The reason for Aoshima's nickname is clear before we set foot on the island. As our tiny vessel slows to a halt and its handful of passengers prepare to disembark, the quayside is alive with orangey-white blurs – a whiskered welcome party that forms as soon as its members hear the hum of a motor.
The only human here to greet us is Naoko Kamimoto, dressed in a pinafore with feline designs, who secures the boat with a rope as half a dozen cats swirl around her feet.
A 35-minute ferry ride off Ehime prefecture in Shikoku – the smallest of Japan's four main islands – Aoshima is the best-known of the country's 11 "cat islands". Despite the absence of a shop, restaurant or guesthouse, this speck in the Seto Inland Sea has become a must-see for visitors intrigued by a remote community where cats easily outnumber humans.
But Aoshima's days as a feline-fixated tourist destination are numbered. A decade ago there were about 200 feral cats – the descendants of animals enlisted by fishers to destroy rodents who were gnawing through their sardine nets.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 28, 2024 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 28, 2024 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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The reason for Aoshima's nickname is clear before we set foot on the island.
