Through the Cat Alleyto our house in Onomichi

I came to Onomichi, in Hiroshima. A freight train rolled over the railway bridge near the station, and a short climb up the slope opened onto a view of tiled roofs and the Onomichi Waterway beyond a three-story pagoda. Up on the hill, the ropeway cars were gliding to and from Senko-ji temple.

This is a town famous for its slopes, its literature and its movies. The writers Hayashi Fumiko and Shiga Naoya lived here, and Ozu Yasujiro's Tokyo Story and Obayashi Nobuhiko's Onomichi trilogy were filmed here. My borrowed home was a wooden house with a railed balcony on the second floor. When I slid open the door to the veranda, the rooftops of the town lay right in front of me.

An autumn morning with pleasant sunshine. In the tatami room the futon was neatly folded, and beyond the second-floor railing I could see tiled roofs against a blue sky. Opening a window, I found houses and greenery stacked up the slope across the way.

At the end of the corridor stood a white wall with an oval window cut into it. Onomichi has a variety of local foods, and today I decided to make one of them in the kitchen.

Seafood from the Seto Inland Sea is another of Onomichi's specialties, so I decided to make octopus rice with locally caught octopus. I cut a carrot into thin sticks and chopped a boiled octopus leg into bite-sized pieces.

Into a black pot went the rice, octopus, carrot and fried tofu, seasoned with soy sauce, and I set it to cook. When I lifted the lid, the delicious scent of soy sauce and octopus spread through the kitchen. Folding it gently with a rice paddle brought the pink octopus up through the grains.

The sunlit sitting room looked out through glass doors onto the garden and the greenery of the town. While the rice cooked, I stood under the red lamp and took in the view.

I served the freshly cooked octopus rice into a white bowl and scattered chopped green onions on top. Cook local cuisine using local ingredients, and enjoy it freshly made, right there on the spot: that is how you come to love a place even more.

I carried the whole pot out to the round table on the veranda facing the garden. Each mouthful had the bite of the octopus and the aroma of soy sauce. Beyond the garden tree and the black wooden fence, the houses of the town peeked through. A perfectly happy lunch in the autumn light.

Light fell through the oval window by the front door. I left the house and walked down a narrow alley to a small coffee stand beside the railway tracks. I picked up a cookie shaped like a cat's face; the model, I was told, is the owner's own cat.

A pudding that suited the cute, retro interior perfectly came piled with chestnut cream: a rich flavor you can only enjoy in chestnut season. I savored it slowly by the window with a paper cup of coffee. Someday, I'd like to try picking chestnuts myself.

Stepping out under the eaves, I could see a sign by the tracks beyond the overhead wires. The cafe has since moved to another location.

There was a book in the cafe that really caught my eye: Neko-goyomi 365 Days, a cat calendar with a cover crowded with cats of every color and pattern, one for each day. I couldn't stop turning the pages. I long for a life where I can feel the seasons together with a cat.

Outside the window were a blue road sign, utility poles and the railway tracks. Leaving the cafe, I passed beneath an ivy-covered stone wall and along the covered terrace.

A black-and-white cat watched me from beside a flowerpot. This is Neko no Hosomichi, the cat alley, a back lane full of playful cat art. Cat tiles and paintings cover the walls, and a sign reading "Sacred ground of the fortune stone cats" stands among the trees.

The narrow lane runs about 200 meters from beside the three-story pagoda of Tennei-ji. Since 1998, round stones painted with cats, the fukuishi-neko, have been placed along it. I passed beneath a mural of a clock and walked on.

The railway runs alongside the town, close enough to touch. Beyond a rust-colored pylon, a freight train strung with containers rolled past. Walking down a steep slope, I saw the Onomichi Waterway appear beyond the rooftops.

The Onomichi Waterway is the narrow strait between the mainland and the island of Mukaishima. Town, bridges and harbor sit together like a miniature garden. I stood at the top of the hill and gazed for a while. When I visited one spring, the same view had been framed by cherry blossoms in full bloom.

This is a town filled with many charms. By the stone steps, a brown tabby cat let me stroke it, eyes half closed in contentment. It must be a comfortable town for them, too.

In a narrow alley between stone walls, a white noren curtain caught my eye. It belonged to a Japanese tea house in a renovated old home on the slope, with a wonderful view. Through the windows lay the rooftops and the sea. Tea bowls lined the shelves, and an old kitchen sink, a small balance scale and a tea whisk stood as if someone had just stepped away. I could almost picture what life here was like back then.

I drink plenty of coffee, but when it comes to Japanese tea I'm a beginner. On the shelf sat packets labeled "ALL ABOUT TEA" with cards describing each tea's region and variety. Each one had a different scent, and that was fascinating.

I ordered the cold tea tasting set with a sweet on the side: two glasses over ice, one green and one amber, and a small bowl of shiratama dumplings in syrup. The tea was surprisingly fragrant, with a sweetness of its own. Gazing out at the sea from the tatami room, I discovered the beauty of Japanese tea.

Maybe I'll buy lunch at the bakery with the intriguing name. Up an alley of white walls, I found a poster for a picture book, Nekonote Panya, in the shop window: a story set in a real bakery in Onomichi. But the shop I was looking for turned out to be closed that day.

Even so, the sea glittered at the bottom of the cobbled slope, and on the street stood the red sign of a ramen shop, Marubosi. I am enjoying every bit of life in Onomichi.

A yellow train rolled past the railway crossing in the evening light. Next time: Onomichi ramen and okonomiyaki.