Los gatos son seres fascinantes sin lugar a dudas y una de las sociedades que más está de acuerdo con esto, es la japonesa, aunque creo que en todo el mundo tenemos ese extraño amor-odio hacía los adorables felinos. Pero bueno, volviendo a Japón, allá se tiene la creencia que los gatos son animales que atraen la buena fortuna y es sorprendente saber que exista una isla dedicada a rendir culto a ellos.
Tashirojima, es una pequeña isla perteneciente a la prefectura de Miyagi en la cual viven miles de gatos que son tratados como auténticos dioses por las pocas personas que habitan en la isla y que piensan fielmente que el cuidar de esos gatos dándoles de comer, les trae buena suerte, salud y riqueza.
Cabe mencionar que la adoración hacía estos gatos surgió desde que los habitantes se desempeñaban en la cría de los gusanos de seda. La presencia de estas orugas conllevó al aumento de la población de ratones en la isla, ya que les gusta alimentarse de este tipo de insectos. Para tratar de controlar la plaga que representaban dichos roedores y evitar que se propagasen enfermedades, los habitantes de Tashirojima introdujeron gatos a la isla, que desde entonces, es considerado un paraíso para los gatos callejeros o sin hogar.
La fascinación por estos gatos es tal, que en Tashirojima los consideran una especie de dioses, razón que les ha servido para crear un santuario para rendirles culto, y en donde cuya fachada imita la figura de un gato.
Con tanto cuidado, está clarísimo que estos animales tienen asegurada su presencia en la isla durante muchos años más, algo que la verdad deja de ser claro para los seres humanos, quienes poco a poco son desplazados por estos animales dentro de Tashirojima, ya que si tomamos en cuenta que más del 80% de los habitantes tiene más de 65 años y solo uno, menos de 45, es una situación bastante preocupante.
En este sentido, una de las acciones que tomará el gobierno japonés al respecto, es hacer que Tashirojima sea más atractiva para la población joven por medio de convertir esta genial isla, en un destino turístico temático dedicado a los gatos.
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Tashirojima is a small island in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan. It lies in the Pacific Ocean off the Oshika Peninsula, to the west of Ajishima. It is an inhabited island, although the population is quite small (around 100 people, down from around 1000 people in the 1950s). It has become known as "Cat Island" due to the large stray cat population that thrives as a result of the local belief that feeding cats will bring wealth and good fortune. The cat population is now larger than the human population on the island. (A 2009 article in Sankei News says that there are no pet dogs and it is basically prohibited to bring dogs onto the island.)
The island is divided into two villages/ports: Oodomari and Nitoda. Ajishima, a neighbouring island, used to belong to the town of Oshika, while Tashirojima was a part of the city of Ishinomaki. On April 1, 2005, Oshika merged with Ishinomaki, so now both islands are a part of Ishinomaki.
Since 83% of the population is classified as elderly, the island's villages have been designated as a "terminal village" which means that with 50% or more of the population being over 65 years of age, the survival of the villages is threatened. The majority of the people who live on the island are involved either in fishing or hospitality.
The island is also known as Manga Island, as Shotaro Ishinomori built manga-related buildings on the island, resembling a cat
There is a small cat shrine, known as Neko-jinja, in the middle of the island, roughly situated between the two villages. In the past, the islanders raised silkworms for silk, and cats were kept in order to keep the mouse population down (because mice are a natural predator of silkworms). Fixed-net fishing was popular on the island after the Edo Period and fishermen from other areas would come and stay on the island overnight. The cats would go to the inns where the fishermen were staying and beg for scraps. Over time, the fishermen developed a fondness for the cats and would observe the cats closely, interpreting their actions as predictions of the weather and fish patterns. One day, when the fishermen were collecting rocks to use with the fixed-nets, a stray rock fell and killed one of the cats. The fishermen, feeling sorry for the loss of the cat, buried it and enshrined it at this location on the island.
There are at least ten cat shrines in Miyagi Prefecture. There are also 51 stone monuments in the shape of cats, which is an unusually high number compared to the other prefectures. In particular, these shrines and monuments are concentrated in the southern area of the island, overlapping with the regions where silkworms were raised.
