Messenger Cat Cafe

After a long life with a loving human family, tabby cat Fuuta has passed into the afterlife - but he is not as far from his owner as it seems. Slight openings bridge the divide between the lands of the living and the dead, and they can be traversed. But returning to the land of the living so soon can warp the earth, and there are rules to keep the worlds in proper balance. Alongside his new friend Natsuki, a timid black cat with far too many emotional support toys, Fuuta must learn how to ''live'' by these new rules. Fuuta interviews for a position at Cafe Pont, a cafe that exists in the liminal space between the two worlds. Nijiko, the cafe manager, explains their unique message delivery service: customers leave request cards with their name and the name of the person they wish to meet. Nijiko chooses requests with the most sentimental value, then assigns a messenger cat to arrange the ''meeting''. Meetings cannot happen directly: the cats must deliver the soul of the deceased to speak through another person in the land of the living, without causing panic, or worse: upseting the balance of the universe itself. It is a weighty task, but Fuuta rises to the challenge. After all, the job offers a special reward: the right to see his owner again. Each successful meeting earns Fuuta a pawprint-shaped stamp, and five stamps will prove he can be trusted to uphold the balance of the universe and complete his mission.

Product details

• Authors: Nagi Shimeno
• Assisted by: Jean M. (Translation)
• Publisher: Harvill Secker
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 05.02.2026
• EAN: 9781787305441
• ISBN: 978-1-78730-544-1
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Japan, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), FICTION / Literary, FICTION / Friendship, FICTION / Action & Adventure, FICTION / Cultural Heritage, FICTION / Magical Realism, Fiction in translation, FICTION / Animals, Narrative theme: Death, grief, loss, Magical Realism, Cats as pets, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, FICTION / World Literature / Japan, Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary, FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Cozy / Animals, Narrative theme: Journeys and voyages