We've just been featured in "Cat-Friend Newspaper (Dec. 2018 Issue)"
This is the English translation of the article.
Up in heaven, there is a “god of cats”....
whose job it is to deliver ownerless cats to people kind enough to look after them. Maybe the cat in your house was chosen by this god, too?
This story starts with Daisuke and his wife Tomomi feeling beside themselves with worry.
Whilst on a trip, their beloved cat Fuku-chan had disappeared without trace.
Fuku-chan and her buddy Daikichi are known as the “traveling cats” since they travel everywhere with Daisuke and Tomomi. There may be some of you who remember the story, as they were the cats featured in an article in this very newspaper back in July (issue 98), when we visited their office.
During the interview, Fuku-chan curled up on the desk next to us (picture on below).
In August, Fuku-chan went with the family on a trip to Tanegashima....
an island off Kagoshima in Kyushu. Looking to enjoy a stroll along the seafront, they ventured out to the Kanehama Coast.
Kanehama Coast attracts lots of surfers looking to catch the big waves that roll in there, and this day was no different, with many large, white-topped waves crashing in.
Daisuke put on Fuku-chan’s harness and dropped her down onto the sand as he prepared to attach on her lead, ready for the walk.
It was at this point that an exceptionally large wave roared in, crashing and breaking into the shore. Frightened by the noise, Fuku-chan took flight in the opposite direction.
Before Daisuke could react, she had disappeared into the surrounding thickets and bushes.
The bushes Fuku-chan had run into were perched on top of a steep cliff-face. Daisuke diced with death as he climbed the steep slope and scratched around in the thickets looking for Fuku-chan. But she was nowhere to be found.
Daisuke stumbled back down the slope....
before going back up at different locations further along, repeatedly fighting through the thickets in his frantic search.
During this time, Daisuke’s wife Tomomi drove down the narrow lanes surrounding the scrubland, visiting houses and shops in the neighborhood to spread the word that their cat had disappeared, and asking people to contact them if any sightings were made.
Following his frantic search in the bushes and thickets, Daisuke’s arm was full of scratches. Then, the sun began to set.
They realized that they had been searching for Fuku-chan for over 15 hours, and they were starting to tire, both physically and mentally.
They knew they needed to take a break to re-gather their strength. For now, Daisuke and his wife returned to the car. Their exertions getting the better of them, they both suddenly broke down in tears. Daikichi quietly snuggled up to them and gave them a comforting lick.
Despite intending to have a rest in the car, they couldn’t stop thinking about Fuku-chan. They decided to search for another hour and then to take a 30-minute nap. However, sleep was not forthcoming. Daisuke kept replaying in his head the decision to put Fuku-chan down on the beach before attaching her lead to the harness. And they thought back to the time they first adopted Fuku-chan, wondering if they would ever see her again. They felt like their world had been turned upside down. With Fuku-chan still missing, the night grew ever deeper.
It was about 3:30 am when, thinking they should try to look for Fuku-chan one more time, they crawled out of the roof-tent on their car. Then they casually looked into the car. Inside was the buggy that Fuku-chan and Daikichi ride in when going on walks. And there, next to the car, was….
Daisuke cried out in astonishment and yelled to his wife, “Fuku-chan is here!”....
Despite the fact that the car was now parked in a completely different place to where Fuku-chan had disappeared, she had used her wits and animal homing skills to locate it, and made her way there without Daisuke and Tomomi knowing.
Daisuke and Tomomi gave each other an emotional embrace. They were so overjoyed to have Fuku-chan back!
The car was parked at the top of the brush, at an accommodation facility. It appeared that Fuku-chan must have crept through the bushes and found it silently. They were surprised as they had searched the surrounding area many times over the preceding hours, even putting out her cat basket to try to attract her, all in vain.
It appeared that Fuku-chan must have noticed the car had been moved from the original place and spent many hours searching around for it.
The harness Fuku-chan was wearing had been brand new, but having been dragged around the thickets and bushes, it was now torn to shreds.
It must have been a scary experience for Fuku-chan, too. She may have seen the flashlight held aloft by Daisuke, or she may have heard the voice of Daisuke’s wife Tomomi, calling out to her. Picking up on small clues like that, and not doubting that Daisuke, Tomomi, and Daikichi were nearby, she set about finding the car. Fifteen long hours later, she had finally tracked it down.
Fuku-chan was originally a discarded kitten....
Tomomi, who was working in Shinjuku-Gyoen National Park at the time, found Fuku-chan inside a cardboard box that had been dumped in the street.
Initially, she was very jumpy and nervous, and wouldn’t come out of her buggy when taken outside.
However, she gradually got used to being around people and being taken out in the open, and these days she isn’t even afraid to approach dogs bigger than herself. She also used to have serious eye-related problems, but managed to overcome that challenge, too. The experience of getting lost on the island has surely served to build up her character even more.
Owner Daisuke looks back on the event remorsefully, saying “I won’t put her down on the ground before attaching her lead again. As her owner, I feel ashamed to have been so careless.”
The experience hasn’t put Fuku-chan off traveling, though. In fact, just the other day she visited an apple park in Gunma Prefecture. And she also continues to accompany Daisuke to his office.
The whole family is always together. On trips, all of them camp out in the car’s roof-top tent.
Getting lost whilst out on the road was a terrible experience, but Fuku-chan’s still loves to spend time in the car’s roof-top tent.
And whenever Daisuke or Tomomi feel like she’s not around, she will quietly snuggle up to their side. She is the ever-friendly and ever-dependable Fuku-chan.
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