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In the context of publishing, the term “cozy” can be a bit hard to pin down, though it’s gained momentum in numerous genres, including mysteries and fantasy.
Cozy novels are typically low-stakes, but that doesn’t mean they’re not free from conflict, emotion, and heavy ideas. Instead, think of a cozy read as a respite from this increasingly stressful world—and the below Japanese books are just that. These pages are filled with steaming bowls of ramen, stories on connection and community, and lots (like, lots) of fluffy cats to solicit warm and fuzzy feelings.
We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, Translated by E. Madison Shimoda
Somewhere in Kyoto, between a confusing intersection of streets and down a shabby alley, lies the Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul. The space is small, the staff minimal, and those who find themselves checking in leave with a peculiar prescription: a cat.
We’ll Prescribe You a Cat is a charming collection of stories about the clinic’s patients: a young businessman whose corporate job drives him to despair, a middle-age father who feels like an outsider, and a perfectionist who sees flaws everywhere but within herself, to name a few. And though their tales largely stand alone, more and more is revealed about the mysterious clinic with each successive story.
The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa, Translated by Philip Gabriel
This tender novel is partially told from the POV of Nana, a sassy white and tabby cat who’s adopted from the streets by Saturo, a young business man. But when Saturo decides he can no longer care for Nana, the two travel across Japan to visit Saturo’s old friends and find his beloved cat a new home.
The Traveling Cat Chronicles’ power is in the warmth it maintains while addressing themes of grief and loss. You’ll find yourself chuckling at Nana’s internal dialog—and wiping away tears as you learn more about Saturo’s story.
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, Translated by Jesse Kirkwood
There’s nothing remarkable about the unmarked building that holds the Kamogawa Diner, but the restaurant serves its customers more than a menu of mouthwatering dishes. It’s also the home of the Kamogawa Detective Agency, run by a police detective-turned-chef and his daughter.
Instead of murders, thievery, and other traditional whodunits, these detectives focus on meal-related mysteries. Specifically, they help recreate long-lost recipes for their clients, such as recreating udon for a widower that tastes just how his wife used to make it. More food mysteries are solved in the sequel, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes.
The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu, Translated by Jesse Kirkwood
At a pet shop in Tokyo, customers can rent out one of seven very special cats for three days. Despite the short timeframe, each character in The Blanket Cats’ seven stories finds themself enchanted—sometimes literally—by their time spent with a rental cat. However, the felines’ visits rarely go as expected.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot
Think about a conversation you regret. If you could go back and say what you truly meant, would you? In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, patrons of a cozy garden-level coffee shop get the chance to return to the past—if only briefly—to have conversations with loved ones now gone.
This is the first in a series of novels including Before Your Memory Fades, Before We Say Goodbye, and Before We Forget Kindness, which all follow different stories of Cafe Funiculi Funicula’s time-traveling customers.
The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi, Translated by Cat Anderson
When her brother dies in an accident, Kotoko discovers the Chibineko Kitchen. But it’s no ordinary cafe by the sea—the kitchen specializes in remembrance meals that allow you to commune with loved ones lost.
While Kotoko’s story is the center of The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen, other tales of loss and closure are highlighted as well, including that of a widower, a boy who lost a schoolmate, and the cafe’s sole employee.
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, Translated by Eric Ozawa
After being blindsided by a breakup, Takako quits her job and falls into a depression. She sleeps all day, doesn’t feel close to anyone in Tokyo, and lacks the energy to do much of anything.
Everything changes when she moves into a small room above her uncle’s used bookshop. As Takako spends her days working among the piles of books, she becomes a voracious reader, befriends people in her neighborhood, and grows closer to the uncle she hasn’t seen since childhood in this charming book about finding belonging in what can be a lonely world.
The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, Translated by Jesse Kirkwood
A dreamlike coffee truck staffed by talking cats is the centerpiece of this cozy Japanese novel. Its customers find it by happenstance, each facing hardships, each unsure of the future, and each connected to one another.
Through its unique combination of surreal cat waiters, celestial treats described with vivid imagery, and deep-diving astrology readings, the magical Full Moon Coffee Shop helps each wayward character look back to their past in order to move forward. And readers just might get some insight into themselves, too.
What You Are Looking For Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama, Translated by Alison Watts
Any reader knows the library is a place for discovery. But in this novel, patrons are inspired by a librarian’s offbeat recommendations in ways they never anticipated.
The book opens with an unhappy retail assistant who, when looking for how-to guides on computer software, finds satisfaction in a long-forgotten children’s story. In another story, a gardening book about worms comforts an antisocial businessman who dreams of owning an antique shop.
She and Her Cat: Stories by Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa, Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
Four stories of a neighborhood’s cats and the women who care for them make up She and Her Cat. In one story, a woman finds an orphaned kitten abandoned in the rain. In another, an artist begins feeding a stray cans of tuna. As the women and cats grow closer in each narrative, they find solace from the world in one another.
