The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase, translated by Alison Watts (Scribner)

There have been a number of confirmed cases of animals saving their owners or becoming so loyal that they wait for them even if their owners have died. The most famous is the story of Hachiko, an Akita dog that waited for its owner, Hidesaburo Ueno, at Shibuya station for over nine years after Ueno’s death. 

Although Seishu Hase is known in Japan for mostly writing Yakuza crime novels, in his book The Boy and the Dog, he has written a story about a dog named Tamon that makes a five-year journey across Japan to find his beloved owner. 

The book was originally published in the Japanese language as 少年と犬 (Shonen to Inu) in 2020 by Bungeishunju Limited. It won the Naoki Award in 2020. This edition, translated by Alison Watts, was published in English in 2023 by Scribner. 

It’s six months after the massive earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster that hit the Tohoku area of Japan on March 11, 2011. At a convenience store in Sendai, a man named Kazumasu, sees  a ragged looking dog standing on the corner of the parking lot. The dog is still there after he makes his purchase, just sitting and staring at him. 

The dog looks like a German shepherd mix and since there seems to be no owner, Kazumasa decides to take him home. He notices the dog’s collar with only the dog’s name on it - Tamon, named after Tamonten, a guardian deity. Kazumasa lives with his sister and their mother who suffers from dementia. She sometimes forgets the name of their children. When Kazumasa visits his mother with Tamon, she immediately calls the dog Kaito. 

Although their mother seemed to be happy and in good spirits whenever “Kaito” is with her, Kazumasa knew he needs to make more money so he could help out his sister and be able to put their mother in a home. He accepts a job as driver for a couple of foreign criminals and brings Tamon with him on the job. The job goes without a hitch and the foreign thieves believe that Tamon is their good luck charm. 

Kazumasa’s lucky streak came to an abrupt end. When he and the foreign thieves were being chased by a group of Yakuza, Kazumasa crashes the getaway van into a wall. Only Tamon and one of the thieves, Miguel, survive.

This is merely the start of Tamon’s journey. He travels with Miguel to Niigata, where the thief plans on stowing away on a boat to leave Japan. He can’t take Tamon with him so leaves Tamon in a secluded part of a mountain. A man who is training in the Japanese Alps is saved by a bear when Tamon chases it away from him. Although the runner encourages Tamon to come home with him, Tamon continues his journey. He’s is found by a prostitute named Miwa who finds him in the mountains of Shiga Prefecture. 

The day Miwa finds Tamon is the day she kills her boyfriend. She decides to turn herself in and lets the dog go. Tamon is then taken in by a man who lives alone on the mountain but he soon continues his journey south. 

In Kagoshima Prefecture, a small boy named Hikaru lives with his parents. The family moved here after the devastating quake. The experience has been a shock to him because he lost his friend Tamon. Since then, the boy has been unable to speak. 

Will Tamon and Hikaru ever be reunited? Can an animal and human be soulmates? Seishu Hase makes you think so. The story will make you believe in miracles. ~Ernie Hoyt