Cats have become a multi-billion-pound industry in Japan, with a recent report estimating they will contribute ¥3tn ($18.8bn) to the economy in 2026, a phenomenon dubbed “catnomics”. The influence of felines is evident across society, from the imperial family’s own cats to Tokyo’s self-proclaimed “cat town” in the Yanaka Ginza neighbourhood, where tourists flock to buy cat-themed souvenirs.
According to a survey by the Japan Pet Food Association, Japanese households kept 8.8 million cats in 2025, compared with 6.8 million dogs, and the average cat-owning household spends almost ¥1.8m ($11,300) over the animal’s lifetime. This level of devotion has turned cats into big business, with consumer spending on cat cafes, photo books, and related products boosting the economy.
Katsuhiro Miyamoto, professor emeritus at Kansai University, noted that the economic impact of cats fell just short of that of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, but still demonstrated a significant contribution. High-profile cat owners include the emperor and empress, while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has expressed a preference for cats over dogs.
Cats are believed to have been introduced to Japan during the Nara period (710-794) via envoys returning from Tang Dynasty China, and were often kept in temples to protect scriptures from rodents. This role gave them a special, mystic status, and they are celebrated in folklore as benign beings that bring good fortune, as symbolised by the maneki neko statue.
The global boom in Japanese literature has further boosted the cat’s status, with works such as Natsume Sōseki’s I Am a Cat and Haruki Murakami’s surreal novels featuring feline characters. Publishers have even used cat imagery on book covers with no connection to the animal, capitalising on their marketing power.
