The Horse and I by Genki Kawamura: Story, English Release and Planned Movie

Genki Kawamura is returning to English-language bookshelves with a story that sounds tender at first and becomes much darker the more you learn about it. The Horse and I follows a lonely shipyard clerk whose bond with a former racehorse gives her life new meaning and leads her into a rapidly escalating crime.

The novel was originally published in Japan as Watashi no Uma (My Horse) in September 2024. An English translation by Chikako Kobayashi is scheduled for November 2026, and Kawamura has also revealed that he plans to turn one of his own novels into his next feature film, with The Horse and I identified in coverage of the project.

Here is everything readers should know about the story, the real case that inspired it, the English release dates and the planned movie adaptation.

At a glance: The Horse and I is a dark literary suspense novel by Genki Kawamura. The English edition, translated by Chikako Kobayashi, is due in the UK on November 12, 2026, and in the United States on November 17, 2026. A movie is in development, but its cast and release date have not been announced.

What Is The Horse and I About?

Yuko Setoguchi is a middle-aged administrative clerk working at a shipyard in a provincial coastal town. She has spent years making herself useful while attracting as little attention as possible. Her days are repetitive, her relationships are limited and her life appears to be passing without anything truly belonging to her.

That changes during her usual commute when she sees a black horse standing in the middle of the highway.

The animal is Strada, a former racehorse who escaped from a trailer. Yuko feels an immediate connection with him, as though the horse can understand something in her that other people cannot. She follows Strada to the struggling Mugikura Riding Club, begins riding him and becomes convinced that their silent bond is more honest than the conversations filling the rest of her life.

There is only one problem: caring for Strada and restoring him to his former glory costs money Yuko does not have.

Yuko handles the accounts for the shipyard’s labor union, giving her access to its funds. She begins falsifying the books and taking money, telling herself that it is only a temporary loan. The amount soon grows beyond 100 million yen. When a coworker discovers what she has been doing, Yuko must choose between confessing and continuing her increasingly desperate attempt to make Strada a champion.

The official U.S. publisher describes the book as a dark, introspective literary novel, but the setup also gives it the momentum of a psychological thriller. The suspense does not come only from whether Yuko will be caught. It comes from watching a source of freedom and affection turn into an obsession capable of consuming her life.

A Story About Loneliness, Freedom and Obsession

The most interesting part of The Horse and I may be the contrast at its center. Yuko feels invisible among people, yet she feels fully seen by an animal that cannot speak to her.

Kawamura’s official synopsis says the novel questions the nature of a modern world overflowing with words while exploring the tragicomedy of people who remain unable to understand one another. That idea gives the crime story an emotional foundation. Yuko is not initially driven by luxury or social status. She steals because Strada appears to offer the purpose, freedom and connection missing from the rest of her life.

That does not make her choices harmless. Instead, it makes her moral descent more unsettling. Each theft can be reframed in her mind as an act of love or a temporary necessity. As the stakes rise, devotion and possession begin to look dangerously similar.

There is also a strong social angle. Yuko works quietly in a male-dominated shipyard and has learned to survive by smiling, accommodating others and remaining unobtrusive. Her relationship with Strada becomes a rebellion against that small, colorless existence. The novel appears interested in what can happen when a person who has been overlooked for years finally finds something she wants badly enough to stop following the rules.

Readers who liked the uncomfortable appetites of Asako Yuzuki’s Butter or the pressure placed on women in Emi Yagi’s Diary of a Void may find a similar mixture of social observation, dark humor and transgression here. At the same time, the bond between Yuko and Strada gives Kawamura’s novel its own emotional identity.

Is The Horse and I Based on a True Story?

The novel is fiction, but Kawamura has said it was inspired by a real Japanese embezzlement case.

In an interview about his film Exit 8, Kawamura explained that the story grew from a case involving a woman who embezzled more than one billion yen from her employer and spent the money on horses. That real-world premise became the starting point for Yuko’s fictional psychological journey.

Readers should distinguish the inspiration from the events in the novel. Yuko, Strada, the shipyard and the precise chain of events belong to Kawamura’s story. The publisher’s synopsis says Yuko’s thefts exceed 100 million yen, while Kawamura has described the actual case that inspired him as involving more than one billion yen.

The true-crime foundation makes the central question even more compelling: what kind of emotional need could become powerful enough for someone to risk her job, freedom and future for horses?

When Is The Horse and I Coming Out in English?

The English translation of The Horse and I will be published in November 2026, with different dates in the United Kingdom and United States.

Flatiron Books lists the U.S. hardcover at 176 pages with ISBN 978-1-250-44076-1. The publisher’s official page also includes an English excerpt beginning with Yuko’s startling encounter with Strada on the highway.

Some early retailer and catalog listings show different page counts, which can happen before publication or between regional editions. For the U.S. edition, Flatiron’s current listing should be treated as the authoritative specification.

The translation is by Chikako Kobayashi, who also translated Kawamura’s If Cats Disappeared from the World. That earlier novel became an international bestseller, bringing Kawamura’s quiet, philosophical storytelling to a much larger audience.

When Was the Book Published in Japan?

Shinchosha published the Japanese edition, titled Watashi no Uma (literally My Horse), in September 2024. Kawamura’s official website lists the Japanese publication month and presents the story as a fast-moving work of suspense about communication, human isolation and the wordless relationship between a woman and a horse.

The English title shifts from My Horse to The Horse and I. It is a subtle change, but it places Yuko and Strada side by side rather than framing the animal simply as something she possesses, an intriguing choice for a story in which love, identity and ownership become increasingly tangled.

Is a The Horse and I Movie Happening?

A screen adaptation is planned, although the project remains at an early stage publicly.

While promoting Exit 8, Kawamura said that he would begin working on a new feature film based on his own novel and that he planned to shoot it with South Korean cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo. Hong is known internationally for films including Parasite, Burning, Snowpiercer and Decision to Leave. Reports discussing that next project have connected it to The Horse and I.

Kawamura is especially well positioned to adapt the material because he works across novels and film. He directed A Hundred Flowers and Exit 8, while his producing credits include major Japanese movies such as Your Name., Weathering with You, Suzume and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster.

Still, several important details remain unconfirmed. There is no announced cast, distributor, production start date or theatrical release date. An official movie title has not been revealed either, so it is too early to know whether the film will use The Horse and I, My Horse or another title.

Until Kawamura or a production company issues a formal announcement, any casting claims or specific release windows should be treated as speculation.

Why the Story Could Work So Well as a Film

The novel offers a naturally cinematic contrast between Yuko’s restrictive human world and the physical freedom she experiences with Strada.

The shipyard, with its enormous cranes, iron plates, heat and industrial noise, can visually reinforce the machinery of Yuko’s repetitive life. The riding club and Strada’s movement can then provide the opposite: open space, speed and a form of communication that does not depend on words.

Hong Kyung-pyo would be an exciting cinematographer for precisely that reason. His work often turns environments into extensions of a character’s psychology. If he remains attached, the adaptation could make Yuko’s isolation, exhilaration and unraveling visible without overexplaining them.

Kawamura has also spoken about listening to Bach’s Goldberg Variations while writing the novel because its rhythm reminded him of a horse’s trot. That detail suggests how music and movement could shape a movie adaptation, giving the film a pulse that accelerates along with Yuko’s obsession.

Who Is Genki Kawamura?

Genki Kawamura is a Japanese novelist, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. English-language readers may know him best for If Cats Disappeared from the World, a reflective novel about mortality that has sold millions of copies internationally.

His career also bridges literature and some of Japan’s most internationally visible films. Kawamura won the Best Director award at the 2022 San Sebastián International Film Festival for A Hundred Flowers. His follow-up, Exit 8, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival and adapted the cult video game of the same name into a psychological horror film.

That combination of intimate literary storytelling and visual ambition makes The Horse and I particularly intriguing. It is not only a new translated novel; it may also become the next major project joining the two sides of Kawamura’s career.

What We Still Do Not Know About the Movie

As of September 21, 2026, the following details have not been officially announced:

• The cast, including who will play Yuko Setoguchi
• The movie’s final title
• A distributor or streaming partner
• The start or completion of principal photography
• A Japanese or international release date
• Whether the film will closely follow the novel’s ending

Those unknowns are worth emphasizing because a creator discussing plans for a film is not the same as a studio announcing a dated release. The project is credible, but it is still too early to place it on a release calendar.

Should You Add The Horse and I to Your Reading List?

The Horse and I should appeal to readers looking for translated Japanese fiction with a darker psychological edge. Its premise combines a propulsive embezzlement story with deeper questions about loneliness, the limits of language and the point at which devotion becomes self-destruction.

It also arrives with an unusual advantage: Kawamura is already thinking cinematically about the material. Readers who pick up the English edition in November 2026 may be meeting Yuko and Strada before their story reaches the screen.

For now, the book has a firm English-language publication schedule, while the movie remains a developing project. This article will be updated when a cast, production timeline or release date is officially announced.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Horse and I by Genki Kawamura about?

The novel follows Yuko Setoguchi, a lonely shipyard clerk who becomes devoted to a former racehorse named Strada. To pay for his care and restore him to competition, she begins embezzling money from her labor union and falsifying its accounts.

When is The Horse and I released in English?

The UK edition is scheduled for November 12, 2026. Flatiron Books will publish the U.S. edition on November 17, 2026.

Who translated The Horse and I into English?

Chikako Kobayashi translated the novel from Japanese into English.

Is The Horse and I based on a true story?

It is a fictional novel inspired by a real Japanese case involving a woman who embezzled more than one billion yen and spent the money on horses.

Is The Horse and I becoming a movie?

Genki Kawamura has discussed plans for a feature based on his own novel, with cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo attached to shoot it, and coverage has identified the project as The Horse and I. No cast or release date has been announced.

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