Weekly Reader: The Cat With Three Passports by C.J. Fentiman; Sweet Travel Book With Plenty of Cat-itude
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: As anyone who has a cat knows: cats are the true rulers of any household and we humans are simply their over glorified servants. How often do cats demand just that specific brand of cat food and turn their nose up at any other substitutes? How often do they swat their paws at any other pet that gets into their territory or give their humans imperial stares to remind them who’s in charge? How often do cats turn their backs to be left alone but will sit on our laps or keyboards right at the most inopportune moments to get attention? My personal favorite is when a cat designates a specific human as their “Official Human Mattress” so they can sleep on them all night while their human servant underneath struggles to be comfortable with a five to ten pound weight laying on their hips or legs. Yes, cats are something else: independent, fussy, quirky, argumentative, but somehow lovable and adorable.
C.J. Fentiman’s The Cat With Three Passports is a lovely book for any cat lover or owner uh I mean servant. It details Fentiman’s life in Japan when after a time of fruitless wandering and searching for meaning, she finds it in a new country with her partner and an excitable bundle of feline fur and nonstop energy.
Fentiman’s first time in Japan was in her mind a disaster. She and her partner, Ryan, were hired to teach English in one of the largest multi language schools in Osaka. What she hoped for was an opportunity to get to know the city, interact with students, and find some purpose. What she got instead was a dehumanized approach to education which lumped Fentiman with the other “Anglo” teachers, remote teaching without connecting with the students, and a school whose administration practically owned her time away from campus. Fentiman wrote that she and Ryan didn’t stay even a week before they packed their bags and returned to their native England. Unfortunately, Fentiman was beginning to realize that running away was a distinct pattern in her life from a troubled youth in England, to Australia, then to Japan. She realized that she wasn’t looking for something so much as she was constantly leaving at the first sign of trouble.
As she describes it she and Ryan were “lured back to Japan by two cats.” Feeling guilty about leaving so quickly, Ryan and Fentiman found another opportunity to teach English in a more remote location Hida-Takayama, about 312 km north of Osaka. As if the fact that there would be more human interaction wasn’t enough of a draw, what really turned them around was the fact that their potential apartment was housed by two cats. The former owners had to leave and they couldn’t find anyone to take care of their small gray kittens, so Fentiman and Ryan found new teaching opportunities and two furry roommates named Iko and Niko (one and two in Japanese). Iko, the cuddler, and Niko, the timid one, made their human’s lives more colorful and friendlier as they adjusted to their new lives of working and living in a foreign country.
Iko and Niko were great companions and stress relievers for their humans. When Fentiman hit a rough patch in her teaching, she considered once again packing up and leaving but one look at those two precious faces gave her anchors to remain, smooth out the edges, and work alongside the students, staff, and community.
After she chose to remain in Hida-Takayama, Fentiman found another responsibility. Ryan rescued a small kitten from trying to cross a busy street. The couple took the little guy home and he became a permanent fixture in the household. The couple originally had a hard time introducing their new little friend to his future roommate and adjusting to the new apartment. At first the couple tried to lure him out with toys which he liked to play with but when they wanted to pet him, he hissed and scratched at them. It took about two weeks before he accepted his new human friends. They separated the cats letting them spend small amounts of time together so they could grow used to each other. The older cats at first hissed at him but grew accustomed to their new brother (or at least knew that bribing him meant food was present). The kitten accepted his new home and upon realizing that music soothed the tiny beast, Fentiman and Ryan named their newest fur baby Gershwin or G for short.
Gershwin may have adjusted to his new home, but he was not exactly the easiest cat to live with. Unlike the older and slower moving Iko and Niko, Gershwin was young, feisty, mischievous, and sometimes considered trouble on four legs. Many times, he would leap up and attack anyone who approached, earning the moniker “Ninja Attack Kitten.” He also wasn’t above attacking anything twice his size needing Fentiman and Ryan to discipline him. Fentiman wasn’t kidding when she described Gershwin as “kawaii” for cute but also “kowaii” for scary. Gershwin was a lot of both.
Their cat circle grew wider as they took in Takashi, a sickly kitten that they had examined for Feline HIV. Thankfully, Takashi didn't. The newcomer caught the cat flu and made a full recovery thanks to the care and devotion of the human companions.
The Cat With Three Passports is a great guide for anyone living with one or several cats, especially a sometimes troublesome cat who makes life “interesting” for the humans unfortunate enough to be caught up in their presence. It’s not exactly a guide for pet owners, but it does lead by example to show how a pair of loving pet owners loved and managed the felines in their lives.
Besides a wonderful book about caring for and loving pets, it’s also a great travel book. Fentiman captures Japan’s natural beauty, customs, and technology . When they first arrived in Osaka, it was spring and the blossoms were present and fragrant. The flowers were such a part of the people’s lives that their football team was called The Blossoms.
Fentiman and Ryan witnessed various festivals such as the Fertility Festival in which some create effigies of men's umm little friends. (Don't worry in keeping with Shinto's themes of balance, they have a festival to honor women's little hidden friends as well). Fentiman's descriptions of the festivals including the colorful decorations and graceful floats make the festivals come alive.
The festivals also gave Fentiman a sense of closure in her own life. During the Obon Festival, which people honor their deceased ancestors, Fentiman thought of her own difficulties with her family, such as her deceased mother and distant father and began the process of letting go of her hurt and angry feelings towards them. Later she contacted long lost relatives. Even though reconciliation and moving on were long processes, the festival allowed Fentiman to stop focusing on her past and live solely in the present to become a better teacher, partner, and pet mother.
Fentiman indulged in many activities like mountain climbing and community bathing. In one chapter, Fentiman was talked into getting a traditional makeover complete with kimono, obe, and updo. Far from looking like an elegant geisha, Fentiman felt self-conscious and unattractive until she went outside and got caught up in bystander's enthusiasm. Wearing those clothes also gave her insight into the daily lives of Japanese women and how restrictive some traditions were.
Fentiman and Ryan found their time in Takayama cut short because of increasing expenses and debt. They had to accept better paying teaching jobs in a school called British Hills, an English training center and resort, in Fukushima. That meant saying goodbye to the friends and village that they had grown to love and especially the breakup of their cat haven home. They made sure that Iko, Niko, and Takashi had good homes. The constant interviewing and inspection of each future cat owner is one that many will relate to as well as the tearful goodbyes when the end comes.
However, Fentiman and Ryan opted to keep Gershwin because they weren't sure if the feisty little guy would adjust to a new home and even though he was a mischief maker, the Ninja Attack Cat was their favorite.
Readers will understand the difficulties of making pets ready for travel including getting them used to a long trip,making sure they have their vaccinations, and getting them spayed and neutered. It's a stressful ordeal alongside the packing, getting rid of things, and saying goodbye to friends.
Cats are notorious for having difficulties with change. It was no doubt a miracle that Gershwin became used to his new home and being an only cat. The exploring of his new domain and the cuddling and spoiling by his humans certainly helped with the transition. Gershwin's adjustment also allowed Fentiman and Ryan to make a bigger move to Australia with cat in tow.
Ikigai is a strong theme throughout this book. It means finding one's purpose. In the past, Fentiman was always wandering, running away when things got hard, and looking for something to belong to. Her time in Japan and taking care of the cats, especially Gershwin, revealed her purpose. Teaching, traveling, and caring for cats was her ikigai and if not for Gershwin and Japan, she never would have found them.
The Cat With Three Passports is a wonderful book about travel, animals, and finding one's true purpose. It has plenty of beauty and plenty of cat-itude.
