Early this year, I inadvertently became a character in a widely read cover story for T, The New York Times style magazine, titled "Why do cats hold such mythic power in Japan?" I have been trying since then to understand the Japanese obsession with cats.
I appeared in the story, written by author and editor Hanya Yanagihara, as "my friend Mihoko," tasked with navigating her to Aoshima, a small island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea that is home to approximately 120 cats and five people. Our trip took an unexpected turn when the only ferry to the island was canceled because of a snowstorm.
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