Onomichi｜Explore the narrow streets of cats. Cat shrines and cat cafes. Experience the old streets like the Setouchi Art Festival

The Cat Path that Onomichi has been promoting in recent years is actually a small path that stretches several hundred meters from Genjinja Shrine. It was first created in 1998 by the artist Kaenyama Haruji, who placed a "Lucky Stone Cat" with a cat painted on a stone that he made himself. It has now become an art installation path. Onomichi officials estimate that there are thousands of Fukuishi cats of various sizes placed on the narrow road.
Passing through the dilapidated low houses, you will find a cat shrine with many lucky stone cats placed inside. When you want to draw a lot, you turn the stone and draw from the basket that contains the pattern it points to. The stone steps at the entrance are also painted with cat patterns, and when you turn a corner, there are also lucky stone cats on the steps.
Of course there are real cats, but there are too many tourists visiting the Cat Path, so the cats just jump off the roof of the old house and escape. The experience here is different from that of Cat Island. It is more like an interactive art at the Setouchi Art Festival, creating a fun experience of finding cats by searching for the Fukuishi cats on the trails, cat murals, or woodcut paintings. Through these interactions, the vacant and abandoned old houses can be transformed into art galleries or cafes, finding another possibility for their continued existence.
📍Address: 〒722-0033 Hiroshima Prefecture Onomichi City Higashidodo-cho 19-26
🚗It takes about 18 minutes to walk from Onomichi Station along the shopping street to Genjinja Shrine. The path next to it is the Cat's Path. Or take the bus to Changjiangkou Station and walk for four minutes.
#MarchGoodPlaces2025

Post by 旅行中的野馬 | Mar 22, 2025