Japan’s fishing islands, like Aoshima and Tashirojima, once had difficulties caused by mice that ate the silk worms used by the fishermen to produce silk from which they made, and still make, their fishing nets. Without fishing nets, they had no livelihood from fishing. Without silk, they had no fishing nets. Without silkworms, they had no silk. Without cats, they had no silkworms because they did have mice. With cats, the mice were gotten rid of and the silkworms were allowed to thrive as then did the fishermen.
No Mice, Lots of Cats
Now that the mice are gone and the silkworms safe, the Japanese continue to honor the purrfect little creatures that helped them by giving them free and unfettered homes and haven. The outnumbered, though neither overwhelmed nor daunted, human population shares in joint community care for the furry purry ones, feeding them at designated locations, allowing them to lounge at leisure where they will, giving them patient love and devotion without complaint no matter how many seas of upraised tails and orange-to-black multiplicities of color waves they need to surf through to get to where they would like to be going.
Underfoot might be the best way to describe the presence of the ocean of cats and colors. There are tailless cats, fluffy cats, sleek cats. There are cats with points and Burmese markings. There is a surprisingly strong presence of orange tabby giving rise to swells of orange stripes or orange-mixed stripes and spots. There are beach cats, cats lounging and cats sunning, especially on Tashirojima where dogs are prohibited. There are cats stacked like flowerpots step-by-step on ascending stairs. There are liquid pools of cats rejoicing over feeding time, and there are cats posing for pictures taken by tourists.
Cat-Loving Tourists
Tourists visit the cat islands that have the Japanese nickname of “neko shima” (猫島) meaning “cat island.” On some, like Aoshima, tourists might be rather bored waiting the whole day to catch a return ferry back to the mainland after admiring the furry purrsons, but on others, like Tashirojima, tourists can rent fishing poles and have a sea-side fishing adventure then rest up in cat-shaped tourist lodges designed by magna artist Shotaro Ishinomori (magna art is a style of Japanese comic book art). To keep up the good luck residents of cat islands believe the felicitous furry felines bring them, veterinarians visit the islands and check up on the health of all the pint-sized, tail flying residents. Judging from photographs of cat island cats, they are indeed healthy and happy broods of fortuitous good-fortune-bringers.
