Yushima Cat Island, Kamiamakusa Live Cam

This fixed camera on Yushima, the Cat Island in Kamiamakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, looks at a shady corner where island cats rest. The frame shows bare ground under trees, two concrete benches, a tree trunk with a blue basin beside it and a pole covered with stickers.

Yushima is a small island in the Ariake Sea, roughly four kilometres around, and belongs to the city of Kamiamakusa. Its single village stands on the coast by the harbour. The island is known as a Cat Island for the many free-roaming cats that live among its houses; residents look after them as community animals and have them neutered.

The view looks down at a single gathering point rather than over the harbour or the village. Cats cross the bare ground, climb onto the benches and curl up in the basin by the trunk, so the scene is sometimes empty and sometimes holds several animals.