Tashirojima, the cat island (田代島) 田代島
42 inhabitants (2026), and more cats than people: the shrine began with a cat killed by mistake.
An island of 2.92 km² in Ishinomaki Bay, about 17 km from the mouth of the Kitakami River, whose highest point is Mount Masaishi, at 96 metres; remains from the Jōmon period have been found there. The cats were raised to protect the silkworms from mice, and over time they also became a good omen for fishing: in the centre of the island there is a shrine dedicated to them. The population, almost all fishermen and elderly people, was 43 at the 2020 census and fell to 42 in the municipal register of March 2026, fewer than the cats that live there, of which there is no precise count.
Miyagi
Nitoda-kō (仁斗田港)
