- Planet Earth
Once a thriving sardine fishing island, today Aoshima is home to roughly 80 cats and just a handful of people who look after the felines with the help of food donations from around Japan.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
An island resident gives some recently caught fish to cats in Aoshima, Japan.
(Image credit: Carl Court/Getty Images)
- Copy link
- X
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
Become a Member in Seconds
Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Delivered Daily
Daily Newsletter
Sign up for the latest discoveries, groundbreaking research and fascinating breakthroughs that impact you and the wider world direct to your inbox.
Signup +
Once a week
Life's Little Mysteries
Feed your curiosity with an exclusive mystery every week, solved with science and delivered direct to your inbox before it's seen anywhere else.
Signup +
Once a week
How It Works
Sign up to our free science & technology newsletter for your weekly fix of fascinating articles, quick quizzes, amazing images, and more
Signup +
Delivered daily
Space.com Newsletter
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
Signup +
Once a month
Watch This Space
Sign up to our monthly entertainment newsletter to keep up with all our coverage of the latest sci-fi and space movies, tv shows, games and books.
Signup +
Once a week
Night Sky This Week
Discover this week's must-see night sky events, moon phases, and stunning astrophotos. Sign up for our skywatching newsletter and explore the universe with us!
Signup +Join the club
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter QUICK FACTSName: Aoshima
Location: Ehime prefecture, Japan
Coordinates: 33.7361, 132.4812
Why it's incredible: Cats outnumber humans by about 27 to 1.
Aoshima is a tiny, 0.2-square-mile (0.5 square kilometers) Japanese island in the Seto Inland Sea that is home to around 80 feral cats and three elderly people. It is the best known of 11 "cat islands" in Japan where felines easily outnumber humans.
A decade ago, there were about 200 cats on the island, but a mass spaying-and-neutering program in 2018 reduced the number of cats by more than half, and no kittens are known to have been born there since then. All of the remaining cats are older than 7, and a third have diseases caused by decades of inbreeding, according to The Guardian.
You may like-
Coyote scrambles onto Alcatraz Island after perilous, never-before-seen swim
-
'Parasites of human societies': How did we end up so close to cats?
-
60 mind-blowing science facts about our incredible world
"We just take it one day at a time," Naoko Kamimoto, a resident of the island who is in her 70s and known locally as the "cat mama," told The Guardian in 2024. "But the day will come when there are no people left, and no cats. All we can do is make sure we look after them for as long as we're here."
Aoshima was settled in the 17th century and grew into a sardine fishing community with almost 900 inhabitants. Fishers brought a handful of cats to the island to kill rodents that were destroying fishing nets and increasingly becoming pests. But a decline in the fishing industry in the 20th century forced people to leave Aoshima and relocate to the mainland. Many left their cats behind, and the felines reproduced.
Aoshima's cats are fed by food donations from people around Japan. The felines also eat small animals on the island, but their impact on local wildlife is unclear.
The cats occupy abandoned houses and buildings that have crumbled over the years due to weather events such as typhoons and storms. Kamimoto looks after the cats, feeding them twice per day and administering medication.
Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter nowContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
"People see images online and think they're being neglected, but nothing could be further from the truth," she said. "Some are blind, some are really thin, and others look normal. But that's the reality for wild animals in a place like this."
MORE INCREDIBLE PLACES- Snake Island: The isle writhing with vipers where only Brazilian military and scientists are allowed
- Narusawa Ice Cave: The lava tube brimming with 10-foot-high ice pillars at the base of Mount Fuji
- Sørvágsvatn: The lake that 'floats' above the ocean thanks to a unique optical illusion
A 2023 study analyzed the cats' genetic makeup and found significant differences in their coat-color genes compared with cats on other Japanese islands, explaining why most cats on Aoshima are ginger or tortoiseshell. The research showed that Aoshima's cats are descended from a small founder population, confirming that the felines are likely suffering from the effects of inbreeding.
If humans abandon the island, locals are confident that volunteers and shelters will adopt the cats, The Guardian reported. But for now, the felines are a tourist attraction, with visitors taking day trips to the island by boat and helping to feed the cats.
Discover more incredible places, where we highlight the fantastic history and science behind some of the most dramatic landscapes on Earth.
Cat quiz: Can you get a purr-fect score?
TOPICS incredible places japan
Sascha PareSocial Links NavigationStaff writer Sascha is a U.K.-based staff writer at Live Science. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Southampton in England and a master’s degree in science communication from Imperial College London. Her work has appeared in The Guardian and the health website Zoe. Besides writing, she enjoys playing tennis, bread-making and browsing second-hand shops for hidden gems.
View MoreYou must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
Logout Read more
Land Mammals
Coyote scrambles onto Alcatraz Island after perilous, never-before-seen swim
Cats
'Parasites of human societies': How did we end up so close to cats?
Animals
60 mind-blowing science facts about our incredible world
Animals
Cannibal orcas identified near Russia, two 'extinct' marsupials found, humans do cranial modification, China's oracle bones reveal climate disaster, and a barefoot volcanologist
Cats
Kazakhstan plants tens of thousands of trees in giant effort to reintroduce tigers
Cats
Ancient mummified cheetahs discovered in Saudi Arabia contain preserved DNA from the long-lost population
Latest in Planet Earth
Climate change
Western states face above-normal wildfire threats this summer. New maps reveal which areas are most at risk.
Planet Earth
'In every continent where humans are present, water bankruptcy is manifesting itself': Exiled Iranian scientist Kaveh Madani on our desperate need to preserve our most precious resource
Climate change
Earth's energy imbalance is much more extreme than climate models show — but scientists aren't sure why
Planet Earth
Deadly, vivid-green mass sprawls across South African reservoir
Climate change
California declared war on smog in the 1970s. The knock-on effects were huge.
Climate change
Antarctica hides huge caches of gold, silver, copper and iron. As the ice melts, countries may race to harvest them.
Latest in Features
Health
Science history: Doctor hypothesizes that 'transmissible proteins' can cause disease, contradicting a 'central dogma' of molecular biology — April 9, 1982
Space
NASA telescope uncovers new mystery in supernova first spotted by Chinese astronomers 2,000 years ago — Space photo of the week
Planet Earth
Deadly, vivid-green mass sprawls across South African reservoir
Genetics
Are allergies genetic?
Ancient Egyptians
Beadnet dress: A 4,500-year-old ancient Egyptian funeral 'gown' that was in vogue during the Old Kingdom
Space
Hubble images taken 25 years apart show big changes in the iconic Crab Nebula — Space photo of the week
LATEST ARTICLES
1AI war games almost always escalate to nuclear strikes, simulation shows- 2Ancient Korean society practiced human sacrifice and high inbreeding, researchers find
- 3Chimpanzees in Uganda are locked in a deadly 'civil war' after their group split apart — and scientists don't know why
- 4James Webb telescope spots 'stingray' galaxy system that could solve the mystery of 'little red dots'
- 5'RIP, Comet MAPS': Watch the superbright sungrazer become a 'headless wonder' after being ripped apart by the sun
