economy
'Catnomics': How Japan’s Feline Fixation Has Become an Industry Worth Billions
Their influence is evident in every corner of society, the imperial family owns some, and Tokyo even has its own ‘cat town’
TL;DR
- Cats are generating an expected ¥3tn ($18.8bn) in value to the Japanese economy this year, a phenomenon called “catnomics”.
- Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo's self-proclaimed “cat town”, attracts visitors with its cat-themed shops and souvenirs.
- Cats are prominent in Japanese literature, appearing in novels by Natsume Sōseki, Haruki Murakami, Hiro Arikawa, and Takashi Hiraide.
- Japanese households kept 8.8 million cats in 2025, outnumbering dogs, and the average cat-owning household spends nearly ¥1.8m ($11,300) over a cat's lifetime.
- Cats are believed to have been introduced to Japan during the Nara period and were initially valued in temples for protecting scriptures from rodents.
- The "maneki neko" statue, a beckoning cat, is a common symbol of good fortune in Japan, inspired by a temple legend.
- Japan's aging demographics and population decline could potentially lead to fewer cats being kept as pets in the future.