Island Ozu, Ehime, Japan
Cats in Aoshima
The cat island that went round the world in 2015: a fishing village with a handful of elderly residents, no shops, two ferries a day, and more cats than people by a factor of ten. Still true, but the story is in its last chapter, and you should know that before you go.
Where to find cats in Aoshima: Aoshima, a small island in the Seto Inland Sea off Nagahama, in Ozu, Ehime, on Shikoku. When: The morning ferry, and back on the afternoon one. Spring and autumn; summer is hot and the ferry is cancelled in rough weather. Why here: The island whose cat photographs went round the world, honestly described, while it is still there to see.
The short version
- Where
- Aoshima, a small island in the Seto Inland Sea off Nagahama, in Ozu, Ehime, on Shikoku
- When
- The morning ferry, and back on the afternoon one. Spring and autumn; summer is hot and the ferry is cancelled in rough weather
- How long
- The ferry gives you about six hours on the island, or one and a half if you take the first boat back. There is nothing to do but the cats
- What it costs
- The ferry fare, a few hundred yen each way. Bring everything else; there is nowhere to buy anything
- Why here
- The island whose cat photographs went round the world, honestly described, while it is still there to see
What to bring
- Everything you will eat and drinkNo shops, no café, no vending machine. Take your rubbish home too; there is no bin.
- Both ferry timesTwo a day, 34 seats, first come first served. Miss the afternoon boat and you sleep with the cats, and there is nowhere to sleep.
- Cat food, for the feeding area onlyThere is one designated spot near the port. Feeding anywhere else is banned, and the residents will tell you so.
- Lowered expectationsThe island had over two hundred cats at its peak. All were neutered in 2018, and the population is smaller and older every year. It is still remarkable. It is not what the 2015 photographs show.
Why there are cats everywhere
In 2015 a set of photographs of an island overrun with cats went viral, and a fishing village with fewer than twenty residents found itself famous.
Aoshima is a mile-long island half an hour off the coast of Ehime, and it once had nine hundred people, a school, and a sardine fleet. The people left for the mainland through the twentieth century; the cats, brought to deal with mice in the fishing boats, did not. By the time the photographs came out there were a dozen or so residents, all elderly, and something like two hundred cats, fed by the residents and by a growing stream of visitors on the little ferry from Nagahama.
What followed was too much of a good thing. The ferry, which carries thirty-four, could not cope. Visitors fed the cats everywhere and the island filled with rubbish and cat mess, and the residents, who had not asked for any of it, made rules: feed only at one designated area near the port, take your rubbish home, do not enter the houses. In 2018, with help from an animal welfare group, every cat on the island was neutered. That was the right thing, and it means the population is now declining by design.
So this is the state of it: a small, ageing colony, fed by a few very old people and the visitors who come on the boat, on an island with no shop, no café, a closed school and a lighthouse at the far end. It is still an extraordinary place to stand for an afternoon. Go with the right expectations, do exactly what the residents ask, and be aware that you are seeing something that will not be there in twenty years.
The walk
Off the ferry at the port, where the cats are, to the feeding area, the old school, and, if you want a walk, the lighthouse at the far end. The island is a mile long. Back for the boat.
- From MatsuyamaJR Yosan line to Iyo-Nagahama, then walk to the port70 minLocal train along the coast. The port is a few minutes from the station.
- From Iyo-Nagahama stationWalk to Nagahama port and the ferry5 minTwo ferries a day. Check the timetable the night before; weather cancels it.
- From Nagahama portFerry to Aoshima35 minThirty-four seats, no reservations. The morning boat is the one to catch.
Nagahama port
The mainland harbour, a short walk from JR Iyo-Nagahama station. The ferry office is by the quay. Two sailings a day, 34 seats, and on a fine weekend the queue is longer than the boat.
The boat. Thirty-four seats and two crossings a day. Be early.Olegushka, CC BY-SA 4.0 Aoshima port
The cats meet the ferry. They know the timetable and they are on the quay and in the waiting room when the boat comes in. This is the photograph everyone takes, and it is still true.
The port. The cats arrive before the boat does.暇・カキコ, CC BY-SA 4.0 The feeding area
The one place on the island where feeding is allowed, signposted near the port. Put the food down here and nowhere else. The residents watch, and they are right to.
The feeding area. Here, only here.暇・カキコ, CC BY-SA 4.0 The old school
Up the lane, the closed branch school of Nagahama elementary, empty since the children left. Cats on the steps and in the yard. Look from the lane; it is not open.
The school. The last pupils left decades ago; the cats stayed on.暇・カキコ, CC BY-SA 4.0 The lighthouse
A walk along the island to the lighthouse at the tip, with the Inland Sea on both sides. Fewer cats out here and a good hour’s round trip. Keep an eye on the time; the boat does not wait.
The far end. Turn round in time for the ferry.暇・カキコ, CC BY-SA 4.0
Same numbers as the list. Worth keeping open on your phone.
The cats you will meet
An ageing colony of Japanese island cats, every colour, all neutered since 2018, fed by a few elderly residents and the visitors on the ferry. Tame to the point of climbing on you at the port, thinner in winter when the boats are fewer.
Port cats
On the quay and in the waiting room.
The greeters. They meet every boat.
Lane cats
On the walls and steps of the empty houses.
The rest of the colony. Do not follow them into the houses; some are still homes.
Old cats
Slower, thinner, sitting in the sun.
Most of the island now. Treat them gently.
Everybody says There are two hundred cats and six people.
Actually There were, roughly, in 2015. The cats were all neutered in 2018 and the colony has been shrinking and ageing since; the residents are fewer and older too. It is still a cat island. It is also the end of one.
How not to be the annoying one
- Feed only at the designated area. This is the one rule the island really has, and it exists because visitors broke it.
- Take every piece of rubbish home. There is no bin and nobody to empty one.
- The houses are homes. Do not enter, peer in, or photograph through the windows.
- The residents are very old and did not ask for you. A bow and a quiet thank you go a long way.
- The boat leaves on time. Be on the quay ten minutes before it.
