Category Japan

Ancient Big Cat Art in Japan – Katzenworld

by Japan

12
Apr

Hi everyone,

Often people say that the cat boom is a thing of the modern world and the internet but actually that’s not true! Both small and large felines have featured for centuries in the life of us humans.

During our trips to Japan we have visited many of the temples and palaces and often these feature the big relatives of our feline friends.

In these particular paintings we can see both tigers and what could be leopards going by the dotted fur markings. But why is it that Japanese artists decided to draw animals that are not native to Japan? The closest Tigers would live in Russia or China… Some people assume that Japanese artists based these on the house cats that came over on boats from China originally to help the Japanese with the local rats.

Others think that it could be related to Chinese Taoism which often depicts Tigers as a symbol of yin and dragons as a symbol of yang. When looking at the Japanese Zen Buddhism there is most certainly a significant influence from the Chinese Taoism and thus this may be true. Especially considering that the tiger is a very fierce symbol that is often feared.

On the other hand, the particular scenes also show a great amount of detail to the caring love that these animals provide to their offsprings as clearly shown in the drawing of the mother that is licking her cub while it is suckling her.

Whatever the exact reason of the artist might have been for picking these scenes one thing can be said for sure, its main purpose was to impress visitors to the temple to show them the power religion had back in those days.

Thanks,

Marc

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“Cat Heaven Island”: A Paradise for Catlovers – Katzenworld

by Japan

29
Dec

Hi everyone,Please find below a guest contribution by Stephanie Musarra:

Cat Heaven Island A Paradise for Catlovers

Tashirojima Island is located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It can be reached by a twenty-minute ferry ride. It has been dubbed Cat Heaven Island since felines outnumber people 6 to 1.

The human population is around 100.  Eighty-three percent of the population are elderly. The main occupations of the residents are hospitality workers and fishermen. Many of the elderly villagers leave food out for the cats and enjoy their companionship.

The rise of the feline population started as early as the Edo Period in Japan (1603-1868.)

The islanders raised cats to keep the mice away from their silkworms. The cats of on Tashirojima Island are fortunate as they are well looked after by the human residents and dogs are not permitted anywhere on the island. The Japanese believe that feeding cats leads to good luck, and prosperity so it makes sense for them to treat the cats so well.

A cat shrine, known as Neko-jinja was erected between the two villages in honor of a cat that was killed by a falling rock.

Credit: Wikimedia by Gorilla Jones

The fishermen who once thought the cats were a nuisance, grew quite fond of them. Even better they were able to forecast the weather by observing the cat’s behavior.

Tashirojima Island would be a great place to visit for anyone who is a cat lover. You can find a more detailed look at the Island in the 2017 post from Katzenworld.

About the Author Stephanie Musarra:

I am a college student majoring in web design. I like to write short stories, and poetry in my spare time. I currently have four stories, and eight poems published.  I am the proud owner of a Russian Blue named Buddy.

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Welcome to the Cat Street of Kobe, Japan! – Katzenworld

by Japan

13
Nov

Hi everyone,

On one of our many trips to Japan we came across this shopping / dinning street in Kobe that was very unexpected.

While we already knew how cat crazy Japan is we just didn’t expect to find a whole cat themed shopping area!

Different country flags showed cute cat themed scenes. And a lot of the shops had little cat guardians in front of their stalls.

Such as this giant cat welcoming tourists to Japan. 😀

Later that night we realised that the whole cat themed didn’t just stop at the flags and things like the blow-up cat dolls outside the shops…

Even after closing hour the shutters made the whole area feel more welcome! You want to walk around and check out all the different art used by the shop owners. 🙂

For those that have not been to Japan before one of the best part of many of these shopping arcades is that they are fully enclosed! So even if it’s raining you won’t have to worry about getting wet. 😀

We hope you enjoyed our look at this quirky little road in the midst of Kobe!

Thanks,

Marc

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Wonderful Cat Related Gifts from Overseas – Katzenworld

by Japan

16
Jul

A few weeks back a friend of mine from Japan asked if I could meet her friend, Kazumi, and show her around the area of London where we live. Despite the rather wet Sunday (typical of our summer this year) I managed to show her the delights of Greenwich including the view of London from the hill, the Painted Hall and the markets. As a thank you, Kazumi sent me some lovely gifts all the way from Japan. I think my friend must have told her how mad we are about cats. Included in the package were paper clips, mini memo notes and some traditional Japanese tenugui (pieces of printed material which can be used in a variety of ways such as a headband, souvenir, decoration, or for wrapping items such as bottles). She was kind enough to send a set for Marc too in appreciation of my time spent with her away from him at the weekend.

Marc was happy with his set too A cat themed ‘tenugui” Too cute to use Even a cat shape thank you card Cat clips

Thank you for the lovely thoughtful presents Kazumi. I think we’ll be bringing back quite a few more of these on our next trip to Japan in May 2017.

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Thanks,

Iain

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Cat Travel: Cat Delivery Service? – Katzenworld

by Japan

15
Jul

Hi everyone,

On our journey across Japan we couldn’t resist taking a picture of one of the popular delivery services in Japan.

Why did we take the photo?

Because their company logo is a cat carrying her kitten! 😀

I just love the idea of our post being delivered by a cat delivery service. 😉

I wonder if I can convince Oli and Nubia to deliver my post worldwide? :O

Thanks,

Marc

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Cat Travel: Cats of Osaka – ?? – Katzenworld

by Japan

03
Jul

Hi everyone,

Another post another city of Japan! Today’s post is for Osaka – while slightly smaller than Tokyo it sure is no less vibrant and of course we managed to meet another furry friend!

This sleeping beauty enjoyed the cuddles from all the bypassers and sure has the right idea to make herself a home in a Gyoza (Japanese dumplings as seen here) shop!

Unfortunately we didn’t get to see any other cats on this part of our holiday due to the fact that the weather was rather poor!

Thanks,

Marc

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Cat Travel: Aoshima – Japanese Cat Island – Katzenworld

by Japan

10
Apr

Welcome to Aoshima, the Japanese Cat Island that boasts 120 cats.

Cat lovers dreams have come true in the small fishing village of Aoshima in Japan – where cats outnumber the human inhabitants 6-1.

This tiny island is home to only 22 people but there are over 120 cats! The story goes that the islanders raised silkworms to produce silk for their fishing nets. But mice eat silkworms, so cats were kept in order to keep the mice population down!

Would you visit Aoshima? Let us know in the comments! Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe to Uzoo on YouTube for more animal videos!

 

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Cat Travel: Cats of Onomichi – 尾道市 Part 2 – Katzenworld

by Japan

23
Feb

Hi everyone,

Here is the second part of our journey through Onomichi!

As we continued on past the park in part one we came across a very unusual cat to be roaming around in the outside

Yes this is a Scottish fold, a breed I wouldn’t have expected to meet in the outside considering how expensive they are in Japan. So we were very surprised to see him/ her be allowed outside.

Hmmm… Why does he look familar… Oh yes we saw you in the park earlier!!!

This picture was taken a bit off the beaten track and I really liked it because of the natural looking environment – even though it really is just off the side road LOL.

Thanks,

Marc

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Cat Travel: Cats of Onomichi – 尾道市 Part 1 – Katzenworld

by Japan

16
Feb

Hi everyone,

During our stop in Onomichi we certainly met the largest population of cats in all the parts of Japan that we have been to! A lot of this is down to the fact that Onomichi is famous for its Neko no Hosomichi (Cat Trail) which we will be posting about as well in due time!

These cats were very happy with the food that they received from one of the locals.

There were two benches and one of the cats was constantly on lookout to ensure that no one else would interfere with their feeding time!

There were many beautiful cats in this park and I wish I could have taken them all home but once again I don’t think my two would have appreciated an army of cats that speak Japanese. ;0

I especially loved this little ginger and white kitty. 🙂

And here at last a picture showing the nice local that feeds the cats of this park! 😀

And got to say I was very impressed how well all of these cats interacted with each other.

Thanks,

Marc

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Cat Travel: Cats of Nagasaki – 長崎市 Part 3 – Katzenworld

by Japan

01
Feb

Hi everyone,

This is the last of our posts in the Nagasaki photos collection. In case you missed the kittens from last time these can be found here.

In our last section of Nagasaki photos we went to see Glover Garden which is a park built for the Scottish merchant Thomas Blake Glover who helped modernise Japan’s ship building and mining operations. More details on the park can be found on wikipedia.

As for the cats? They were guarding the entrance area!

This little one made us think of Oliver at home. 🙂 I love black and white cats. <3

And another cat sunning herself on this early autumn day.

It was only when we were about to leave that we spotted this little kitten who seemed to belong to Mr(s) Tuxedo cat. 🙂

So how many different cats did you count in the photos? 😉

P.S: Click here to sign up to our Newsletter to stay up to date with the latest Katzenworld posts delivered every Tuesday.

Thanks,

Marc

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