An army of feral cats rules a remote island in southern Japan, curling up in abandoned houses or strutting about in a fishing village where they outnumber the humans 6 to 1.

Originally introduced to Aoshima to deal with mice that plagued fishermen's boats, the cats stayed on — and multiplied.

More than 120 cats swarm the island with only a handful of humans for company, mostly pensioners who didn't join the waves of migrants seeking work in the cities after World War II.