Shelf To Table
Food Spotlight: Castella Cake
The perfect food pairing for this novel is Castella Cake. Its gentle flavor and airy crumb make it the perfect comfort dessert, evoking warmth, nostalgia, and the quiet simplicity that echoes the emotional tone of If Cats Disappeared from the World.
If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
A book that explores what it truly means to live — inviting you to confront your regrets, reflect on the choices that shaped your life, and consider what you’d be willing to give up when faced with the end.
Page To Plate
Food Featured In The Book
Chinese food appears on his bucket list as one of the comforts he wants to indulge in endlessly, a small pleasure he longs to savor before time runs out.
Character Cravings
A fitting food for this narrator—standing at the edge of death and reflecting on his relationships, regrets, and memories—would be a warm bowl of miso soup with simple rice. It’s quiet and comforting, the kind of humble meal someone eats when they’re fragile and deep in thought. The miso’s aged depth mirrors the long stretch of his life, while the rice grounds him in the people he’s reconnecting with, especially his father. It’s a meal filled with warmth, reflection, and quiet acceptance
Book Club Bite
For a fun book club tie-in, bring sweet treats that you’d never be able to give up—think chocolate-covered strawberries, mini donuts, brownie bites, or a colorful fresh fruit tray. These irresistible favorites make a playful nod to the book’s theme of sacrifice and spark great conversation about which indulgences everyone would fight hardest to keep.
“Yes. That’s what I remember when I look at these photos. Simply that I was happy.”
Genki Kawamura