Aoshima Island is one of about a dozen "cat islands" around Japan, small places where there are significantly more feline residents than people. In Aoshima more than a hundred cats prowl the island, curling up in abandoned houses or strutting about in the quiet fishing village. Cats outnumber humans six to one on the island. Recently becoming popular online, tiny Aoshima has seen a steep rise in tourist visits, overwhelming the handful of permanent residents.

Aoshima Island ist eine der etwa ein Dutzend "cat Inseln" um Japan, kleinen Orten, wo es deutlich mehr Katzen-Bewohner als Menschen gibt. In Aoshima schleichen mehr als hundert Katzen über die Insel, rollen sich in verlassenen Häusern oder stolzieren etwa in dem ruhigen Fischerdorf. Das Verhältnis Katzen zu Menschen beträgt sechs zu eins auf der Insel. Aoshima wurde immer beliebter bei Touristen, die von der Handvoll Bewohner auf der Insel überwältigt waren.

Cats crowd the harbor on Aoshima Island in the Ehime prefecture of southern Japan/ Thomas Peter_Reuter

Cats surround people as they get off a boat at the harbor on Aoshima Island, Japan.

The main part of the fishing village on Aoshima Island

A local woman shoos away cats as she leaves her house on Aoshima Island

Cats crowd the Aoshima Island harbor

A clowder of cats on the wharf on Aoshima Island

A cat carries a fish on Aoshima Island

A cat walks past wooden farm sheds on Aoshima Island

A cat jumps off a piano in the music room of a derelict school on Aoshima Island

The print of a cat paw is embedded in concrete on Aoshima

Cats crowd the harbor embankment on Aoshima

Cats crowd around the village nurse and Ozu city official Atsuko Ogata as she carries a bag of cat food to the designated feeding place on Aoshima Island

Aoshima cats beg for food

Aoshima Cats crowd around the village nurse Atsuko Ogata as she carries a bag of cat food

A cat leaps at the photographer to snatch his lunch snack on Aoshima

Cats vie for food on Aoshima

An Aoshima cat sits on a wall of an abandoned school

Cats sit on a wall on Aoshima Island

Cats surround a local woman on Aoshima Island

An Aoshima cat jumps for food offered by a tourist as other cats beg for food

Cats crowd the harbor embankment on Aoshima

A tourist takes pictures of cats at the harbor on Aoshima Island

The village nurse Atsuko Ogata bows to a ferry that is departing from Aoshima Island

Photos: Thomas Peter// Reutersseen at the Atlantic Photo