The second half of Golden Week was a cat trip to Iwaijima, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
It is the cat island that I’d been wanting to visit.
I found out that there were guest houses on the island, and it was possible to make a reservation, so I decided to go for two days and one night.
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How to get to Iwaishima Island
You can cross to Iwaishima Island by boat from Yanai Port in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
If you’re going by car, you can also drive to Murotsu, the station on the way to the boat, and get on the boat from Murotsu.
There are two benefits: you can enjoy the scenery of the peninsula while driving around, and the boat fare is cheaper.
I boarded the boat from Murotsu this time.
It was allowed to park cars in the parking lot near the roadside station.
It seems that there are also places to park near Yanai Port.
The ship is a route of Yanai Port -> Murotsu -> three other ports of call to Iukaishima, and the time of travel from Yanai Port to Iukaishima. is about 1 hour and 10 minutes away. It is about 45 minutes from Murozu.
The ship’s timetable was below as of May 2018. Please check the website for details.
Timetable (Going To Iwaishima)
■Morning Sea freight
9:30 departure from Yanai Port→10:00 Murozu→10:40 arrival at Iukaishima
Fare: 1,580 yen(The fare from Murotsu is 920 yen)
■Afternoon Sea freight
15:45 departure from Yanai Port→16:15 Murozu→16:55 arrival at Iukaishima
There is an early morning Sea freight from Murotsu directly to Iwaijima, leaving at 6:10 a.m. (Iwaijima 6:38 a.m.)
Timetable (Returning To Yanai port)
■Morning service
6:45 departure from Iwaijima→7:25 Murozu→7:55 Yanai Port
Fare is the same as above
■Afternoon Sea freight
12:30 departure from Iwaijima→13:10 Murozu→13:40 arrival at Yanai Port
■Evening Sea freight
17:05 Iwaishima→17:45 Murotsu
(The evening freight stops at Murotsu.)
You can go on a morning sea freight and come back on an evening sea freight for a day trip.
At Murotsu Port
It’s Golden Week, but I arrived at Murotsu Port earlier than planned because the highway was free.
Old houses are lined up in the narrow alleys unique to the port town.
As expected, there is a cat.
A very friendly cat.
She is a little shy brownish white.
A brown tiger is sleeping all the time.
A cat-covered state as if I’m on the cat island.
Time passed in the blink of an eye, so it was time to get on the boat.
There is a ticket office like a shed, so you may not recognize it unless people are in line.
The picture below shows the boarding area of the Murotsu boat.
The boat is quite big, so I was a little relieved to see it.
Arrived Iwaishima and Stayed Kunihiro Guest House
I boarded the packed boat and arrived at Iwaishima within 30 minutes.
I was expecting to see a cat waiting for passengers near the harbor like other cat islands, but there was no sign of it.
On the way to the guest house, I met a cat.
This is my first cat on Iwaishima.
After that, I met some cats, but they were all cautious.
When I arrived at the guest house, I had a very nice encounter.
A cat pictured below, was in front of the guest house.
And he was very friendly! (The picture is a yawn, not angry.)
This time I was stayed “Minshuku Kunihiro“.
It was run by a nice couple and I felt very happy.
The meals were full of fish.
It was 7,000 yen for one night with two meals.
I walked around the island a lot, but it wasn’t like full of cats.
There were relatively few cats in the narrow alleys near the ferry landing, but they were gathering in certain places, such as near the breakwater to the east.
Moreover, the cats I met in the alley ran away as soon as I pointed the camera at them, so I couldn’t take many pictures of them.
So I’d like to introduce some pictures of cats and kittens near the breakwater of Iwaishima Island
Cats on the Beach
A three minute walk from the harbor where the liner arrives is the cat density area of east Iwaishima.
The photo is in the evening.
Cats gathered at the breakwater.
The cats in this area are accustomed to people, and they din’t run away even if you point a camera at them.
Cats on the back of the breakwater.
I saw between the tetrapods.
They look nice in the sea breeze.
Time to Leave Iwaishima Island
I got on the boat at 12:30 for the return trip, so this trip will be over after the morning walk.
I couldn’t take any pictures of the scene I had in mind, but I could meet some friendly cats.
Compared to Sanagijima Island and Manabeshima, where I’ve been, the cat density on Iwaishima Island was a little lower…
Also, with the exception of certain areas, there were many wary cats, which left me with the impression that it was somewhat difficult to photograph them.
For the last part of the trip, I went to the friendly cats!
This is a cat I met on the first day at the guest house.
He came to meet me while I was taking my morning walk.
He’s rolling around and is happy to see me again?
The cats on the beach in the morning are like this in the daytime.
They don’t seem to be alert.
They were sleeping.
I left the island, feeling the cats’ eyes on me, just as I did when I arrived.
That’s the story of my cat trip to Iwaishima Island.
