Aoshima Cat Island (Ehime)

Aoshima is a small hilly island of about 0.49 square kilometers, 13.5 km out in the Iyo-nada sea from Nagahama. Fishing families from Sakoshi in Harima settled it in 1639, the population peaked at 889 in 1942, and today only a handful of elderly residents remain. The cats came to outnumber them many times over, which is why visitors started arriving, but this is a village, not a cat park. There are no shops, restaurants, vending machines or places to stay, there are no cars, and fresh water comes over on the boat. Ozu City's requests are short: feed the cats only at the set place, do not overfeed them, take all your rubbish home, do not disturb the residents' daily lives and do not waste water. Some areas near homes and collapsed buildings are off limits. A neutering campaign in 2018 counted 211 cats, no kittens have been seen since, and the number has been falling. The boat is the hard part. It sails twice a day, takes at most 34 passengers a day across both sailings, sells tickets on board first come, first served, and boards islanders first, so on holidays you can be left at the pier.