I have currently gotten on a major Haruki Murakami kick. I noticed a common theme of cats in both Kafka on the shore and The wind-up bird chronicle. Does anyone have any suggestions for a collection of traditional mythology about cats (and in particular Bakeneko) translated to English which they could recommend to help me better understand the role of cats and broader Japanese mythology in these novels? Thanks in advance!

Actually, the first thing that came to my mind was The Cat Who Went to Heaven, a children's book set in Japan that involves cat's role as taboo in Buddhism.

Message edited by its author, Aug 12, 2009, 9:18am.

It's not directly related to your query but you might find I am a cat interesting as a cat's view on Meiji Japan.

Message edited by its author, Aug 15, 2009, 7:49am.

Fudoki by Kij Johnson is a historic fantasy about a cat woman. I don't know whether it will help answer your question.

(Johnson wrote a much better book about a fox woman, called The Fox Woman naturally enough, which is based on a Japanese tale. It has much more folklore and mythology in it.)