The cat's out of the bag: 4 purrfect places in Japan for feline lovers (Part 1)
Hands up if you have watched a cat video (or twenty) on social media! I will be honest—I can spend up to an hour scrolling through my Instagram feed just looking at all of the cat accounts I follow, and I am purr-etty sure there are many others out there who share this guilty pleasure.
Though the first cat café in the world did not open in Japan, the craze soon caught on there—the first one opened in Osaka in 2004, which grew to three the next year, and went on to multiply by a hundredfold over ten years to over 300 nationwide in 2015. Cat cafés are definitely fun to visit, but there are so many more other cat-related places in Japan that are worth the pilgrimage to pay respects to our feline overlords! In this two parter, I will introduce a few places that you can put down on your to-do list the next time you visit Japan—read on to find more information about a cat museum, cat island, and even a cat drinking hole!
1. Onomichi, Hiroshima
A view of Onomichi in the late afternoon from atop a mountain. (Image credit: Kevin Koh)
While Itsukushima/Miyajima and the Atomic Bomb Dome are no doubt the most well-known places in Hiroshima (広島県 Hiroshima-ken) it is home to so much more. Facing the Seto Inland Sea (瀬戸内海 Seto-naikai), many of Hiroshima’s cities have historically been important as port towns due to the busy nature of the sea as a transport route between Edo (江戸) (present-day Tokyo) and Kyushu (九州), and one such town is Onomichi (尾道市 Onomichi-shi).
Located between the major cities of Hiroshima (広島市 Hiroshima-shi) and Okayama (岡山市 Okayama-shi), Onomichi still plays a major role in ensuring the movement of goods and people today—it is the start of the Shimanami Expressway (しまなみ海道 Shimanami-kaidō) that links to Imabari (今治市 Imabari-shi) in Ehime (愛媛県 Ehime-ken), connecting the main island of Honshu (本州 Honshū) with Shikoku (四国). Additionally, it forms part of the Chūgoku Transversal Expressway (中国横断自動車道 Chūgoku-oudan-jidō-shadō) that links to Matsue (松江市 Matsue-shi) in Shimane (島根県 Shimane-ken).
Apart from being a major transport terminal, Onomichi has also been a cultural hotspot. Many famous writers, such as Hayashi Fumiko (林芙美子) and Shiga Naoya (志賀直哉), hail from Onomichi, and it has also been the setting for many movies, television dramas and anime/manga series, such as “Tokyo Story”, “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” and “Kamichu!”.
In addition to these contributions, there is one more aspect in which Onomichi has had a significant impact: cats. Being a port town, it was only natural that the cat population there would grow greatly. The city, though, decided to feature these cats prominently in tourism campaigns, and it has produced marvellous results, with “nekonomics” (ネコノミクス), the economic effect of the cat boom that started in Japan in the 2010s, raking in quite the windfall for Onomichi. (I mean, they even have a webpage allowing visitors to explore the streets from a cat’s point of view…)
A signboard at the entrance to Neko-no-Hosomichi describing the various shops. Note the two fukuishi-neko below the board! (Image credit: Kevin Koh)
As very little of Onomichi lies on flat ground, residents have taken to building their houses along the many slopes in the city. Though cats can be found lazing all over the paths, there is no better place to observe them than Neko-no-Hosomichi (猫の細道). If the name sounds familiar, that’s because it is a play on “Oku-no-Hosomichi” (奥の細道), the famed piece by celebrated poet Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉) detailing his journey from Edo to Oku (present-day Tohoku). Though by all means an otherwise nondescript narrow alley, what makes Neko-no-Hosomichi so special is the cat-themed buildings lining it, ranging from cafes to museums.
The signboard outside the Maneki-neko Museum. (Image credit: Kevin Koh)
What fascinated me was the Maneki-neko Museum (招き猫美術館 Maneki-neko-bijutsukan), a gallery opened by Sonoyama Shunji (園山俊二), an internationally acclaimed artist who made Onomichi his home ground in 1997, turning the seaside town into the cat-famous place it is today. Most people reading this page would be familiar with maneki-neko, a little cat figure with one paw waving as if to beckon good luck towards it and where it is placed at. This museum, the only one of its kind, houses over 3,000 maneki-neko collected by Sonoyama in various media forms like statues, painting and prints, and is well worth the ¥300 entrance fee to admire his collection. The first floor of the museum also houses a shop selling cat-related items, where you can pick up some souvenirs of your trip.
Two of the very furry felines I met in Onomichi. (Image credit: Kevin Koh)
Along the alley, you will also find fukuishi-neko (福石猫), “lucky stone cats”, rocks painted by Sonoyama to look like felines. The stones, naturally rounded after many years of being battered by the sea, are carefully treated to remove any traces of salt from within before being painted and blessed by a priest at Ushitora Shrine (艮神社 Ushitora-jinja) in Onomichi, the whole process taking between seven to eight months. There are over a thousand of such stone cats lining Neko-no-Hosomichi and living all over Onomichi, with a few up for “adoption” online!
Neko-no-Hosomichi (猫の細道)
Address: 19-26 Higashi-Tsuchido-cho, Onomichi, Hiroshima, 722-0033
Nearest station: JR Onomichi Station (JR尾道駅) , JR Shin-Onomichi Station (JR新尾道駅)
Tel: +81-84-836-5495 (Onomichi Tourist Association)
Writer’s note: JR Onomichi Station is approximately 20 minutes from JR Fukuyama Station via local trains on the Sanyo Main Line, with JR Fukuyama Station itself being approximately 3 hours 40 minutes from Tokyo on the Sanyo Shinkansen (Nozomi). Alternatively, take the Sanyo Shinkansen (Hikari) to JR Shin-Onomichi Station (approximately 4 hours 50 minutes from Tokyo), and catch a 15-minute bus ride to JR Onomichi Station.
2. Tashirojima, Miyagi
A signboard near Nitoda Port reminding visitors of the etiquette to be observed on the island. The bin on the left is for cat food donations for winter. (Image credit: Kevin Koh)
Being an island nation, Japan has many islands of its own, with almost 7,000 islands forming the country. Apart from the main islands of Hokkaido (北海道), Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa (沖縄), there are also small islands along the coasts of these that have become famous tourist spots—be it for nature getaways, important historical landmarks, or quirky art installations. Some of these islands have become animal havens, Okunoshima (大久野島) a prime example with its rabbit population. Given Japan’s love for cats, it is no small wonder that there are many cat islands out there. While a good deal of them, like Aoshima (青島), exist in the warmer climate offered by the Seto Inland Sea, there is one where the felines brave the cold, just like their human counterparts on the mainland: Tashirojima (田代島) in Miyagi (宮城県 Miyagi-ken).
A small island of around 3km2 in size and located 15km off the coast of Ishinomaki (石巻市 Ishinomaki-shi), Tashirojima once had a thriving population of around 1,000 in the 1950s. However, today, that number has dwindled to less than a tenth of what it was—the sole primary school on the island shuttered in 1989. With the average age of the islanders estimated to be around 71, the future of Tashirojima looked bleak at one point—yet, through the clever use of the many cats that roam the island freely, it has managed to reinvent itself as a tourist spot, and welcomed more than 30,000 tourists in 2014, a remarkable recovery for a place that suffered damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake (東日本大震災 Higashi-Nihon Daishinsai) and tsunami in 2011.
Neko Jinja on Tashirojima. (Image credit: Kevin Koh)
The island can be explored easily on foot, and it was while I was walking around that I discovered Miyori Shrine (美與利神社 Miyori-jinja), more affectionately known as the Neko Jinja (猫神社), a small shrine dedicated to cats. The felines were revered by the fishermen of the island as lucky animals capable of bringing bountiful catches, and were kept also to control the rodent population and guard the silkworms that contributed to Tashirojima’s economy in the past. The story goes that one day, as a fisherman was gathering rocks to use as a weight for his nets, a falling rock killed a cat; out of remorse, the fisherman buried the cat, and a shrine was built to honour it as a god, and to pray for the safety of the other cats on the island. Even now, on 15 March, the day set aside as a holy day for the shrine, tuna sashimi and sake are offered at the shrine, and fishermen on Tashirojima visit the shrine to pay their respects.
The lodges at Manga Ai-Land. (Image credit: Kevin Koh)
While Tashirojima can be done as a day trip from Ishinomaki, those who wish to stay overnight can either book a room with one of the few minshuku (民宿 guest houses), on the island, or they can choose to stay at Manga Ai-Land (マンガアイランド), a campsite on the island. Its five lodges, easily identifiable from afar due to their distinctive striped patterns, are all painted with cat faces when one gets up close with them. The cat theme is taken one step further when you consider how the lodges are named after the names of cat fur patterns, as well as typical cat names, in Japanese (Shima (しま), Shiro (しろ), Mike (みけ), Dora (どら) and Chibi (ちび))! The lodges have been designed or had their interiors painted by famed manga artists like Chiba Tetsuya (ちばてつや) of “Ashita no Joe” (「あしたのジョー」) fame, as part of Ishinomaki’s project to revitalize the town through manga.
The campsite and lodges are open only from June to October, though, but the lodges come fully equipped with kitchen equipment, as well as toilets and showers (and even bathtubs for the two large ones), and equipment can also be rented, including tents, ensuring that your stay there is a comfortable one.
While Tashirojima may not be as famous as cat island Aoshima, it does show how cats coexist with humans like they used to, something that may soon be a thing of the past with the latter, its days as a habited place numbered by its very aged and very small population. Apart from cats, there are also other activities, like fishing and cycling, to be done at Tashirojima, making it an ideal place to spend a day (and maybe a night) if you are in Ishinomaki!
Tashirojima (田代島)
Address: 5-3 Okaido-minami, Ishinomaki, Miyagi, 986-0856
Nearest station: JR Ishinomaki Station (JR石巻駅)
Tel: +81-22-595-1111
Writer’s note: The address given above is for Nitoda Port, the larger of the two ports on Tashirojima, and close to a settlement where one can find eateries, shops and lodging. The phone number given above is for the Ishinomaki City Municipal Office. JR Ishinomaki Station is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes from JR Sendai Station via the Senseki Line, and 1 hour via rapid trains that use the Senseki-Tohoku Line. JR Sendai Station can be reached in as quickly as 1 hour 30 minutes via the Tohoku-Hokkaido Shinkansen from Tokyo.
Closing
In this article, the first of a two-parter, I have introduced two cat-related spots for those who are thinking of venturing beyond Tokyo, and those who would like a more rustic, natural setting in which they can observe our feline friends as they frolic in the wild. Keep an eye out for Part 2, where I showcase two cat-themed places that can be found in the bustling city of Tokyo itself!
Header image credit: Kevin Koh
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