Catymology

A Japanese cat named Toro says that cats know everything. Toro's name is drawn from the word for the fatty belly flesh of a tuna. Toro is one of my favorites!

Not only is Toro's namesake tasty, but Toro himself is exceedingly wise. But I'll bet you knew that already, didn't you? You knew that as soon as Toro said "Cats know everything."

Toro is a supporting character in a very peculiar book that amanuensis has been reading: Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami. There is much about cats in this surreal tale. A human named Nakata, for example, is one of the few members of his species who can actually talk to cats. Nakata uses his gift to find lost cats. Nakata is blessed among the catted.

Some cats communicate better than others, of course. The cat Kawamura, who attempts to hold a conversation with Nakata early in the book, sounds as though he's speaking through one of those random text generators that I've mentioned before. Come to think of it, though, he does have a few choice bits about tuna.

If any of you know of some legends about cats from Japan, I would be glad to hear from you.