Ehime Prefecture
Upon arriving in Japan, one of the first things you’ll probably notice is the large army of characters being used to sell anything from services to stationary to automobiles, or giving tips on being a good citizen like when it comes to separating your trash or picking up your dog’s poop after it finishes doing its duty. Most of them are cute, but some are downright scary.
In recent years, yurukyara, literally “weaker mascot characters”, have slowly been taking over the country, with more and more cities and businesses allocating funds to coming up with the prefect representative character costume each year. Aside from being hot and stuffy inside, being a yurukyara seems like a pretty awesome job. Kids are happy to see you, people are clamoring to get a picture of you, and generally everyone loves you…
Or at least that’s the impression we got until news of a mascot character in a small Ehime Prefecture town getting attacked.
Despite Japan’s modern image as a country obsessed with the latest technologic advances and all things robotic, age-old Japanese methods and traditions are still highly valued, such as carpenters who use traditional joint-making techniques to fasten together pieces of wood without nails or screws. A video demonstrating this unique part of traditional Japanese carpentry has been making the rounds on the Internet lately with netizens amazed, and oddly mesmerized, by the almost hypnotic way these carpenters perfectly connect enormous pieces of wood.
About eight miles off the coast of Ozu City in Japan’s Ehime Prefecture, there lies a tiny landmass, less than a mile wide, which is completely overrun by cats! This little island is home to only 15 human residents, all of retirement age, but houses more than 100 kitties! These frisky felines have been multiplying like mad over the past 10 years or so, but only in the past couple weeks has the island caught the attention of the Internet, immediately becoming a hit tourist attraction, in spite of not having any hotels, restaurants, or even vending machines! Keep reading to see what locals and visitors alike have to say about the island’s “catty” conditions.
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