The Cat Detective Case Files

Hiroshi Fujiwara is Japan’s Cat Detective. He has spent the last 30 years investigating missing pets all over the country. In this heartwarming collection of his most memorable cases, we meet Hiroshi, learn about his calling as a pet detective, and meet the feline friends he’s helped along the way.

There’s Tai-chan, the 21-year-old cat who goes missing during a house burglary, and Sora, the Russian Blue who likes to sneak out, going as far as three kilometers in one night. A widow is left at a loss after her cat disappears, seemingly in search of her husband who died just a week before. And Hiroshi searches for seven months for a brother and sister who end up surviving on their own in the woods. The collection also features one dog, terrier Toto, who is kidnapped by an unassuming neighbor,

Japan is no stranger to natural disasters, and in one chapter Hiroshi reflects on the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake, in which huge numbers of people were forced to evacuate their homes, taking nothing—not even their pets—with them. Hiroshi arrived in the affected areas with pet food and supplies, and rather than roaming the streets in search of help, he found the abandoned pets waiting patiently at home for their owners to return.

In The Cat Detective Case Files, Hiroshi teaches us that no pet is the same. While he has a methodical, Sherlock Holmes-like approach to solving each case, there are a million different reasons for pets to disappear. These cases are at once heartbreaking and uplifting, and showcase the love between humans and their pets in its truest form.