[ DISCOVERY · THE DISPATCH ]

Japan Has Islands Ruled Entirely by Cats, Rabbits, and One by Foxes

I've been mobbed by 200 rabbits, outnumbered by cats on a fishing island, and stared down by a village of foxes. Japan's animal islands are real, reachable, and weirder than any zoo. Here's the rundown.

Japan’s animal islands are the one travel thing I describe to people and watch them assume I’m exaggerating. I’m not. There’s an island where cats outnumber humans something like ten to one. Another where you step off the ferry and a wave of rabbits — dozens, hundreds — comes hopping toward you because they’ve learned ferries mean snacks. And a hillside village where foxes roam free and you can stand in the middle of them. All real. All in Japan. All weirder than any zoo I’ve ever set foot in.

I went to all three. Got mildly trampled by bunnies. Was completely ignored by cats. Would do every bit of it again tomorrow.

Aoshima is the famous one. A tiny fishing island off the coast of Ehime in southern Japan, where the human population has dwindled to a literal handful of elderly residents and the cats have, frankly, taken over. They lounge on the harbour wall, sprawl across the path, sun themselves on overturned boats. Estimates put them at well over a hundred, against maybe a dozen people.

Getting there: you take a small ferry from Nagahama port, and this is the crucial bit — the boat runs only a couple of times a day and it’s tiny, so it can fill up, especially since cat-island fame brought day-trippers. Check the schedule, get there early, and accept you might wait. There are no shops, no restaurants, no vending machines on the island. Bring your own water and food, and do NOT bring cat food to scatter around — there are rules now about feeding to keep the colony healthy, so respect whatever’s posted.

The cats are not pets and not especially needy. They’ll tolerate you. The whole vibe is: you are a guest in their territory, and they’re not going to make a fuss about it. I sat on a wall for an hour with three cats ignoring me magnificently and it was, somehow, perfect.

Okunoshima — “rabbit island” — is the one that goes viral, and rightly. Hundreds of feral rabbits live here and they are bold, fluffy, and absolutely associate humans with food. Step off the boat and you may, genuinely, be surrounded.

The island has a dark backstory worth knowing: it was a secret poison-gas manufacturing site during the war, and there’s a small museum about it. The rabbits, depending on which story you believe, are either descendants of test animals or pets released later. Either way, the contrast — cute bunnies on an old chemical-weapons island — is deeply, strangely Japan.

You reach it by ferry from Tadanoumi port, which is a manageable train ride from Hiroshima. The boats are more frequent than Aoshima’s. You can buy rabbit-appropriate pellet food before you board (don’t feed them random human snacks — it makes them sick), and there’s a hotel on the island if you want to stay over.

This one’s a cheat — it’s not an island, it’s a hillside park near Shiroishi in Miyagi, reachable from Sendai. But it belongs here because where else can you walk among more than a hundred free-roaming foxes?

Inside the main enclosure the foxes wander loose around you. They’re wild animals, not cuddly — you’re told firmly not to crouch, not to dangle bags, not to try to pet them, because they will absolutely nip. But standing in a snowy clearing surrounded by red foxes curled up in the cold, with that thick winter fur, is honestly magical. Go in winter if you can; the foxes in full coat against snow is the postcard. There’s a separate area where, supervised, you can feed them from a platform.

Getting there is the catch — it’s a bit out of the way, with limited buses, so many people take a taxi from the nearest station or join a tour. Check the days it’s open; it closes occasionally.

Honest answer? Depends on you. Okunoshima is the easiest to reach (Hiroshima’s right there) and the most interactive — if you want to be swarmed by something adorable, that’s the one. Aoshima is the purest, strangest, most off-grid experience but the hardest logistics. Zao is the most dramatic but the most out-of-the-way and the most “look, don’t touch.”

A couple of universal rules, because these places matter. These are real animal populations, not attractions built for us, and they can be fragile — overfeeding, litter and overcrowding are genuine problems. Take your trash out. Follow the feeding rules. Keep your distance when asked. Be a decent guest and these places stay weird and wonderful for the next person.

I came to Japan the first time for the obvious stuff — Kyoto, ramen, bullet trains. I keep coming back partly for this: a country that, alongside all its order and precision, just casually contains islands run by cats. The first time that ferry pulled into Aoshima and I saw a wall of cats watching me arrive, I laughed so hard I scared them. Worth the whole trip.

Skip another temple day and go meet the cats, the bunnies, and the foxes — Japan’s animal kingdoms are the most ridiculous, joy-inducing detour the country quietly offers.

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