The Island Where Cats Outnumber People

The Surprising Story of Japan's Aoshima Cat Island

Imagine stepping off a small ferry onto a quiet Japanese island. There are no busy shopping streets, no convenience stores, and hardly any people.

Instead, you are greeted by cats. Cats resting beside old houses. Cats wandering near the harbor. Cats sitting along narrow streets as if they own the entire island.

Welcome to Aoshima, a tiny island in Ehime Prefecture where cats dramatically outnumber humans. Today, fewer than ten people live on the island, while the feline population numbers more than one hundred.

But Aoshima wasn't always known as Cat Island.

Behind all those adorable cats is a much deeper story about fishing, changing communities, and Japan's disappearing rural population.

Before the Cats Took Over

Aoshima was once a small fishing community.

For generations, people here lived close to the sea, relying on fishing as part of everyday life. Cats were useful companions in such communities because they helped control rodents around homes, boats, and stored goods.

The cats stayed.

But over the decades, something else began to change. The people started leaving.

Young residents moved away in search of education, jobs, and opportunities in larger towns and cities. Those who remained grew older, and Aoshima's human population gradually declined.

The cats, however, continued to multiply.

Eventually, the balance between humans and cats completely reversed.

When Cats Became the Majority

Today, walking around Aoshima can feel almost surreal.

A handful of people share the island with more than a hundred cats. Japan's national tourism organization describes Aoshima as having 10 or fewer human residents but over 100 feline residents.

The cats wander freely around the harbor, rest beside abandoned buildings, and gather near the places where visitors arrive.

Photos of this unusual island eventually spread around the world.

Suddenly, a tiny Japanese fishing island that few people had heard of became internationally famous as:

Japan's Cat Island.

There's Another Story Behind the Cute Photos

At first, Aoshima sounds like paradise for cat lovers.

But look beyond the photographs and you'll discover a very different story.

The shrinking population of Aoshima reflects a much larger challenge facing rural Japan.

Small villages and remote islands across the country have been losing residents as younger generations move toward major urban areas.

Schools close.

Shops disappear.

Houses are left empty.

And communities that existed for generations slowly become quieter. In Aoshima, the cats simply make that change impossible to ignore.

Ruins of a primary and secondary school. The primary school ruins are in the foreground, and the building covered in vines in the background is the secondary school ruins. 由 暇・カキコ - 自己的作品, CC BY-SA 4.0

There used to be an elementary and secondary school above the Aoshima Shrine on the island, but both are now closed. The elementary school building was used as a community center after it was closed, and later as a simple hotel.

A Tourist Attraction That Was Never Designed to Be One

By 2018, the island had been designated as a restricted settlement, with only a handful of people remaining.

The islanders were struggling to care for the large cat population on their own. Furthermore, due to the limited land, inbreeding among the cats led to some kittens being born with birth defects, and numerous other problems began to emerge.

In October 2018, after years of persuasion from animal volunteers on the other side of the strait who were providing treatment and castration for some of the Qingdao cats, along with public interest foundations and other organizations, and in consultation with Ozu City, it was decided to perform comprehensive castration surgery on all the cats on the island.

Japan Has More Than One Cat Island

Here's something many travelers don't realize:

Aoshima isn't Japan's only Cat Island.

Another famous example is Tashirojima in Miyagi Prefecture.

There, cats were historically kept to protect silkworm cocoons from rats. Fishermen also cared for the cats and shared parts of their catch with them. The island even has a cat shrine, reflecting the special place cats came to hold in the local community.

Japan's tourism authorities note that there are several islands around the country where cats significantly outnumber humans. Many developed from fishing communities or places where cats originally helped control rodents.

So Japan's famous cat islands weren't created for Instagram.

Their story began long before social media existed.

More Than Just an Island Full of Cats

Aoshima is charming, strange, and undeniably photogenic.

But perhaps its most fascinating feature isn't the number of cats.

It's what the island quietly tells us about Japan.

Behind every sleepy cat lying beside an old wooden house is a community that was once much larger. Behind every empty street is a reminder of how dramatically rural life can change within just a few generations.

Aoshima may be known around the world as Cat Island. But its real story is about much more than cats. It's the story of a fishing village, a changing population, and a tiny Japanese island where the cats stayed behind.

Due to the rapid decline in the island's population, and the fact that it will only be a matter of time before it becomes an uninhabited island, relevant sources have hinted that the flight route may be discontinued in the future.

Japan's population falls below 120 million, a record decrease of 910,000 – Population survey: Foreigners exceed 4 million.