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.

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=AOvVaw2
SK0jECuvv1VOR60jvZh2C&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/