Love cats? Head to the Fur East
THE Japanese are crazy for cats. Centuries ago, their furry friends settled in the country having arrived from China with Buddhist monks. They became either pampered pets or independent dwellers, and that’s still the case today.
Take Japan’s cat islands. There are 11, where the cat population is so high that they sometimes outnumber the humans.
Enoshima, one such island, is an hour from Tokyo kyo by train. Cats are everywhere, roaming on the beaches, streets and shrines as if they own the place, and the Enoshima-jinja Shrine is famous for its cat residents. s.
Although the cats are technically strays, cat island cats are more like residents, co-existing with locals, but belonging fully to their surroundings.
And cats have even moved into Tokyo hotels. At the Park Hotel, one floor of rooms have been designed by Japanese artists. I had the ‘Lucky Cat’ room, designed by Hyogo Mino, which meant waking up to a stunning but crazy wall of cats every morning.
Cats are also closely linked to religion – cat temples and shrines can be found throughout Japan. The Gotokuji temple in Tokyo claims to be the origin of the iconic beckoning cat (lucky (l waving cat), c the Maneki-neko.
Osaka, three hours on the bullet b train from fr Tokyo, is home ho to cat cafe Neko no Jikan, believed b li d to be the first in the world, spawning a global trend. Different breeds of beautiful cats let you join them for feeding or playtime.
Kyoto was high on my wish list, more for its history and culture than the cats, although I did lunch in a Hello Kitty restaurant.
South of Kyoto, at Kishi station in the Wakayama region, I met the famous cat station master, a real feline given the task of greeting passengers by the rail authorities.
This is where true Japanese cat hysteria exists. The cap-wearing cat Nitama seemed non-plussed as people rushed to take his photo, barely acknowledging his worshipping audience.
Nitama is the second cat station master. When the first, Tama, died in 2015, she was mourned nationally. Nitama seems a worthy successor, although he didn’t seem to do any work…
In Japan cats symbolise good fortune and if you have the good fortune to go, you won’t be disappointed.