While watching Celebrity Name Game, I heard a contestant say
if she won, she wanted to visit Cat Island. Not Catalina. Cat Island. Sounded
like a place out of a children’s fantasy book. Turns out, there are many Cat
Islands. The one she most likely meant was Japan’s Aoshima Island.
With an elderly declining population of about 100 people,
Aoshima residents are now outnumbered by the stray/feral cats living there. In the
past the islanders raised silkworms so cats were kept to help keep mice from
the silkworms. Now they seem to be kept because people believe feeding them
will bring good luck and prosperity. The only way to reach Aoshima is by a
ferry which can transport 34 visitors per day. Not a lot of tourist trade,
especially since no stores exist on the island. At least it sounds like the
cats are being fed.
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