Listen up, Internet. There's an island in Japan where cats are basically the humans' overlords. Yes, your wildest dreams just came true.
The news that cats outnumber humans on Aoshima Island six to one exploded on the Internet today, and it has appropriately been causing a stir. More than 120 feral cats live on this island nicknamed "Nekojima," or "Cat Island," alongside only about 20 mostly elderly residents. They basically live in a GIF.
The cats were originally introduced to the mile-long island as a way to get rid of the mice on fishermen's boats because they ate the silkworms needed to make nets. But it looks like once the mice were gone, the cats stayed — and multiplied with a vengeance. Reuters has a bunch of awesome recent photos taken on Aoshima that you need to check out.
Though Aoshima Island has no stores, restaurants or cars, it does have this horde of cats, which has made it something of a tourist attraction over the years. Cat lovers take the island's one ferry to check out the feline fest.
Unfortunately, this notoriety has been a bit problematic for the few residents of Aoshima. With a lack of amenities, attractions and transportation, as previously mentioned, there's not much for visitors to do on this tiny island except for look at the cats, which is a problem because the one ferry in and out of Aoshima only runs twice a day. That means tourists sometimes end up wandering on residents' private properties, Rocket News 24 reported in November 2014, which would understandably not be too cool if you lived there.
Maybe tourists should start checking out one of Japan's other "Cat Islands"? You heard that right. There are actually several "Cat Islands" in Japan. OK, are the Japanese the coolest or what?
"@TrueNatureFeels: Cat island in Japan. pic.twitter.com/mZIdVYWy5F" @jessicamarie_05 you should live here
— Drea (@andrea_g05) February 28, 2015
The purr-fect place for cat lovers. It's raining cats and tourists on Japan’s Aoshima island https://t.co/8SbBaZNLh9 pic.twitter.com/O4L4PU6wYA — Toe Knee (@TonyTharakan) March 3, 2015
Rocket News 24 also has a nice list of Japan's "Cat Islands." These include Muzukijima, which is covered in citrus groves, Aijima, which is a bit more convenient to get to due to its proximity to a bullet train stop, and Tashirojima, where dogs are not allowed, according to Kotaku.
Apparently, "Cat Islands" are not unique to Japan. The United States and Australia also had them at one time, according to Quartz. However, as Quartz also points out, feral cats have been eradicated on dozens of islands around the world because of the threat they pose to native fauna, so Japan is exceptionally friendly toward cats. But still, does anyone else kind of want American "Cat Islands" to make a comeback?
Photo: Hery Zo Rakotondramanana | Flickr
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