Cat islands in Japan

File:Tashiro Island 網地島ライン 田代仁斗田待合所 Aug23,2010 - panoramio.jpg container on Tashirojima]]

Cat islands tend to be the result of the introduction of cats for pest control. Cats were particularly important for the control of mice, which caused problems such as chewing on fishing nets, eating grain supplies, or eating silkworms. These led to the development of large stray cat populations resident to the islands,{{cite web |url=https://www.vacationstravel.com/cat-island-japan/ |title=Cat Island Japan: a guide to visiting Aoshima |author=Laura Barry |publisher=Vacations & Travel |date=2024-01-23 |access-date=2025-02-03}}{{cite web |url=https://ontrip.jal.co.jp/tohoku/17578036 |title=日本の猫島9選！猫好きの聖地で"最幸"の癒し旅 |publisher=OnTrip JAL |date=2022-10-18 |access-date=2025-02-03 |language=ja}} as the cats established breeding populations.{{cite news |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cat-island-japan-truth-ainoshima_n_58d83cf3e4b02a2eaab51a20 |title=Powerful Photos Reveal The Complex Truth About An Island Ruled By Cats |author=Hilary Hanson |work=HuffPost |date=2017-03-29 |access-date=2025-02-04}} Cats may also be present due to associations with good fortune. The presence of cats on Kakarajima is said to be due to a local taboo against keeping dogs.

The survival of cats on these islands may have been facilitated by a lack of cars and dogs. In some islands, cat populations outnumber human ones. This is most extreme in Aoshima, where the number of people living on the island has decreased from around 900 in the 1940s to a small and decreasing number of elderly people in the 2020s. Most cat islands are surrounded by the ocean; Okishima is an inland cat island, located within Lake Biwa.{{cite web |url=http://yabai.com/p/2120 |title=Visiting One Of Japan's Cat Islands - The Ideal Side Trip For Cat Lovers |date=11 May 2017 |publisher=Yabai |access-date=2025-02-04}}

File:Тасиро - храм кошек.jpg]]

Cat islands have become a well-known phenomenon in Japan, and these islands have become popular tourist attractions. Some are so associated with the cats that they are sometimes simply called "Cat Island". Sometimes referred to as "cat heavens",{{cite news |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/20/national/science-health/feral-felines-cat-heaven-island/ |title=The feral felines of Cat Heaven Island |author=Rowan Hooper |work=The Japan Times |date=2014-09-20 |access-date=2025-02-05}} these islands have sought to take advantage of this tourism potential to different extents. In this respect, cat islands are similar to other areas of Japan that have started to use "nekonomics" (cat economics) to attract tourists.{{cite book |author1=Álvaro López López |author2=Gino Jafet Quintero Venegas |author3=Carol Kline |year=2023 |title=Tourism, Heritage and Commodification of Non-human Animals: A Posthumanist Reflection |publisher=CABI |isbn=9781800623286 |doi=10.1079/9781800623309.0000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SdTrEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA143 |pages=143–144}}{{cite web |url=https://www.yonden.co.jp/cnt_landl/1909/special.html |title=瀬戸内 「猫の島」 探訪 |publisher=YONDEN Shikoku Electric Power CO.,Inc. |access-date=2025-02-06 |language=ja}}

Tashirojima sees 40,000 tourists a year, while having only 60 human residents. Structures built for tourists often use cat motifs. {{ill|Sanagishima|ja|佐柳島}} is known for photos of cats jumping across a gap in a wall at a port. Residents of {{ill|Yushima, Kumamoto|lt=Yushima|ja|湯島 (天草諸島)}} have set up information signs to guide tourists to common cat locations. Aoshima, on the other hand, has not developed facilities and restricts visitors to particular areas. Cat feeding is only permitted in designated spots. Many cat islands have small human populations. The smallest is Aoshima, where the human population has dwindled to a handful.

In some islands, cats have become part of local folklore. Tashirojima has a cat shrine at a location where a cat that was accidentally killed by a fisherman is buried.{{cite web |url=https://icotto.jp/presses/11929 |title=ニャンコに癒される♡猫好きに捧ぐ猫だらけの「猫島」10選【全国】 |publisher=icotto |date=2022-09-15 |access-date=2025-02-03 |language=ja}} This cat spirit is now viewed as the guardian deity for large catches.

As these cat populations are feral, they have higher rates of disease than are normally found in pet cats. While adult cats are well fed, including by tourists, infant mortality from disease is relatively high. Tomcats often fight over the small territory available. Studies on Ainoshima found that the populations divided into groups dominated by large males, although these males often bred with females from other groups.{{cite journal |author1=伊澤 雅子 |author2=土肥 昭夫 |author3=小野 勇一 |date=1982 |title=小島に生息するノネコのグルーピングパターン |journal=日本生態学会誌 |volume=32 |issue=3 |issn=0021-5007 |doi=10.18960/seitai.32.3_373 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/seitai/32/3/32_KJ00001775992/_article/-char/ja/ |pages=373–382 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |author1=Akihiro Yamane |author2=Yuiti Ono |author3=Teruo Doi |date=1994 |title=Home Range Size and Spacing Pattern of a Feral Cat Population on a Small Island |journal=Journal of the Mammalogical Society of Japan |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=9–20 |doi=10.11238/jmammsocjapan.19.9 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jmammsocjapan/19/1/19_1_9/_article/-char/ja/ |doi-access=free}} Some people have abandoned cats on Enoshima, the cat island closest to Tokyo.

File:Enosshimatiikineko01.jpg]]

Culturally, stray animals are often regarded with different ethical considerations to indoor pets. While stray cats are often fed, locals often consider the populations wild, and they generally do not receive veterinary care.{{cite news |url=https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/95190 |title=The Harsh Reality Facing Japan's Cats, New Kings of the Pet World |author=Yoshinori Eki |work=Toyokeiza |date=2015-12-07 |access-date=2025-02-05}} Life spans for adults tend to be around three to five years.

In some cases there has been local government intervention on cat islands. Exterminating cats used to be more common in Japan, but as cats have grown in popularity non-lethal management has gained popularity.{{cite journal |author1=Kazuaki Kazato |author2=Yuya Watari |author3=Tadashi Miyashita |date=25 August 2020 |title=Identification of the population source of free-ranging cats threatening endemic species on Tokunoshima Island, Japan |journal=Mammal Research |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=719–727 |doi=10.1007/s13364-020-00528-5 |doi-access=free }} A trap–neuter–return effort began on Tokunoshima in November 2014, as the growing cat population has severely endangered the local Amami rabbit population.

Cats on Aoshima are mostly taken care of by a group called the Aoshima Cat Protection Society. As the population of the island has decreased, caring for the cats has become more difficult. In July 2017, a trap–neuter–return project was proposed, which the Ōzu city government funded in 2018. At this time, the island had 13 human residents to around 130 cats.{{cite news |url=https://japantoday.com/category/national/japan%E2%80%99s-most-famous-cat-island-moving-towards-plan-to-spay-neuter-all-of-its-kitty-inhabitants |title=Japan's most famous cat island moving towards plan to spay, neuter all of its kitty inhabitants |author=Casey Baseel |work=SoraNews24 |date=2018-02-26 |access-date=2025-02-05}} While at least one resident opposed the initiative, no kittens were recorded after the mass neutering. By 2024, there were only four human residents.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/27/japans-cat-island-falls-victim-to-demographic-crisis |title=Japan's 'cat island' falls victim to demographic crisis |author=Justin McCurry |work=The Guardian |date=2024-12-27 |access-date=2025-02-03}} That year, it was announced that the island was expected to soon cease to be home to both cats and humans, possibly within two years.{{cite news |url=https://soranews24.com/2024/09/22/japanese-cat-island-reveals-all-its-cats-will-soon-be-gone/ |title=Japanese cat island reveals all its cats will soon be gone |author=Oona McGee |work=SoraNews24 |date=2024-09-22 |access-date=2025-02-03}}

Cat islands occur in many areas of Japan, although they tend to be in the south, where the weather is warmer. Two of the most well-known are Aoshima and Tashirojima. Tashirojima is a more northern island, but as it is surrounded by the Kuroshio Current it is warmer than the nearby mainland and does not receive snow.{{cite web |url=https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/202111/202111_05_en.html |title=Cat Island |publisher=Public Relations Office Government of Japan |date=November 2021 |access-date=2025-02-03}} Cats are common on many inhabited islands,{{cite web |url=https://hapitas.jp/tabihapi/22913/ |title=猫の島もいっぱい！瀬戸内海笠岡諸島アイランドホッピング！ |author=さとちん |publisher=Tabihapi |date=2023-12-14 |access-date=2025-02-06}} so the following list is not exhaustive.

• Community cat
• Forbidden City cats
• Hermitage cats
• Parliament Hill cat colony

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOuwej4RhVE Seto Inland Sea: Two Cat Islands - A Cat's-Eye View of Japan] (YouTube video), by NHK WORLD-JAPAN

Category:Feral cats

Category:Islands of Japan

Category:Nekonomics