Travelling on an island, we may find something different from mainland. It is often the case that the difference comes from biological uniqueness, whether it is aboriginal or not.
Charles Darwin notes in On the Origin of Species:
Comparing to the Galapagos Islands in the 19th century when Charles Darwin visited, the Tashirojima Island in the 21st century, partly because it is not an oceanic island, may be less favorable for the production of new species, but probably is no less favorable to create new architecture.
Feline style lodges, late 20th century
In the southern part of the island, there is a place called Manga Island, in which are lodges designed by five manga artists in the late 20th century. The lodges are all different but all of them look like cats.
What makes the buildings look like cats is their shape of roofs. They stand two ridges on top of the buildings, that look like cats' ears. On the front wall of some of the buildings are couples of windows which look like eyes. Others have doors at the bottom center of their face, that look like mouths. Those peculiarities remind us of the quote of the American sculptor, Hiram Powers:
What stirs up the emotions, sensibilities, and affections of us or even of rats would be the vivid red and white stripes. They seem to be representing tabby patterns, but at the same time remind us of the seamy side of the island history.
In Edo period(1603-1868), the Tashirojima Island was a penal colony of Sendai domain. In Nitoda there were prison huts to which criminals who committed minor offences on mainland were exiled.
The prisoners exiled in Japanese remote islands in those days were not strictly confined in prison huts. In order to make a living, they worked with local fishermen or farmers. Some of them remained on the islands even after the prison term ended and got naturalized in the villages. Among islanders, however, were those who disliked prisoners and pleaded with the authorities not to send criminals to their islands.
Such a subtle situation may be metaphorically depicted with a white cat lodge which is located at a slightly distant place. It is not in a uniform, possibly representing an innocent native islander.
The white building behind trees looks like a cat lurking in a bush.
It would be controversial whether these cat-shaped buildings are native or naturalized, but it is certain that they are unique to the island and not found on the mainland. It can be said that they have evolved to fit to the environment of the island in which cats are densely populated.
Even on this island, this place on the height is the only place where cat-shaped buildings can be found. That is presumably why this place is named Manga Island which seems isolated, being surrounded by a sort of invisible barriers.
When it comes to barriers, we can find uniqueness also in barriers on the island.
Cat-shaped barriers around nitoda port
Every barrier, oddly enough, looks like a pair of cats lifting metal tubes.
So, where do these barriers come from?
The story goes back to 2006 when a barrier supplier company got an order in Hokkaido, where was a zoo in which were monkeys. Then the company invented monkey-shaped barrier and sold it.
It was a groundbreaking mutation of a barrier. Orders came from across the country and the monkey-shaped barriers spread through the nation, while the barrier evolved to various animals; frog, elephant, deer, giraffe, dolphin, panda, rabbit, fox...and cat.
While there are various types of animal shaped barriers on the mainland, on the Tashirojima Island there are only cat-shaped ones. It is probable that the cat-shaped barrier is artificially or naturally selected out of various animals, for it was most suited to the environment of the island.
So, what are those barriers for?
The barriers are in the Nitoda port area where restoration is going on. The port was damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The ground subsided 130 centimeters and was hit by a 9 meter height tsunami. Hundreds of oyster beds were all destroyed. Ships and fishing instruments were swept away.
After the disaster, cat lovers across Japan sent cat food to the Tashirojima Island to rescue the cats, and donated just in three month no less than 150 million yen ( USD 1.9 million ), that was to contribute to the restoration of the oyster beds.
What is distinguishing on the Tashirojima Island, especially in recent dozen years, is that the bond between cats and people makes great economic sense. According to the survey in May 2010, 87% of the tourists visited the island to see cats(*1). This seems going into a virtuous circle, in which, tourism energizes economy that would help the cats to thrive and attract more tourists.
It seems likely that the cats are beginning to rule the island economy. While human population is decreasing, do the cats outnumbering humans today rule the island in the future? if so, that is probably not because they are good hunters but because they are cute.
Cats around the Nitoda port to see the tourists returning to mainland Japan
It was time for us to leave the island. Our ship (non-HMS Mermaid) was anchored at the Nitoda port where cats were around the tourists.
Non-HMS Mermaid in the Nitoda port
The Tashirojima Island today is not necessarily cats' heaven (*2), but it is certain that the island is one of the most ideal places for us to consolidate human feline relationship.
Nitoda port 2017, the restoration after 2011 earthquake is ongoing.(*3)
(*1) 地理 vol.58, 2013
(*2) Some cats have health problems, suffering from diseases in their eyes and ears, that possibly is infectious and spreading due to highly densely feline population.
(*3) While Nitoda port resumed the ferry service to the mainland after the earthquake, Odomari in 2017 is still closed. All the tourists, therefore, land in Nitoda. That would be one of the reasons why cats in Nitoda are more friendly to the tourists than those in Odomari.
Charles Darwin notes in On the Origin of Species:
If we turn to nature to test the truth of these remarks, and look at any small isolated area, such as an oceanic island, although the number of the species inhabiting it is small, as we shall see in our chapter on Geographical Distribution; yet of these species a very large proportion are endemic,?that is, have been produced there and nowhere else in the world. Hence, an oceanic island at first sight seems to have been highly favorable for the production of new species.
Comparing to the Galapagos Islands in the 19th century when Charles Darwin visited, the Tashirojima Island in the 21st century, partly because it is not an oceanic island, may be less favorable for the production of new species, but probably is no less favorable to create new architecture.
Feline style lodges, late 20th century
In the southern part of the island, there is a place called Manga Island, in which are lodges designed by five manga artists in the late 20th century. The lodges are all different but all of them look like cats.
What makes the buildings look like cats is their shape of roofs. They stand two ridges on top of the buildings, that look like cats' ears. On the front wall of some of the buildings are couples of windows which look like eyes. Others have doors at the bottom center of their face, that look like mouths. Those peculiarities remind us of the quote of the American sculptor, Hiram Powers:
The eye is the window of the soul, the mouth the door. The intellect, the will, are seen in the eye; the emotions, sensibilities, and affections, in the mouth. The animals look for man's intentions right into his eyes. Even a rat, when you hunt him and bring him to bay, looks you in the eye.
What stirs up the emotions, sensibilities, and affections of us or even of rats would be the vivid red and white stripes. They seem to be representing tabby patterns, but at the same time remind us of the seamy side of the island history.
In Edo period(1603-1868), the Tashirojima Island was a penal colony of Sendai domain. In Nitoda there were prison huts to which criminals who committed minor offences on mainland were exiled.
The prisoners exiled in Japanese remote islands in those days were not strictly confined in prison huts. In order to make a living, they worked with local fishermen or farmers. Some of them remained on the islands even after the prison term ended and got naturalized in the villages. Among islanders, however, were those who disliked prisoners and pleaded with the authorities not to send criminals to their islands.
Such a subtle situation may be metaphorically depicted with a white cat lodge which is located at a slightly distant place. It is not in a uniform, possibly representing an innocent native islander.
The white building behind trees looks like a cat lurking in a bush.
It would be controversial whether these cat-shaped buildings are native or naturalized, but it is certain that they are unique to the island and not found on the mainland. It can be said that they have evolved to fit to the environment of the island in which cats are densely populated.
Even on this island, this place on the height is the only place where cat-shaped buildings can be found. That is presumably why this place is named Manga Island which seems isolated, being surrounded by a sort of invisible barriers.
When it comes to barriers, we can find uniqueness also in barriers on the island.
Cat-shaped barriers around nitoda port
Every barrier, oddly enough, looks like a pair of cats lifting metal tubes.
So, where do these barriers come from?
The story goes back to 2006 when a barrier supplier company got an order in Hokkaido, where was a zoo in which were monkeys. Then the company invented monkey-shaped barrier and sold it.
It was a groundbreaking mutation of a barrier. Orders came from across the country and the monkey-shaped barriers spread through the nation, while the barrier evolved to various animals; frog, elephant, deer, giraffe, dolphin, panda, rabbit, fox...and cat.
While there are various types of animal shaped barriers on the mainland, on the Tashirojima Island there are only cat-shaped ones. It is probable that the cat-shaped barrier is artificially or naturally selected out of various animals, for it was most suited to the environment of the island.
So, what are those barriers for?
The barriers are in the Nitoda port area where restoration is going on. The port was damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The ground subsided 130 centimeters and was hit by a 9 meter height tsunami. Hundreds of oyster beds were all destroyed. Ships and fishing instruments were swept away.
After the disaster, cat lovers across Japan sent cat food to the Tashirojima Island to rescue the cats, and donated just in three month no less than 150 million yen ( USD 1.9 million ), that was to contribute to the restoration of the oyster beds.
What is distinguishing on the Tashirojima Island, especially in recent dozen years, is that the bond between cats and people makes great economic sense. According to the survey in May 2010, 87% of the tourists visited the island to see cats(*1). This seems going into a virtuous circle, in which, tourism energizes economy that would help the cats to thrive and attract more tourists.
It seems likely that the cats are beginning to rule the island economy. While human population is decreasing, do the cats outnumbering humans today rule the island in the future? if so, that is probably not because they are good hunters but because they are cute.
Cats around the Nitoda port to see the tourists returning to mainland Japan
It was time for us to leave the island. Our ship (non-HMS Mermaid) was anchored at the Nitoda port where cats were around the tourists.
Non-HMS Mermaid in the Nitoda port
The Tashirojima Island today is not necessarily cats' heaven (*2), but it is certain that the island is one of the most ideal places for us to consolidate human feline relationship.
Nitoda port 2017, the restoration after 2011 earthquake is ongoing.(*3)
(*1) 地理 vol.58, 2013
(*2) Some cats have health problems, suffering from diseases in their eyes and ears, that possibly is infectious and spreading due to highly densely feline population.
(*3) While Nitoda port resumed the ferry service to the mainland after the earthquake, Odomari in 2017 is still closed. All the tourists, therefore, land in Nitoda. That would be one of the reasons why cats in Nitoda are more friendly to the tourists than those in Odomari.
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