Aoshima cat island: more cats than people!

We at Tokyo Treat love Japanese snacks and Japanese candy but we also love cats! In the center of Tokyo it's not every day that you run into cats when you're out. Living in Tokyo is expensive and most people live in small apartments that often don't allow pets therefore many people opt to go to cat cafes. However if you want to see many cats in their natural habitat without paying for it you can visit one of Japan's cat islands like Aoshima!

Aoshima is an island in the south-west of Japan in Ehime prefecture. With only 13 (elderly) people living there, the island is predominantly inhabited by cats, there are about 130 of them! The island has very few facilities: there are no hotels, restaurants or even vending machines and the only way to reach it is to travel by ferry from Nagama port which takes about 30 minutes.

The tiny island of Aoshima with only a few houses.

The cats on Aoshima aren't shy, they have gotten used to tourists and will beg for attention and mostly snacks! You might wonder, how did the cats get there? The story goes that a long time ago fishermen were facing a plague of mice on their boats and therefore brought cats along on their trips. In 1945 The human population of the fishing village in Aoshima was about 900 but has rapidly declined over the years while the cats remained and repopulated. As you can see, most of these cats are gingers, grey tabbies and white cats mixed with those two, they are indeed a big fluffy family!

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Aww we can't wait to visit these cuties! Of course don't forget to be respectful towards the people and cats living here and don't leave any trash. Would you like to visit the cat island or do you prefer other animals like owls? Let us know in the comments!

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