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So, we're in the biggest shopping district in Tokyo.

And a crowd of people has amassed, to, uh...

to stroke several cats in a pram.

And I say that without much surprise

because I'm kind of used to

seeing this kind of stuff in Japan.

If you're walking past,

it just looks like a pile of rugs in a pram.

And as you get closer, you see the paws

like hanging out the edge,

and as you get even more closer, you see ten cats sleeping.

Look at all these paws hanging off the edge here.

Japan has long been

a source of confusion for foreign travellers

and as a British guy who's has lived here

for almost five years now,

in many ways I'm still as surprised and bewildered by it

as the day that I arrived.

My name's Chris Broad

and I spend my time as a YouTube vlogger in Japan

going in search of the beautiful,

the unique and the bizarre.

From sake vending machines and capsule hotels

to a man casually walking through central Tokyo

with a stroller stuffed full of cats.

It's a theme that you encounter

pretty much everyday in Japan.

Cats.

The Japanese have an absolute obsession with them

and not just as pets, either.

I'm setting off on a journey across the country

to uncover this cat obsessed culture,

where we'll explore everything

from questionable office practices

and iconic cat characters

to famous cats that work as mascots in shops,

and even train stations.

We're off to discover what makes Japan

a cat nation

Our first stop is one of Tokyo's largest cat cafes.

The best way to describe a cat cafe

is a coffee shop where customers can relax and unwind

in the presence of dozens of cats.

Whilst cat cafes have started springing up

all over the world as gimmicks,

in Japanese cities they're a common appearance.

And far from being a gimmick,

the resolution to a common problem.

As a huge proportion of Japan's population

live in apartments where pets are forbidden,

the cat cafe allows customers to effortlessly indulge

in their passion for cats.

So, this is the food and drink menu.

You can sit here, eat your spaghetti bolognese,

drink your ginger ale and stroke the cats.

It's pretty popular,

that's what a lot of locals come here to do.

I can't believe it, personally,

something seems a bit wrong about eating

a seafood platter surrounded by 50 cats in a room

where there's fur just everywhere in the air.

The highlight is undoubtedly

the sheer variety of cats to be found.

From fluffy cats and grumpy cats

to cats with stumpy legs.

It's like cat tapas.

This is the shy one that I saw a poster about.

And he's very long,

he's like a sausage cat.

What's he looking at?

There's genuinely nothing round there,

he's just having fun looking around the corner of the door.

This one has just been sat here for the last 20 minutes

just drinking this water from this pink bowl.

To the untrained eye it's merely a light.

If you come around here,

there's actually a cat sleeping up there on the light.

Oh my God.

How did he get up there?

There's no easy way to get up.

Oh...

I think this might be one of the cats to avoid.

On the sign at the front it said

"Don't touch these four cats."

Because they don't like people,

and they will eat your face.

I'm a bit scared of this one.

And the fact that he's got a sweater on,

like a gangster cat.

Not all cats are in the mood

to be fondled by strangers though,

and on the wall of the cafe,

you'll find a profile of each of the cats,

complete with their name and personality traits.

Sometimes including a warning on who to avoid.

After all, no one wants to walk out

of a cat cafe without their face.

Well, there's a little warning here.

This cat called Umichan,

"She is so shy cat.

Sometimes she'll bite your finger.

Please be careful."

The thing is, Umichan, looks like about four different cats

that I've seen in this room already,

so I don't know which one to avoid.

I probably will get bitten.

I've seen quite a few different notices

around the place saying "Avoid this cat."

"Don't feed this cat any food because

it's got kidney disease."

There's lots of different descriptions

and disclaimers around the place.

This is a book of all the cats.

You see pictures of them, their name,

where they're from, their birthday.

I think this is the gangster cat,

and his name is Nats.

Ironic because he's a little bit nuts.

Whoa!

Did you see that?

This cat's mental.

Cat cafe is maybe ideal for someone

with a busy lifestyle and a cramped apartment.

But what if you really want to experience cats

in their element out in the wild,

a place where all the cats can roam free?

Meow, meow, meow, meow.

Hidden away off the northeast coast

is a mysterious island home to hundreds of feral cats.

And my good friend, Natsuki, and I

have hopped on a boat to go and explore

the infamous island of Tashirojima,

and discover its story.

There's a bit of a Jurassic Park vibe given the fog.

The whole boat is enshrouded by fog.

Everybody is so happy and excited to see the dinosaurs,

except the dinosaurs are cats.

Today there are numerous islands around Japan

that like to refer to themselves as a cat island.

As many islands have worked out,

it's a brilliant way to bring in bucket loads of tourists

to places that are typically completely isolated.

But Tashirojima is considered to be the original cat island

that initially started this trend about a decade ago.

And true to its reputation,

no sooner have we hopped off the boat,

we find ourselves surrounded

by the island's fluffy inhabitants.

This is quite a strange, surreal place.

Just a port with dozens of cats.

Just relaxing under the boat.

There's five cats on the roof here,

and there's some kind of fight going on,

it's kind of tense.

I've never seen so many cats on a roof.

It's funny to think this is someone's house.

And there's like 20 people around the house.

Just like the cats which inhabit them,

each island is unique, with its own history and folktales.

Here, at Tashirojima, the most popular legend

says that fishermen brought cats to the island

because they believed they could predict fishing trends.

Others say that cats were brought here by silk merchants,

eager to protect their silk worms from mice.

Whatever the original intent,

the island is now completely overrun with hundreds of cats,

outnumbering the island's human population six to one.

In Japanese culture, cats are considered a symbol

of good fortune and wealth,

and the cats on this island have certainly promoted it,

resulting in the port recently being upgraded

to handle the increasing number of tourists

who flock to the island every month.

It is remarkable to think that the cats have brought

so much economic prosperity to this remote island.

It's very elegant, a very elegant, confident cat.

And beautiful.

It does look like a blanket with legs on it.

A nice blanket, yeah.

In recent times, Tashirojima

was very close to the epicenter

of the great Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

that destroyed much of the northeast coastline in 2011.

And although the island suffered much damage,

some locals credit the cat's fortune

for protecting the island from what could've been

far greater devastation.

Metal poles across the island indicate

the terrifying height on which the waves struck

on that tragic day.

The idea of cats bringing good fortune

has long been a part of Japanese folklore.

The iconic beckoning cat statue

can be seen all across the country.

Known as the maneki-neko,

they're said to bring good luck and fortune to merchants,

families and even those suffering from illness.

And today, they can be seen in practically

every store, restaurant and place of business.

But how did it all start?

The origins of the maneki-neko statue aren't clear,

but one popular legend holds that they can be traced back

several hundred years to this temple.

According to the tale,

a feudal lord was passing by the temple one day

when he saw a lone cat beckoning him inside.

The lord entered the temple,

and in doing so avoided a violent thunderstorm

that suddenly erupted.

Thankful, the lord decided to honor the cat.

When it passed away,

he had a shrine built for it here at the temple.

How many are there?

There must be like 10,000, I don't know.

There's so many

of different sizes,

and they're all doing the same pose.

It's actually kind of creepy.

But awesome.

Another folktale about the origins of the beckoning cat

says that an impoverished store owner

took in a stray cat one day and out of gratitude,

the cat started waving in new customers,

bringing great prosperity to the business.

Whether you choose to believe the beckoning cat

was an ancient weatherman or a brilliant salesman,

the maneki-neko stands as Japan's

undisputed symbol of good luck and fortune.

Spot the odd cat out?

About a billion cats,

and one with a mustache.

I wonder how this started.

Did someone just put one down,

and then another person thought, "Yeah, another one,"

and it just got out of control?

There's one back there with Spanish written on it,

so I'm guessing it's not just Japanese people.

I see the maneki-neko statue several times a day in Japan.

I just assumed they were being mass produced

in a giant cat mega factory.

But I stumbled across a small,

out of the way shop which suggests otherwise.

I never knew that a lot of these maneki-nekos were handmade.

You just assume they all come off a factory line,

but its nice seeing them produced like this.

Clearly, a lot of hard work and passion

goes into making them.

These do look pretty beautiful.

Look at the back, the detail on the back as well.

The attention to detail and artwork

on these statues is amazing.

The shelves are filled with beckoning cats

of all breeds, styles, and sizes.

Perhaps, best of all, customers can get

their very own personalized beckoning cats

modeled in the likeness of their own pet.

So, you can actually bring in your own cat,

and have a cast made of it and have it hand painted.

So, here's a cat that was brought in here,

and here's the end result.

The maneki-neko statue isn't just believed

to bring good financial fortune though.

It's also believed to bring happiness

in other areas of your life.

I've learned of a second cat temple,

one where locals can pray for good fortune

in their love life.

But first, a quick bite and conveniently,

there happens to be a cat themed cafe two doors down.

So, there's four different types of cake here.

They have cheesecake down at the end,

chocolate eclair here, a kind of meringue over here,

and also a cream cake in the middle.

They've all got little Cate faces drawn on them.

Just tear off one ear, shall we?

And now, I'm gonna have to eat the cat's face.

Whoops.

With my morning tea of cat shaped cakes out of the way,

it's time to visit our second beckoning cat temple

to see what we can find.

It looks like those are ping pong table bats,

but these are all wishes that people have.

Someone wants to get married here quickly.

She's decided who she wants to marry,

she knows who, and she wants good fortune in her marriage.

I feel a bit bad reading these.

Are you supposed to read them?

I don't know.

"I want to get married."

"I want a partner."

"This year I want to get married."

They're all about marriage,

they're all about dating.

This person's left their Apple ID.

I don't know if that's desperation or brilliance, but

yeah, clearly some people are going pretty far with this.

I've seen email addresses as well.

I wonder what the God of cats thinks about this.

It appears I've stumbled across

some sort of cat temple Tinder.

Singles looking for good fortune

and happiness in their love lives come here

to pray and make offerings.

If that wasn't strange enough,

the large cat statues inside the shrine give this place

the atmosphere of some sort of cat obsessed cult.

It's a little bit creepy actually.

Because there's four giant cats waving at me,

and then for no reason there's a cheeky monkey down there.

These kind of shrines are supposed to be quite serious

but it's a bit difficult to take it seriously

when you've got all this madness staring back at you.

And then there's the Buddha statue,

that yellow little Buddha statue there.

If these temples have taught me anything though,

it's that the belief in the power of the beckoning cat

is still very much alive and well with Japanese culture,

and if I ever want to get married,

I should scribble my email address down

on a ping pong racket,

and pray to a cheeky monkey surrounded by saluting cats.

Well, I think that's what I've learned anyway.

What's going on there?

There's like some people dancing in front of the shrine.

Oh my lord.

It's creepy, it's like some sort of cat cult

with the cats in the background.

I find this really hard to take seriously

because I'm not a superstitious man,

and then to see them dancing in front of the cat shrine

doing the most ridiculous dance I've ever seen in my life.

I can't take it seriously.

Still, if all this cat superstition

seems hard to believe,

I'm about to have my beliefs questioned

by one of Japan's most famous cats.

I'm on my way to a small town an hour north of Tokyo

to meet a cat I've read about in the news,

and seen on TV numerous times.

The cat who has allegedly brought considerable wealth

to the locals, thanks in part to its lucky eyebrows.

And no, I'm not joking,

these are some pretty ground breaking eyebrows.

Meet Hachi, the luckiest cat in Japan.

Hachi works at a tobacco shop,

which also happens to sell lottery tickets.

The shop has had a string of jackpot winners,

and many winners attribute their success

to the good fortune and presence of Hachi.

This cat has got quite the reception.

The cat's called Hachi,

and Hachi is the number eight in Japanese,

and eight is a lucky number,

so the symbol for eight in kanji a lucky number,

and hence the cat is good luck.

And you can see here how many times

people have won the lottery in recent times.

According to these signs outside the front of the shop,

good fortune is exactly what Hachi has brought.

Well, if not by the winnings,

then certainly by all the pilgrimages people have made

from around the country to see the famous cat

with the lucky eyebrows.

I was given the cat from a friend

and it had this unique pattern on its face.

I knew the lady who runs the tobacco store

and because I'm not around during the day,

I asked her to take care of my cat.

Little by little, word of Hachi and her unusual color spread

and she became very popular.

In Japanese, this pattern resembles

the character for the number eight,

which is said to be a lucky number.

This is a list of people who have won recently.

And you can see here someone has won 14 million yen.

It says here,

"The next winner could be you."

He did have quite the audience a few minutes ago.

There were about half a dozen people

standing here taking pictures,

but clearly he got a bit tired,

and decided to go back in now.

It's not easy being a cat working at a tobacco store.

Hachi may be the luckiest cat in Japan,

but by no means the only cat with a job.

Unlike the lazy cats we have in the west,

it seems some Japanese cats aren't satisfied

with simply lying about the house

knocking photos off the shelves.

Some of them like to earn a living.

The most unusual case I've heard about

comes from a small train station

in a rural town in East Japan.

Naturally, when I first heard about

a train station run by a cat,

I assumed my ears were broken.

Fortunately, it turned out they weren't.

This is actually a normal, regular train

that people catch everyday to go to work, to go to school.

When it feels like something out of Disneyland.

There's cat things everywhere.

There's Doraemon, arguably Japan's most famous

cat character here.

It's locked.

There's a cat library, cat books here.

Don't know what that is.

"I've studied many philosophers,

many cats, the wisdom of cats is infinitely superior."

It's the premise of this book.

"Everything I know about life I learned from my cat."

When I heard it was a cat themed train,

I just pictured some stickers on the wall or something.

I didn't think the whole interior would feel like,

well, like this.

A library, some cabinets,

and special sofas built into it.

Right, this is a genuine cat themed train.

This cat themed train is a spectacle in itself.

We're riding it to Kishi Station in Wakayama Prefecture

to meet the cat train station master,

and find out what led the locals to convert

a standard train into a cat themed wonderland.

Wow.

Nitama, the station master cat.

And it's got quite the audience.

There's about a dozen people surrounding the cat,

and taking pictures.

It's looks completely oblivious to everyone standing here.

It just doesn't care.

It says here, on 22nd of June, 2015,

Tama passed away and became an honorable

eternal station master.

So, the cat is still here in spirit.

Because that's not enough to contribute to the economy,

they've got a second cat, Nitama, here.

Apparently, the cats have contributed

over 10 million dollars to the local economy

just by sheer number of tourists coming here.

It also says here that Nitama has regular working hours

like other employees.

She usually works except for Wednesday and Thursday

because that's her day off.

In the past, Kishi Station was a small unremarkable station

out here in rural Japan.

But since the induction of Tama,

the original station master cat,

and her successor, Nitama,

both the station and the local economy have flourished.

Once again, cats hare bringing good fortune to their owners.

Maybe there is something to this

good luck cat idea after all.

So, they brought the cat out, put a hat on it,

and about 50 people just magically appeared

out of nowhere, there was no one here.

And now, many, many pictures being taken.

I just love how the cat's so oblivious.

The cat's just like, "What is going on?"

I love the hat.

I think all cats should have a hat,

and look, it just fits perfectly, it looks wonderful.

He's a rather dashing cat.

The cat seems to like it.

It's remarkable, all you've you gotta do:

stick a tiny hat on a cat...

This is the result.

If there's anyone in Detroit watching,

your city crumbling in on itself,

get some cats and just have them run around Detroit,

stick some hats on them, people will come.

The economy will go back up.

Nitama is the second cat to be named

the station master of Kishi.

Sadly, Tama, the first station master,

passed away in 2015.

And locals now come to the station

to pay their respects.

When Tama passed away,

3,000 people turned up for the funeral

when it was a traditional Japanese funeral,

it was a big deal and this is the shrine.

The cat is now an honorable goddess of the station,

and now you can come here and pray to her

whilst watching out for wasps and bees.

Lovely.

After seeing the impressive wealth

a few cats have brought not just to individuals,

but to entire local economies,

and country side towns, and remote islands.

I'm starting to think I need to buy

some cats for myself.

And what better place for me to sit and reflect

on some sort of cutting edge business plan

then at a cat pub,

a Japanese businessman's equivalent to a cat cafe.

So, this is a cat izakaya.

It says here,

so, "A place where you can play with cats."

But it's also a pub.

Let's go and check it out.

And there's quite a lot of cats on the door.

So, that's a giveaway.

There's a cat on top of the stairs welcoming us.

Even the cats at the pub

look like they've lapped up a few pints of sake,

slumped over the chairs at the bar,

presumably after a hard day at work.

It's certainly a much more relaxing atmosphere

than a cat cafe.

It feels a bit weird sitting at a bar with your beer,

and half a dozen cats around you.

I like it though.

They've got their biscuits,

I've got my nuts.

Everyone's a winner.

A standard Friday night.

Beer on tap, shattered businessmen,

and an abundance of cats all in one room.

What could possibly go wrong?

Customers sit here drinking

and a cat will walk by and step in their drink.

Oh no.

So apparently, sometimes the customers are sitting here

drinking their beer, the cat comes along,

and accidentally sticks its paw in the drink,

and then walks off,

so they have to throw the drink away and start again.

It's not easy running a cat pub.

So, why did you start having all the cats here?

What was your reason for having the cats

here in the first place?

I opened this bar around six years ago

but not so many customers came.

But there was one customer

whose cat had a litter of kittens.

The customer didn't know what to do with them

so I offered to adopt them,

and the number of cats grew from there.

Just like all izakayas, this one serves food.

So, for relaxing times, make it Suntory time.

Oh, and throw in a cat faced pasta along the way.

Yeah, it's a little bit weird to drink alcohol

in the presence of many many cats like this.

Having a drink and playing with a cat.

Two things that go hand in hand.

Cats in a bar actually makes a lot more sense

than I expected.

For the lonely drinker,

they prove to be ideal company and entertainment

all rolled into one.

Just doing a bit of research

on weird cat stuff in Japan,

and I found this cat that regularly

rides the train through Tokyo,

and sits with the passengers.

I'd quite like to try and track this cat down,

but it's on the Ikebukuro line,

and Ikebukuro has the fifth biggest station in the world,

so... still you never know your luck, one day.

Finding this elusive commuter cat would be near impossible

given the sheer size of Tokyo's train network.

But fortunately, cats can also be found

in a few other obscure public places.

One such place is Hibiya Park,

located right next to the Imperial Palace.

I've heard it has a reputation of being

something of an unofficial cat park

due the the numerous feral cats that call it home.

Cat lazying around over there behind the roses.

I thought it was a pile of sand,

but nope, it is a cat.

Spotting cats in this massive park can be quite tricky.

There isn't an abundance of them,

but with some persistence and a bit of luck,

cat sightings are certainly possible.

Similar to Hibiya Park,

a large cemetery in suburban Tokyo

has been nicknamed the cat cemetery

on account of its numerous strays.

I must admit, I wasn't optimistic

we were gonna find cats here,

and we walked straight in and the first two minutes, a cat.

This lovely cat shows up.

The tight spaces and concrete sprawl

of this massive graveyard,

make for the ideal playground for the feral cats.

It's like a game of hide and seek.

He... pops up and goes, "Meow!"

And then runs away and hides around the corner.

And then meows again, and looks at me.

Like that.

Moving onto his next spot.

Oh!

It's getting heated.

Awe, it's gonna be a fight.

These two cats seem to have some sort of little gang going,

and this one's not invited to the party.

I feel sorry for this black cat.

He's been very much excluded.

The other two cats seems to be sort of best friends.

This cat has to keep his distance,

and you know, I feel a little bit sympathetic.

It reminds me of my old school days.

Ew!

Oh no.

I was leaning on that,

and then I looked down and there's like 20 red ants.

A cat cemetery may not be overrun,

but it's not difficult to stumble across them

whilst strolling around.

The cemetery also backs onto a district

called Yanaka Ginza, where supposedly,

the locals are very cat friendly

adopting a few strays as community mascots,

and building shelters and litter boxes

throughout the street.

So, this is Yanaka Ginza suburb or street,

and apparently, again, it's got a famous reputation

for being a cat friendly neighborhood,

and it's right next to the cemetery,

so I'm guessing it lives up to its reputation

especially as we've already seen one cat

just relaxing at the side of the street a minute ago.

We've got two statues of cats here

next to this big giant ice cream cone, the beckoning cat.

There's a lot of cat symbols,

and statues and things.

There's a cat on the roof up there.

I thought it was real out the corner of my eye,

but no, it's not real.

It's rather terrifying as well.

As the day moves on,

and more and more shoppers arrive,

the neighborhood comes alive

with all manner of cat appreciation.

Cat merchandise, cat statues, cat shaped food.

You can hardly move down the street

without bumping into something with a cat stuck on it.

A lot of savvy business owners in Japan

have seen the marketing appeal of cats.

Need to draw some customers to your pub?

Add some cats.

Want instant tourism for a small rural community?

Put a hat on a cat and make her the boss.

There's even a politician who nominated

a cat as his running mate.

But for the owner of this bookstore in Central Tokyo,

adding a cat or two wasn't enough.

So, he decided to overhaul his entire store

selling nothing but cat related books.

What a way to stand out.

This is a famous cat.

He blows bubbles out of his nose.

To say that there's a lot of cat related books and products

is quite the understatement.

There's a ridiculous amount.

The Islands of Greece.

And it's just the Islands of Greece with lots of cats in.

Everything from cat coloring books

to philosophy as interpreted by cats.

How the owner managed to fill an entire store

with this just cat related books is remarkable.

If cat enthusiasts had a heaven,

this would be its library.

This book sums up Japan's cat obsession rather well.

It's got all the data on the most popular types of cats.

It's even got a section on the different types of cat legs

just in case you ever needed to know that.

Different types of cat smile.

This is a book about cats in funny positions and places.

Let's see.

It's like Mission Impossible cat.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, to be honest,

I'm not sure which,

converting the entire store to cat only books

has increased it's popularity.

The cat's good fortune has struck again.

I've had this store for about 35 years.

It seems the younger generation

doesn't read books anymore.

So to combat this,

I converted what was a regular book store

into a cat book store.

Since then, I've seen a steady increase in customers.

This is the most popular kind of book they sell here.

It's cats wearing different items

or just like in these really funny situations

where it looks like they're having an amazing time.

"Don't expect a lucky break to just fall from the sky,"

and the cat's looking up.

"To think as if the reverse is true."

"Negativity prohibited."

They're sayings, everyday sayings,

with the cat acting it out.

"The longer you wait, the better it tastes."

I like that one.

It has become apparent that cats can be found

in some pretty unconventional places.

But this next place is surely near the top of the list.

I'm going in search of a business,

which utilizes the presence of cats

to boost staff morale,

and create a fun, friendly office environment.

But can cats in an office space really work?

This is the office of Ferray Corporation,

an e-commerce company.

Here in this place of business,

cats are allowed to roam free,

pouncing on computer mice, strolling across keyboards,

and of course, nibbling their way through computer cables.

But what happens when the male and female cats

start to look at each other longingly?

To stop the cats from completely tearing the office apart

some precautions have been made.

The female cats are upstairs

and the male cats are downstairs.

The male and female cats don't get along

so we keep them separate.

So, the cats in the office have different owners,

so the staff can bring their cats here.

So, the cats aren't all owned by the office.

It's staff coming and bringing their cats to work.

So, what was your thinking

behind having cats in the office?

We've had cats from the very beginning

and the number of cats has kept growing.

We work with computers every day

and the staff all keep to themselves

but having the cats creates conversation in the office.

Do you ever find cats get in the way

and disrupt work in the office?

Sometimes a cat will

cut off a customer's phone call

or meow during a conversation,

and the cats frequently stomp on keyboards.

It's not all good having cats in your office.

These ear phones

Have met their demise.

At the hands of one of the cats.

So, these bits of plastic here on top of the computers

are to stop cats from treading on the power buttons.

Apparently cats were just coming over,

and just standing on all the buttons.

The cats help to create a casual,

stress free environment for the staff,

which is quite a change from the usual

high pressure office environments found in Japan.

Plus, it's certainly a great way for owners

who work long hours to spend more time with their cats.

But how to get them safely to and from work

on the world's busiest subway trains?

Well, say hello to the custom made

urban cat transportation device.

Oh, I like this.

Very stylish.

So, he's going home for the day,

and taking the cat with him in style.

I've never seen a bag quite like it.

Cat themed merchandise can be found

at many retail stores across Japan

although usually, it's limited to stationary and clothing.

Although, specialized cat products like the cat carry bag

are available if you look hard enough.

But some gift stores have taken

their love of cat products to new heights.

What's this?

Whoa.

Oh.

It makes different noises depending on where you touch it.

This was the purring.

What the hell was that?

Cat crockery, cat mugs, cat spoons,

cat dolls, cat glasses,

cat plates, cat posters, cat stationary,

cat fans, cat everything.

This specialty cat store sells nothing but cat themed products

and here you can find practically every household item

to satisfy your cat's obsession.

Cat calendar.

Cat chopsticks.

Cat pocket watch.

Cat umbrellas.

Cat bag.

And of course, cat socks.

So, what do you think is your most strange

or unique item that you sell?

This is an incense made from silver vine.

When your cat smells it,

it will be as if it's drunk.

Wow, so it's like the cat is drunk

when it smells this stuff.

Wow, is it popular with customers?

Recently it's started to become quite popular.

This store is the one stop shop

for all things cat related,

but what motivated the owner to open a store

with such a variety of unique and niche cat products?

I have a few friends who collect

this sort of cat merchandise.

They have to go to several different stores

and it takes them a lot of time.

So I thought if I gather everything into one store

they can come here and get a whole range of things.

So I think this store makes it a lot easier

for the cat lover.

So I started this store.

I've come across some pretty odd and quirky products

in this store, however, I've just gotten my hands

on a rather unusual product that takes ridiculous

to a whole new level.

This is cat wine,

Nyan Nyan Nouveau.

I'm not making this up either.

This is actually cat wine

because a lot of people in Japan come home after a long day

sit there and drink their wine alone,

but what if you could drink with your cat as well.

That is the premise behind Nyan Nyan Nouveau wine.

Look, there you go, there's two cats there.

Is that a cat and a dog?

I don't know if it's just cats who can drink this,

maybe dogs can as well,

but... I don't know if humans can drink it,

I don't even know what it really looks like,

let's find out.

So... pour that in there.

Oh...

The word appetizing doesn't spring to mind.

Should we try some?

If the cat can drink it, I can drink it, why not.

Yeah, don't drink cat wine.

Oh man...

Cats are undoubtedly a huge part of Japanese pop culture,

as seen with characters such as Doraemon and Hello Kitty.

I've been told there's an entire

Hello Kitty themed hotel room

at an upmarket hotel in Tokyo.

And we're off to see how much detail

has gone into celebrating the world famous brand first hand.

Just waiting to go into the Hello Kitty room.

It's a bit of a giveaway, isn't it?

Just to make sure you know which room it is.

Oh, oh my God.

Oh...

Oh, it's like being in a nightmare.

With themed trash cans, scales,

toiletries, and water bottles,

there's truly no escaping Hello Kitty inside the room.

For some, being here must feel like a dream.

For me, it's quite disconcerting.

I think one of the reasons it feels so intense is because

it's not just the walls that are covered in artwork,

the floor as well is really colorful,

and there's some artwork there,

and it can be difficult to work out

where the wall ends and where the floor begins.

So, it's all just one big piece of artwork.

You can see the Keio Plaza on the wall of the hotel,

and this is like a Tokyo setting, and- oh wow!

Here you go, this is a Hello Kitty cake.

Hello Kitty , oh my lord,

a Hello Kitty cake.

But one Hello Kitty themed hotel room simply isn't enough.

The hotel has another for customers

who want to appreciated their favorite cartoon cat

in an opulent atmosphere,

as opposed to the previous room,

which felt like wandering into a child's nightmare.

I think I prefer this one to the other one.

I think I like this room.

This feels more like a hotel room.

Yeah, right.

And more like a normal hotel room that's just pink.

This is quite cool.

That's Princess Kitty there.

I'm particularly excited about this chair,

this is very cool, isn't it?

So, you also have Hello Kitty breakfast.

Kitty on omelets.

Oh my God, Hello Kitty on the omelet.

- And a Hello Kitty sandwich. - A Hello Kitty sandwich.

Yeah, that's a pretty thoroughly

Hello Kitty branded breakfast experience.

yeah.

As I mentioned earlier,

Japan is actually home to several cat islands.

Some are more well known than others,

and Enoshima is one that's gotten some attention

for being a cat island.

However, unlike Tashirojima, this one

can be accessed on foot.

It's a pretty big contrast to Tashirojima.

The abandoned Jurassic Park style island.

This is a far cry from that.

This is one of the most busiest tourist spots

I've ever seen in Japan.

Enoshima is only a short trip from Tokyo,

which makes it an extremely popular hot spot for tourists.

With this many people coming and going though,

it seems like it wouldn't be idea for cats,

so it's time to console a giant novelty tourist map.

Cat, cat, cat.

Let's go and see if there's actually some cats

at that spot on the map.

It's just around the corner.

And up a flight of stairs, oh my God, up stairs.

The locations on the map lead me away from the tourists

over to the residential side of the island,

and sure enough, I've finally found our first cat

dozing directly underneath this small shrine.

I've never seen a cat sit so still.

I don't even know if it's real,

I think it's just a toy.

There's two cats here relaxing under a tree.

I'm quite curious to see how many more we can find.

The residential part of Enoshima is quiet and peaceful,

a stark contrast to the tourist side.

And as I walk these gentle tranquil streets,

I'm greeted by more and more cats.

It turns out Enoshima is indeed a cat island of sorts.

Though very different to the dense cat chaos of Tashirojima,

it does have its own quiet charm

with cats spread out across parts of the island.

On a scale of one to stylish cat,

this is a stylish cat, look at that mustache.

That is glorious.

I think one main difference between

Enoshima and Tashirojima,

on Tashirojima there's cats everywhere,

they're not difficult to find.

You turn a street and there's half a dozen

cats walking around.

Here on Enoshima, you really have to search for them,

it's like a cat treasure hunt.

Every time you find one, you feel like

you've achieved something.

And sometimes you get a little bonus,

and they've got a mustache.

Whilst Hello Kitty may have taken the world by storm,

and become an international icon,

I'm off to meet the creator of perhaps,

Japan's most iconic cat character,

which can be found all across the country

on merchandise, posters, and billboards.

Nice to meet you.

And thank you very much for today.

This is Satoru Tsuda,

the creator of Nameneko.

Though mostly unknown outside of Japan,

Nameneko was a hugely popular brand in the 1980s,

and is often credited with single-handedly

starting cat pop culture across Japan.

It started when Mr. Tsuda,

a photographer by trade,

began photographing cats

wearing his partner's doll's clothes.

The unique photos went on to sell over eight million copies,

and a brand was born.

These are all articles and magazines,

newspapers where the cats have appeared.

Smoking.

This is a real picture, not synthesized.

I think that's the best thing about it.

It's not... digital photo manipulation.

Those are actually cats dressed up.

Ah, there's an advert for Microsoft.

So, this is a Japanese rice cracker...

style product, Senbei.

A lot of people thought it was for cats

because it looks like pet food,

what with the cat there.

So, on the second edition,

they had to put here, "It's for humans," so...

just so people would know.

So, these are specially designed cat clothes.

They cost, I think, about $1,500 each,

and they're hand made to perfection.

They're so detailed and intricate.

They look better than human clothes.

That is more expensive than an Armani suit

because it's tailor made, uh... for a cat.

It's rather impressive and surreal.

These images were taken long before

the arrival of Photoshop.

All of the pictures are of real cats

with custom made props and costumes.

But how did a few cats in upmarket clothes

go on to become a national sensation?

So, what is the history of Nameneko?

The Nameneko brand started in 1980.

It all started when I found four abandoned kittens.

I opened a discarded cardboard box and found

the newborns which were so small

that I couldn't even tell that they were kittens.

I cleaned and dried them off,

and I realized they were kittens when I saw

their fur fluff up for the first time.

My partner was designing clothes for French dolls,

and one day she left them at my house.

The cats were playing with them and had damaged them.

The clothes could no longer be sold,

so I dressed the cats up in the clothes.

I snapped a few photos, and when I showed my friends

they all thought the cats looked adorable.

They suggested I publish these photos,

and that was the start of Nameneko.

With my journey across the country coming to an end,

I must say I'm as bewildered as ever

by Japan's fascination with cats.

Cats with jobs, cat themed stores,

and cats in, well, odd places.

Japan's cat antics are both intriguing and entertaining,

and though some may find it just plain weird,

one thing is for sure,

Japan is the cat capital of the world.