Japan’s Cat Island, Aoshima

( ) 長浜町青島

Location:Japan Shikoku( ) 四国地方 Seto Inland Sea, 13.5km

region’s Ehime( 愛媛県
) prefecture’s northern from
Ozu( 大洲市
) city Nagahimacho

The area is narrow, about 0.49 km^2 in size, and most

of the west is mountains, thus the houses are located
at about 300m on the east coast with the population
of three.

Brief History
The island was empty until it was used for breeding hearses in
1619. 889 people lived for fishing and they brought cats in order
to eradicate rats until WW II. After the war, the habitants, seeking
for financial help, moved to mainland. The cats became stray
cats, reproducing excessively. Now there are about 200 cats.

HEI summary
Despite the small population and area, the island is gathering a
lot of visitors for its cats. The cats’ popularity led the island to
become one of Japan’s landmark, taking part of Ozu’s economy
But the cats’ food resources were completely dependent on
habitants and visitors, some of cats are famished because of
lack of food. Also, incest created multiple of disabled cats, so
government put neutralization on all of the cats.
Impact
The outnumbering cats in one island, which is unique, attracted a
lot of people. It’s not really popular or famous over the world,
but for people who are interested in an island’s environment visit
there because the island’s history is related with history and can
become a good example of HEI. Still, the island is often seem to
be cruel and harsh environment to cats due to lack of food. Some
animal activists argue for the cats to be taken into the main
island for their safety.
Type of environment
Adapted Environment-
The people gathered to the island for the
environment’s fishes. To get rid of rats, the habitants
bought the cats, which is their adaptation
아오시마 지명
https://namu.wiki/w/ ( )
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fm.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D5IKB6qy4opU&psig=AOvVaw2SK0jECuvv1VOR60jvZh2C&ust=
1705505478463000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBMQjhxqFwoTCID1k5Wd4oMDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGrlf8ww0cA
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/03/a-visit-to-aoshima-a-cat-island-in-japan/386647/