Nekozuka: A Small Memorial to a Very Loyal Cat

Place

Nekozuka (ねこ塚)

Visited: February 1, 2023
Published: August 27, 2026
Updated: October 3, 2026

Reclining stone cat on top of the Nekozuka memorial in Yokohama.

Some cats follow their humans everywhere.

According to an old story from Yokohama, one followed hers a little farther than usual.

In the Genroku era, more than three centuries ago, an elderly woman travelling on pilgrimage passed through the village of Zenbu. Exhausted and starving, she collapsed and died.

Beside her was a cat.

It stayed close, crying beside the woman. Before long, it too had died.

The cat mound

The villagers buried them together, raised a mound and a stone marker, and prayed for them. The place became known as Nekozuka (ねこ塚)—the “Cat Mound.”

Weathered stone memorials among trees and roots at Nekozuka in Yokohama. — The older stones at Nekozuka are considerably less cat-shaped than its modern residents.

The legend places all this only “in the Genroku era”. One small stone among them is more specific. It is carved with the second day of the tenth month of Genroku 7 (1694) and a posthumous Buddhist name for a woman.

The account preserved by Yokohama City continues beyond the pilgrim and her companion. Local people later buried and commemorated their own cats and dogs here too.

A place where villagers had mourned a traveller and her cat became somewhere they could bring their own losses. The name remained the Cat Mound, even with dogs among those remembered.

A suitable place to rest

The newer monument, erected by the Yokohama Asahi Rotary Club, carries an account of the legend. On top lies a stone cat, curled around itself with its front paws hanging over the edge.

Reclining stone cat stretched across the top of the modern Nekozuka monument. — The story is inscribed below. The cat has taken the upstairs accommodation.

There is nothing particularly ceremonial about its pose. It looks like a cat that has found a good spot and sees no reason to move. For all the devotion in the story beneath it, the sculpture is content to show a cat taking a nap.

The village has changed somewhat since the Genroku era. Next door, clearly visible from the mound, is a golf practice range.

Beside the older stones sits a smaller, round-eyed cat. When I visited, coins and a small drink bottle had been left nearby.

Small seated stone cat beside older memorial stones at Nekozuka, with coins and a drink bottle nearby. — A smaller stone cat keeping the older memorials company.

The inscription told me how the place was remembered; the offerings showed that people had done more than read about it. Someone had brought something to leave.

I stood there thinking about the woman, her companion and the villagers who had buried them.

The cat on the monument appeared to have left the thinking to me.

Visit this place

Location

Nekozuka (ねこ塚)

A small wooded memorial in Zenbu-cho, Asahi Ward

144 Zenbu-cho, Asahi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 241-0823, Japan

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Practical Information

Area: Zenbu-cho, Asahi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa
Access: Roughly 15–20 minutes on foot from Ryokuentoshi Station (Sotetsu Izumino Line)
Tourism information: Yokohama City, Asahi Ward — Nekozuka

Information last checked: August 27, 2026

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