Fukuoka: The Island Of Cats

You cats of   Tashiro-jima , called the island of cats,  are treated with love and respect by the fishermen from Kyushu , just 20 minutes by ferry from Fukuoka, Japan.

Kyushu is an island a few kilometers in size. It is inhabited by about 500 people who are dedicated to fishing and, of course, cats.

There are hundreds of them roaming freely on the island. Almost all are wild. For lovers of these animals, the place is becoming a tourist attraction. Let’s meet him?

Tashiro-jima and her cats

Tashiro-jima is a small island, which is also called “Cats Island”. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, opposite the Oshika Peninsula, and has a population of around 100 people. 83% of them are over 65 years old.

In the past, the island’s inhabitants were dedicated to the production of silk. To ensure their livelihood and production, the villagers took the cats to the island to fight the rats.

Fukuoka fishermen also frequented Tashiro-jima and when they stayed in the inns, the cats would appear looking for food scraps.

Over time, fishermen watching the cats found they were also useful for predicting weather patterns.

According to the inhabitants of Tashiro-jima, every time a fisherman found a dead cat, he buried it and built a shrine, now known as Neko-jinja.

There are currently ten shrines. But the love of the Cat Islanders for the furry little ones isn’t just in the sanctuaries.

On the island, there are 51 stone monuments with the figures of cats and there are a series of buildings containing the silhouette of these animals.

The photographer known as Fubirai spent several years researching his blog and documenting the cats on the island. In your blog you can see that the streets of the place are inhabited by small felines of different colors, races and sizes.

Note that Tashiro-jima is located very close to the Tohoku region, which was hit in 2011 by an earthquake and tsunami, which caused terrible damage and thousands of deaths in Japan.

According to reports, the island’s residents survived the earthquake. Many people say that minutes before the catastrophe, some cats were impatient and sought shelter.

Currently, Tashiro-jima is visited by thousands of tourists who love cats. To get there, you must take a ferry from Shingu City, Fukuoka, Japan.

When you walk around the island, there are cats, cats and more cats. They are all of a very friendly nature. Locals are familiar with them. They pick them up, pet them and feed them, as if they were just another of their pets.

Kyushu, another island in Japan

The island of Kyushu, also in Fukuoka , is another place in Japan that is known to house thousands of cats that live on its streets. There live wild cats that usually don’t have a very easy life.

According to studies, these animals live between three and five years. Some of them even less, if compared to the 15 years that a domestic cat lives.

Scientists who have studied cats in Fukuoka claim that pussies live in groups and have a strict hierarchy. There are many fights between male cats and rivals to ensure priority access to females in heat.

This ensures that they are more successful in mating and breeding. According to research, the bigger and heavier the males are within a group, the easier access it will have to females.

Cats on the island compete to get enough food to feed their kittens. Life is difficult for them and many little ones tend to die of hunger, disease and even infanticide, just as lions do.

Unlike Tashiro-jima, cats in Kyushu are not in such good condition and, as mentioned earlier, they tend to get sick and lack food.

On this island, cats eat litter and what little fish waste can be found. Many people try to fight the overpopulation of animals and sometimes have a friendly relationship with them, but due to the large number of cats that live on the island, it has not yet been possible to improve their quality of life.