1 island, 6 islanders and 200 cats.

There are about 7-8 places in Japan that can be called cat islands, and there is only about one place like this island that can be submerged by cats. This is Qingdao located in Ehime Prefecture, on the Seto Inland Sea (Iyo Beach). (The same name as Qingdao in Shandong)

From the port near Iyonagahama Station, you can reach the island by boat in about 30 minutes. Because it has not been developed into a tourist attraction, there are only two boats delivering supplies a day. Usually only about 30 people can go to Cat Island a day. .

As soon as you reach the shore, cats will rush towards you .

Ps, since the purpose of the ferry is to transport supplies and letters to the islanders, please do not stay in groups at the pier to avoid affecting the passage of staff.

The cats sleeping in various positions on the trestle rolled over and over again, and the afternoon passed like this.

There was very little flat land in Qingdao, and there were 889 people in its heyday. However, in the end, due to inconveniences and other reasons, most of the people moved to big cities like Osaka. Wiki shows that according to the results of the survey in February 2019, there are currently only 3 households and 6 residents left on the island.

As the number of islanders plummets and only residents age, regular ferries will also be cancelled, and Cat Island may disappear and become a truly uninhabited island.

△ Please eat a furryrice ballXD △

I heard from the old lady at the hotel where I stayed that there is currently an old lady on the island who is responsible for feeding the cats, but there are really a lot of cats, and all the furry little heads looking at the cat food are waiting to be fed, but remember not to feed them too much to avoid damaging their stomachs.

In addition, this island is not a tourist attraction after all, but a living space for the islanders. You must be careful not to enter the yards and houses of the islanders and suck cats in a civilized manner ><

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△ Nowhere to place the focus △

The islanders usually stay in their houses. When the ferry is ashore, you can almost only see cats walking in every corner. In the afternoon, you can see small groups of cats sleeping in groups.

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Walking along the path into the island, there are fishermen's fishing boats docked on the shore. Cats will lie on the deck and take a nap, and occasionally they will catch fish and play.

At first, fishermen raised cats because they suffered from rats chewing on their fishing nets. Finally, due to the rapid reproduction of the cute little cats and the migration of large numbers of people, the Cat Island gradually became what it is today.

Maybe not only the mice, but also the cats were attracted by the smell of dried fish, and snored while lying under the fishing net.

The cats on the island are very fearless and clingy. They will often wrap around your legs and prevent you from walking. So please pay attention to your steps when walking and don't step on the cuties.

If you are starting from Kyoto, you need to take the Shinkansen to Okayama, and then switch to JR to Matsuyama to use the local route JR. The middle line is called Yuzan Line・Shiokaze. A train bound for summer passed through green rice fields and crossed the blue sea. The 3-hour journey actually felt short.

For such a line, it seems that it is most appropriate to call it Chaofeng.

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The nearest major station to the port is JR Matsuyama Station . If you are coming from other places, you can search this site first. Departing from Matsuyama Station, there is such a small express train every hour, running along the ocean line of the Seto Inland Sea to the port - Iyo Nagahama .

The one-way ticket is 720 yen, and the journey takes about 50 minutes.

There are sorted tickets in the car. If you are transferring from another station and have no time to leave the station to buy a ticket, you can get on the bus first, get a ticket, and put it into the fare box together with the fare when you get off.

After arriving in Japan, you can download a Google Maps app to check the timetable.

After arriving at the station, it takes about 10 minutes to walk to the ferry pier.

There are a total of 2 scheduled boats a day, the one-way fee is 680 yen, and the round trip 1360 yen.

Tickets will go on sale at 7:20 in the morning. It is important to note that because it is a ferry, it is very affected by sea weather. If the wind and waves are too strong, it will be temporarily suspended. In addition, not counting the crew, the number of passengers that can be boarded is 34 , with priority given to islanders. In order to ensure the number of people returning in the afternoon, if all passengers do not return in the morning, we will not be unable to accept any more passengers on board in the afternoon. .

Sunny Day Baby wang (cough) The weather was good this time when I landed on the island for two consecutive days, which was also very good luck.

Generally, it is not recommended to go to the island in winter and typhoon season, as well as Japan's Golden Week. There are many people. It is said that Japanese people get up at 3 o'clock in the middle of the night and line up to buy a boat. Tickets... It would be a great pity if you come all the way but can't get to the island.

Another special surprise was the place to stay this time. When I inquired about it about 2 years ago, there was only one private B&B in the port with only about one room, and it was very difficult to get through on the phone. This time, I found a new hotel directly from Google - 娨屋Kinbei Residence .

Kinbei's mansion

tomiY akin be.com

Address: 〒799-3401 Ehime Prefecture Continent Mayor Hamaka A 287

Tel: 0120-071-061

Since the day of arrival was a weekend, the entire port was quieter than before, and the few restaurants were closed on a regular basis. The general’s grandma warmly invited us to have dinner together.

Very delicious hand-made tempura, the meal is very light, the taste is moderate, and it has a more homely taste, so you don’t have to worry about not getting used to it.

I originally brought energy biscuits to make do for two days, but unexpectedly I ate a lot of delicious food. The hotel's bathroom facilities are also surprisingly complete. It doesn't look like a small hotel in a deserted port.

Some information on the official website is still being updated, and some details are not mentioned, such as free wifi, so travelers from abroad don’t have to worry.

All the affairs of the hotel are managed by this old woman, who is nearly 80 years old. The old couple originally lived in a nearby city and moved here in the past two years. They both laughed and said that life in the countryside is too peaceful and dull, making people too relaxed and afraid of thinking. And the action is not so flexible. The old gentleman would go back to the studio in his apartment in the city every two weeks to paint some oil paintings to adjust his life.

The warm breeze of summer afternoon blows, and it seems that there is nothing to worry about. The cats are licking their paws, flicking their tails, rolling around, and if they are, they will nibble on a small dried fish.