Animals of Japan
Cat cafes
Cats in temples and shrines
Cats in Shōfuku Temple, Fukuoka
Shōfuku Temple, a peaceful place in Fukuoka.
Cats in cemeteries
I counted around 50 cats over 3 days in Nagasaki. Hillside cemeteries were perhaps their favorite haunt.
Nagasaki’s terraces reminded me of hill towns in the Apennines of Central Italy.
Cats in Hell
Buddhist Hell is Jigoku (地獄), and the same word is used for fumaroles (geothermal vents). Unzen Jigoku is therefore a geothermal field in the hot springs resort town of Unzen, on the Shimabara Peninsula in Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyūshū.
The cats were just chilling in the heat. I wondered whether the smell of sulfur bothered them, at least at first.
They were fed by a man who appeared to be the caretaker of the field.
Cats in general
Hagi Castle Town, Hagi, Yamaguchi Pref.
Dogs
Monkeys
These are all from Takasakiyama monkey park on the coast south of Beppu; I took a bus to the park, then walked back to Beppu.
For more photos of Japanese macaques, see the short Kyōto hike on the Hiking in Japan page.
Miscellaneous land and sea animals
Birds
Hagi castle.
Matsumoto River, Hagi
