The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen

There has been such an increase in cat fiction being published lately! I’m on a mission to read it all, and I’m ending this year with Yuta Takahashi’s The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen, the first in his Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen series. This short book was translated from Japanese by Cat Anderson. (What a fitting name!)

What would you do to have one final meal with a departed loved one? At the Chibineko Kitchen, in a remote seaside town outside of Tokyo, you can do exactly that. With a special meal and a little kitten nearby, you may be lucky enough to see the spirit of someone who has passed. Four different people enjoy a “remembrance meal,” an experience that will change each of them.

What I Liked:

• Four interconnected short stories set at this restaurant of remembrance dishes. So far, all of the cat fiction (as I call it) that’s translated from Japanese follows a similar format: a novel that plays out like related short stories, connected to an individual or place. The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen is structured this way, though feels a bit more connected between the characters. Rumors about this remembrance meal pass from one to the next, landing with the people who need some closure after someone has passed.
• Grieving a loved one. Like so many who have lost someone, I can fully relate to the desire to have one more conversation with a person who’s passed away. What would you say in your brief, final encounter? For some of the characters here it’s an apology; for others it’s a fear of moving forward without them. It’s a sad topic, but I enjoyed seeing how the characters were able to heal.
• Recipes at the end of each chapter. Every chapter begins with a description of the remembrance meal, and after each chapter there’s a recipe for it. Foodies out there will love the chance to recreate these dishes.
• The kitten! Is the little cat a comforting companion? An adorable mascot for the restaurant? A part of the magical opportunity to enjoy a meal with a ghost? Probably all of the above, and he’s such a cute little cat!

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Only that it was a bit repetitive in how the remembrance meal played out. While each story otherwise felt distinct, the shock surrounding the meal unfolded similarly each time.

Final Thoughts

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen is a short and sweet book about loss, grief, and healing over the course of a special meal. I enjoyed this in one sitting, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen, coming out in English this February.

Special thanks to Penguin Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi
Series	Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen (#1)
Translator	Cat Anderson
Audience	Adult
Genre	Magical Realism; Short Stories
Setting	Japan
Number of Pages	192
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	February 4, 2025 (English Translation)
Publisher	Penguin Books

Official Summary

*COMING IN FEBRUARY 2026! The second book the series: The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen*

“Wonderful . . . A cozy, emotional gem . . . Each chapter is a quiet, healing moment, filled with food, memory and the comfort of cats.” —The Seattle Times

Your table awaits at the Chibineko Kitchen, where a soul-nourishing meal in the company of the resident kitten will transport you back in time to reunite with departed loved ones—for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, The Midnight Library, and Studio Ghibli films like Spirited Away.

In a remote seaside town outside of Tokyo, Kotoko makes her way along a seashell path, lured by whispers of an enigmatic restaurant whose kagezen, or traditional meals offered in remembrance of loved ones, promise a reunion with the departed. When a gust of wind lifts off her hat, she sees running after it a young man who looks like her recently deceased brother. But it’s not her brother; it’s Kai, the restaurant’s young chef, who returns her hat and brings her to the tiny establishment, where he introduces her to Chibi, the resident kitten, and serves her steaming bowls of simmered fish, rice, and miso soup—the exact meal her brother used to cook for her. As she takes her first delicious bite, the gulls outside fall silent, the air grows hazy, and Kotoko begins a magical journey of last chances and new beginnings.

Menu
Namero-don: Seasoned minced fish served on rice
Easy omelette sandwich
Umebishio: Pickled-plum jam
Sukiyaki-don: Beef hotpot, served over rice