Another day in paradise on ‘cat island’ brings its own issues

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15372143

TADOTSU, Kagawa Prefecture--Cats, cats ... and more cats.

Cats on Sanagijima outnumber islanders, and that has been the situation for quite a while, but fears are now growing about their eventual fate as the human population continues to dwindle.

Sanagijima, a 50-minute ferry ride from Tadotsu Port in Kagawa Prefecture, is one of several islands in the Seto Inland Sea known as “cat islands.”

The felines seemingly make themselves at home just about anywhere on the island; in the shade of the waiting space at the port, behind abandoned homes or perhaps in a side ditch near an embankment.

Visitors to Sanagijima are pretty much assured of a warm feline welcome and even an occasional meow for food.

None of the 100-plus cats on Sanagijima has a specific owner.

A family of four from Taiwan said they learned about Sanagijima through Instagram posts.

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Sightseers snapping photos of cats on Sanagijima island on July 6 (Hiyori Uchiumi)

They were among around 10 sightseers who arrived by ferry one recent weekend morning.

“We are happy to be here because our daughters adore cats,” said one of the parents in between snapping photos.

A woman in her 40s from Tottori Prefecture was visiting for the first time to take pictures of the felines with friends she had gotten to know via social networking sites.

Whipping out a cat toy she brought to Sanagijima, the woman started playing with several curious cats.

“I love both taking photos and spending time with cats,” she said. “I will have a lot of fun here.”

TURNING POINT

The human population on Sanagijima has halved over the past 10 years.

Islanders estimate there now are only about 30 inhabitants because many residents relocated to live with their children or moved to elderly care facilities on the mainland without updating their official resident registers.

Cats were always part of the island scene but not as pets. Strays always used to prowl around homes in bygone days. Although the islanders had no direct connection to the felines, they got into the habit of feeding them leftovers from their dinner tables.

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A family of cats scarf down food prepared by an islander on July 10. (Hiyori Uchiumi)

A turning point came in the 2010s after a photographer visited and his shots of the felines on Sanagijima earned it the online nickname of “cat island.”

Visitors began descending on Sanagijima in droves, especially after a guesthouse fitted with a cafe remodeled from a former elementary school building started operations in 2017.

Hordes of tourists visit Sanagijima to spend the day with the cats. Meantime, the feline population continues to grow.

40 CATS AND COUNTING

Masafumi Ikeda, who is 63 and a resident of the Nagasaki district in the northern part of Sanagijima, cares for about 40 strays around his home.

Ikeda moved to Sanagijima three years ago with the aim of looking after his family’s grave when his mother died.

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Masafumi Ikeda, a resident of Sanagijima island in the Seto Inland Sea, pictured at his home in the Nagasaki district on July 10. He cares for about 40 cats that congregate around his home each day. (Hiyori Uchiumi)

His life changed dramatically a few months later when he was asked by a neighbor who was moving to a welfare facility on the mainland to feed the cats in his absence.

“I had never kept a pet before,” Ikeda said.

Nevertheless, he quickly became absorbed in taking care of them. He became so captivated by cats that his life now centers around them.

Ikeda even built a specialized play area for them in the grounds of his home.

“I did all this for my own sake,” said Ikeda, retracing how cats gave his life meaning. “I feel immense gratitude toward them.”

One problem he faces is the cost of feeding 40 felines four times a day. It comes to several tens of thousands of yen, the equivalent of several hundreds of dollars, each month.

Ikeda also makes a point of removing their excrement around graves and street drains to prevent the cats from becoming a nuisance to residents.

Kazuko Yamaji, who has sold ferry tickets for more than 20 years at a waiting area in the Honura district of southern Sanagijima, is also enamored of the furry felines.

Yamaji shows up at the facility in time for the ferry’s arrival four times daily. On her way to her workplace, Yamaji distributes food to cats from a pushcart.

“They must know I have something to eat,” said Yamaji with a grin. “I always bring food with me, sometimes forgetting to bring other belongings from home that I needed.”

Few people apart from Ikeda and Yamaji volunteer their time to look after the cats, and sightseers are of no help, either, as they return to their own lives after a day spent petting the animals.

STERILIZATION KEY

Ikeda, even though he is 63 years old, is the youngest person living in the Nagasaki district at the moment. The advancing age of islanders, along with the shrinking population and growing cat population, could at some point render it impossible to control the animals effectively.

There are concerns that an explosion in the cat population could bring a range of problems to the islanders. Another fear is that the animals could starve to death.

With those possibilities in mind, Tadotsu has a subsidy program to cover the costs of sterilization procedures for “community cats,” which are not kept by particular owners.

Under the system, islanders who catch an untreated stray can take them by ferry to a veterinary hospital on the Honshu mainland to be sterilized, and be reimbursed for their efforts.

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A play area for cats created by Masafumi Ikeda in the grounds of his home on Sanagijima island (Hiyori Uchiumi)

But it places a huge burden on residents.

The situation is pretty similar on nearby Shishijima island in Mitoyo, also in Kagawa Prefecture, prompting authorities there in 2016 to invite veterinarians from the mainland to carry out mass sterilizations. A total of 70 cats were sterilized in one go under the Animal Action Fund program.

At the time, Shishijima was home to only 17 residents.

Officials from the local residents’ association and other entities sought help, insisting that a “further increase in the feline population would wreck the people’s life on the island.”

“Sterilization is the most effective method to ensure that islanders and cats coexist peacefully,” said a representative of the Animal Action Fund. “Both island authorities and residents need to be aware of how to perform the surgery as this process will constitute the first step toward addressing the problem.”