This Japanese island is populated by several hundred cats, more than there are inhabitants!
Do you like cats? To the point of being completely surrounded by all these felines? If this is the case, there is a place on our planet where your passion for the felides will be recognized and rewarded. Where? On the island with cats of course, the island of Tashirojima at Japan .
Island Description
Tashirojima is an independent island of the municipality of Ishinomaki in the Miyagi region of Japan. This small island is located in the Pacific Ocean, off the Oska peninsula. That's for geographical location.
Photo credit: Flickr – Kakei.R
But Tashirojima is first and foremost known to be the cat island because of its feline population that would reach 400 individuals for a population of barely 100 people at most. Popular belief wants local residents to defend the idea that cats are a great source of wealth of good fortune.
Historically, feline domination over Tashirojima dates back to the end of the Edo era, namely between the middle of the 18th century until the half of the 19th century.
At that time, the inhabitants of this island worked mainly with silk worms and cats proved extremely useful to remove the mice that would venture a little too close to the silks.
Photo credit: Flickr – Kakei.R
This is how the tremendous love story between the population and the cats began apparently. In addition, Tashirojima was and is always a perfect place for fishermen who would have literally fallen in front of all these cats.
The fishermen used to feed the cats and live with them day by day, they contemplated them, observed them to such a point that they could guess and anticipate their behaviours, their movements, which helped them predict the weather ahead. What was interesting before leaving at sea, wasn’t it!
As a result, fishermen combined cats to their profitability: feeding them was lucky and cats helped them in their activity. This belief still remains as perennial of today.
Photo credit: Flickr – Kakei.R
A paradise for cat lovers
When one notices all the help that cats bring to the inhabitants of the island, one understands all that love that is brought to them. And as the cats are the kings of the island, one must know that no dog is accepted on the island.
Today, the island of Tashirojima has become a tourist destination, especially since a Japanese TV show came to spotlight and filmed the place in 2006. It was director Hideaki Oba who made a 5-minute animated short film titled “The island where the cats live” .
This cartoon popularized the island in the archipelago and the fervour largely surpassed Japanese borders. Now, the island attracts the curious and lovers of cats who do not tire in this natural and permanent show. It should be noted that there are many shrines on the island to the glory of the cats or in tribute to the disappeared felides.
Main photo credit: Fubirai
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