Aoshima Island is only 49 hectares in size, smaller than Tokyo's baseball stadium. It is home to about 20 human inhabitants - but many times that number of cats. These are also the reason for tourists to pay a visit to the island. It is estimated that about 120 cats currently live on the island, which also earned it the nickname "Cat Island". Originally, Aoshima was inhabited exclusively by fishermen who found a lucrative business in sardine fishing. However, they faced a troublesome problem: Their fishing nets were repeatedly gnawed by mice. So the fishermen came up with the saving idea of settling cats on Aoshima. The fishermen could hardly have dreamed that this solution would attract 20 to 30 tourists to the island every day, in addition to the disappearance of the mice!
