day. Our narrator, figuring that there's lots of things you could eliminate and still be okay, goes for it, but then as things go away, he starts to have second thoughts.

The book deals both with larger ruminations on life and what it would be like without clocks, or movies, or phones, as well as more human scale relationships between our narrator and the people in his life who have already passed away, or who he'll be leaving behind. As you might guess from the cover, there's also a lot about relationships with cats, as well. These are generally pretty thoughtful, and the book strikes a good tone between hope and melancholy.

All in all, I appreciated this story, and while I don't think I'd give it as high marks as the Guest Cat, I liked the translation's quality, and its mood and insight were worth the time invested. Just don't let those cats disappear.

[toobusyreading · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This short book follows the familiar trope of making a deal with the devil. This particular personification of the devil is very fond of garish shirts and odd deals. And our protagonist accepts his deal. The book is pleasant and fun, a bit of a morality tale. And, of course, the reader (or at least this reader) can't help but wonder what she would do if offered the same deal. Altogether, it's a nice story when you want something short and interesting but not weighty.

[katebaxter_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was such a bittersweet existential study of one's human condition. The narrator is a 30-something Japanese man, striving to get on in the world. He's had a few troubling health issues so off to the doctor he goes. While there, he's informed that he has only a few months to live, at most. He is stunned by the news and begins to examine his life - determining what is important; what was squandered and whether he's made an impact during his short time in this world. He finds comfort in the company of his sweet cat, Cabbage. Then the devil appears offering the young man the opportunity to extend his life, one day at a time, obliterating the existence of some object in the world which will take the item out of everyone's world. (It's somewhat the Faust theme renewed.)

Initially, the young man goes along with this concept which buys him a couple extra days but then he is affronted by a particularly challenging choice. In this short period of a man's final days in life, we see him struggle, philosophize, and deeply examine his contribution to the world and find out for himself what truly is important in life. This is a gently sweet yet rather sad tale of discovery, joy, sorrow, reconciliation, regret and love..

I am grateful to publisher Flat Iron Books and Goodreads First Reads for having provided a free advance reading copy of this book. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone.

Synopsis (from book's back cover):
The international phenomenon that has sold over a million copies in Japan, If Cats Disappeared from the World is a funny, heartwarming, and profound meditation on the meaning of life.

The postman’s days are numbered. Estranged from his family, living alone with only his cat Cabbage to keep him company, he was unprepared for the doctor’s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can tackle his bucket list, the Devil appears to make him an offer: In exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, our narrator will get one extra day of life. And so begins a very bizarre week…

With each object that disappears the postman reflects on the life he’s lived, his joys and regrets, and the people he’s loved and lost.

Genki Kawamura’s timeless tale is a moving story of loss and reconciliation, of one man’s journey to discover what really matters most in life.