Syou Ishida’s debut novel, We’ll Prescribe You a Cat (2024), is a work of contemporary Japanese fiction with elements of magical realism. Originally published in Japan in 2023 as Neko o Shohō Itashimasu, the novel is structured as a series of interconnected stories set in Kyoto. Each chapter follows a different character struggling with the anxieties of modern life, from a burned-out young professional to a grieving geiko (regional term for geisha used in Kyoto). They each find their way to the elusive Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul, where an enigmatic doctor prescribes them cats to care for. This unconventional therapy leads to unexpected revelations and personal transformations. The novel explores themes of The Healing Power of Interspecies Connection and Responsibility, Redefining Personal Worth Beyond Professional Life, and The Need for New Perspectives While Healing.

The novel is a notable example of the iyashikei (“healing fiction”) genre that has become popular internationally for offering gentle, comforting narratives as an antidote to the high-stress nature of contemporary society. By intertwining the issues of Japanese corporate work culture and animal homelessness, the novel proposes a form of mutual healing where caring for abandoned animals provides a path to recovery for humans.

This guide is based on the 2024 Berkley hardcover edition, translated by E. Madison Shimoda.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain depictions of emotional abuse, bullying, mental illness, substance use, animal cruelty and death, illness, and death by suicide.

Plot Summary

The novel begins with Shuta Kagawa, a young employee at a brokerage firm, finding the enigmatic Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul in a dilapidated Kyoto building. Shuta tells the clinic’s doctor, Dr. Nikké, that he wants to quit his stressful job. To Shuta’s surprise, Dr. Nikké prescribes him a gray cat named Bee for one week. At home, Shuta tidies his apartment for the cat and enjoys his first night of sound sleep in a long time. 

The next day, Shuta’s colleague, Kijima, reveals that he is quitting. He hands Shuta an envelope of suspicious client documents to deliver on behalf of Emoto, their abusive manager. The following morning, Shuta discovers that Bee has shredded the documents. Panicked, he asks Yuina Sakashita, an acquaintance in the accounting department, to reissue the receipts. When Yuina discovers no official record of the documents, her inquiries alert Emoto. Emoto confronts Shuta, accuses him of forging paperwork to defraud clients, and fires him. Shuta angrily returns to the clinic and blames Bee for his firing. Dr. Nikké is unfazed, noting that Shuta’s resignation dilemma is now solved. He prescribes Bee to Shuta again, this time for 10 days. On the way home, Bee escapes her carrier and scratches the hood of a new car belonging to a tough-looking man named Jinnai.

Jinnai, the owner of a construction company, and his wife, Satsuki, force Shuta to work as a manual laborer at their company to pay off the car repairs. Because they are avid cat lovers, Jinnai and Satsuki quickly become attached to Bee and dote on her. Several days later, Yuina informs Shuta that Emoto is being investigated for embezzlement. She suggests that Shuta may get his old job back. When Shuta returns to the clinic, Dr. Nikké reveals that Bee is from an animal pound and has only five days left before her adoption deadline expires, after which she will be euthanized. Distraught, Shuta decides to adopt Bee himself. That night, Emoto ambushes Shuta outside his apartment, begging him to lie to cover up the embezzlement. When Shuta refuses, Emoto threatens to report his illegally kept cat to the building’s management.

Shuta begs Jinnai and Satsuki to adopt Bee. They refuse and challenge Shuta to take responsibility for Bee’s well-being. Shuta asks Jinnai for a permanent job and for permission to live in a room above the office until he can find a pet-friendly apartment. Jinnai agrees. After officially resigning from the brokerage firm, Shuta and Yuina try to find the clinic to finalize the adoption, but the building is gone. Shuta accepts the mystery and walks away with Yuina, ready for his new life.

The second story follows Yusaku Koga, a 51-year-old call center manager experiencing insomnia. He attributes his condition to the grating cheerfulness of his new boss, Hinako Nakajima. At the Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic, Dr. Nikké prescribes Koga a tortoiseshell cat named Margot for 10 days. Koga’s first nights with the cat are a disaster. His wife, Natsue, is allergic to cats, forcing Koga to sleep with Margot in a spare room. The cat meows incessantly, preventing Koga from sleeping at all. After two sleepless nights, he oversleeps on his commute and is late for work. He returns to the clinic to complain, but Dr. Nikké points out that he looks well-rested and has stopped worrying about Hinako. At home, Koga finds that Natsue and their daughter, Emiri, have bonded with Margot after Natsue starts using allergy medication.

Margot’s presence transforms the family, who begins spending more time together. When Emiri explains the social value of compliments, Koga starts to see Hinako’s efforts to boost morale in a new light. He connects with her by sharing a video of Margot. After Koga returns the cat, the family misses having a cat and decide to adopt their own. After turning away from a highly commercialized pet store, they visit the City Cat Rescue Center and meet the deputy director, Tomoya Kajiwara, who is identical to Dr. Nikké, but denies any relation to him. The family is drawn to a calico cat, whom Koga names “Six-Patch.” They decide to take her home for a trial stay.

The third story focuses on Megumi Minamida, a mother who feels disconnected from her fourth-grade daughter, Aoba. Aoba insists on seeing a psychiatrist like her friends. At the Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic, Aoba tells Dr. Nikké about her struggles with school cliques. Dr. Nikké prescribes them a tiny white kitten, which triggers a painful memory for Megumi. The kitten is identical to Yuki, a stray Megumi’s mother forced her to abandon as a child. Megumi remembers seeing her mother crying alone later that night and realizes that her mother felt pain ordering her to let Yuki go. Overwhelmed with new empathy, Megumi watches as Aoba proves more capable of handling the kitten than she is, revealing a maturity Megumi never recognized before. When Aoba suggests the kitten could be Yuki’s child, Megumi agrees instead of dismissing her. They adopt the kitten, whom they name Koyuki (“Little Yuki”), and leave with a renewed bond.

The fourth story features Tomoka Takamine, a handbag designer whose employees quit because of her unrelenting perfectionism. Her business partner, Junko, suggests she visit the Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic. A drunk Dr. Nikké tells Tomoka she is doing everything “the wrong way” (195) and prescribes her a cat. The cat is a beautiful Ragdoll, though the instruction leaflet describes an American shorthair named Tank. Tomoka becomes obsessed with the cat, inspiring new handbag designs. 

When Tomoka returns to ask if she can keep the cat longer, Dr. Nikké realizes he gave her the wrong one, a female Ragdoll named Tangerine. He then prescribes the actual Tank in addition to Tangerine. The two cats create nightly chaos in Tomoka’s apartment. Later, a new client, a geiko named Abino, visits Tomoka’s store. Tomoka recognizes her as the clinic’s nurse, Chitose, but Abino denies it. When Tomoka mentions the name “Chitose,” Abino becomes distraught and asks to be taken to the clinic, but they cannot find it. 

That night, Tomoka finally confronts her unambitious boyfriend, Daigo, about their stalled future. During their argument, both cats become violently ill. They rush the cats to Suda Animal Hospital. After returning the cats to the clinic, Tomoka moves forward with a new design direction and a more relaxed perspective on her life.

The final story centers on Abino, a 26-year-old geiko grieving her cat, Chitose, who disappeared a year earlier. A flashback reveals Chitose was rescued by Dr. Suda from an illegal breeder in the Nakagyō Building. Abino adopted her knowing she had serious health issues. The night Abino decided to seek advanced treatment for her, Chitose escaped through a window Abino believed was locked, leaving Abino consumed by guilt. 

Encouraged by Tomoka, Abino finds her way back to the clinic, where the doctor and nurse are doppelgängers of another cat owner and herself. She is prescribed a Scottish Fold named Mimita. Abino resists bonding with him, fearing she is betraying Chitose. One night, Mimita nearly escapes, forcing Abino to confront her feelings. She then discovers the window latch in her room is faulty and realizes Chitose’s escape was an accident. Abino returns to the clinic to say a final good-bye to Chitose. The nurse returns the farewell, speaking from Chitose’s perspective. Tomoka then decides to officially adopt Mimita. An epilogue strongly implies the doctor and nurse are Nikké and Chitose, the two cats Dr. Suda rescued alongside each other. They continue their work of prescribing cats to people in need.