Welcome to Cat Island. No, make that Cat Islands—plural! Because in Japan, there are at least two locations in Japan with that nickname.

TENSIONS flared between Japan and its Asian neighbours after a group of Japanese politicians visited a shrine seen by China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Meanwhile ...

Japan's obsessive love of cats isn’t anything new for the island nation of 127 million people. The Japanese love for all things feline is exported throughout the world, thanks mostly to internet ...

On a small island off Japan’s northeastern coast, visitors make offerings at a shrine for unlikely local guardians: cats. The “Neko Jinja,” or Cat Shrine, mythologizes cats as guardian angels of ...

The famous cat shrine Nyan Nyan Ji in Kyoto that has an actual cat monk with several kitty acolytes. Cats are everywhere in Japan. While it is easy to see they are well-loved, Japan also fears cats.

TASHIROJIMA, Japan — On a small island off Japan's northeastern coast, visitors make offerings at a shrine for unlikely local guardians: cats. The "Neko Jinja," or Cat Shrine, mythologizes cats ...

Now, visitors make offerings at the shrine. A cat walks across the altar at Cat Shrine on Tashirojima island in Ishinomaki, northeastern Japan, Saturday, May 18, 2024. AP Photo/Hiro Komae ...

On a small island off Japan's northeastern coast, visitors make offerings at a shrine for unlikely local guardians: cats. The "Neko Jinja," or Cat Shrine, mythologizes cats as guardian angels of ...

Fewer than 10% of Japan’s 6,852 islands are inhabited. But among those 400 or so, travelers are treated to a rich tapestry of natural treasures, deep-seated mysticism, thriving cultural assets ...