How Japan’s Cat Heaven Island became a tourism magnet, and what locals think about it

A tiny island off Fukuoka has seen a surge in domestic and foreign tourists drawn by its population of stray cats. While it has boosted the economy, some islanders fret about the visitors’ behaviour and the loss of tranquillity

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Tourists take pictures of cats on Ainoshima Island in Fukuoka Prefecture, known as “Cat Heaven Island”. Photos: Kyodo

Published: 1:30pm, 4 Apr 2016Updated: 1:40pm, 4 Apr 2016

Japan is making headlines with a craze for stray felines on a tiny isle known as Cat Heaven Island, 20 minutes by ferry from a port near the city of southern city of Fukuoka.

Ainoshima, an island in the Genkai Sea reached by boat from Shingu, has seen a startling change of late as groups of women, foreign tourists and other cat fanciers visit the fishing village to watch its stray cats strut.

Although islanders welcome the attention and significant economic impact on local businesses, there have also been complaints about visitors not behaving properly as they ignore signs that the feeding of cats is prohibited, throw litter on the streets, or cause other nuisances for locals.

About 100 cats live on the island, which has a circumference of a little less than 6km and is inhabited by about 280 people. The tourist boom only began about a year ago, with anglers the only visitors to the island previously.

It’s not Japan’s only cat island in Japan. There is another, Tashiro island, in Miyagi prefecture.

It’s great that our island has become famous but it’s no good if they disrupt our tranquil way of life, said one man in his 60s who lives on the island.

Little by little, the cats of Ainoshima have become known to the public through the internet. Now, instead of Abenomics, the talk of the town is “Nekonomics” (Cat-nomics).

The cats can immediately be seen lying and frolicking about when visitors disembark at the port. The faces of tourists light up as they snap photos or bend down to stroke the cats.

On one clear March day, a ferry with the capacity for 150 people that makes round trips from the Kyushu mainland was packed with parents and their children, groups of women, foreign tourists and other cat enthusiasts.