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Cats in Japanese Culture: A History of Felines in the Archipelago

Japan sure does love cats … right? There are definitely a lot of them in anime, though usually heavily anthropomorphized — basically humans with cat ears (known as nekomimi).

  • Cats domesticated in Japan for over 2,000 years, arriving via Korean traders.
  • Buddhist monks introduced cats in 6th century, initially valued for rodent control.
  • Emperor Uda kept pet cat in 867 AD, wrote affectionate diary entries about it.

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