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The Cats of Gokogu Shrine

Play trailer Poster for The Cats of Gokogu Shrine 2024 1h 59m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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Gokogu is a small, ancient Shinto shrine in Ushimado, Japan. Home to dozens of street cats, it is also known as Cat Shrine. Many people visit the shrine for various reasons: some to worship gods, others to enjoy gardening. Some people come to clean the shrine as volunteers while others just stop by on their way to fish Japanese sardinella -- and it is the perfect place for kids to play after school. It is a heaven for cat-loving residents and visitors too. Some people visit Gokogu to feed the freely roaming stray cats. Others just come to see these cats or to take pictures of them. But some residents complain about the waste the cats leave around the neighborhood. Gokogu looks peaceful on the surface, but it is also the epicenter of a sensitive issue that divides the local community. Master Soda started rolling his camera to observe and depict the aging, traditional community and its spiritual center Gokogu.

Critics Reviews

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Jake Wilson The Age (Australia) Mar 27
4/5
..if you don’t like cats, do you even really like cinema? For us sensible people, anyway, the film offers many of the same pleasures as the most durable of all genres on YouTube. Go to Full Review Hannah Strong Little White Lies 02/21/2024
Soon there might not be any cats left at Gokogu Shrine, but the lives they have touched remain, and Soda’s sparing, sweet film is a gorgeous tribute to the independent felines, and the kind people who lived in harmony with them. Go to Full Review Cody Allen The Curb Jul 18
The Cats of Gokogu Shrine offers a gentle, hopeful vision of a world where we can find harmony amidst the chaos, simply by learning to share and care for what we have, no matter how fleeting it may be. Go to Full Review Mark Schilling Japan Times 11/06/2024
4/5
“The Cats of Gokogu Shrine” stays true to its observational ideals to the end. It also gives us poetic glimpses of nature as the seasons change and cherry blossoms give way to a raging typhoon. Go to Full Review Katie Smith-Wong Flick Feast 10/09/2024
3/5
Quietly charming and beautifully filmed, it takes the time to appreciate the kindheartedness of Ushimado’s volunteers and the beauty of the natural world. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
The Cats of Gokogu Shrine

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Cast & Crew

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Kazuhiro Sôda

Director

Kiyoko Kashiwagi

Producer

Kazuhiro Sôda

Producer

Kazuhiro Sôda

Cinematographer

Kazuhiro Sôda

Film Editor
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The Cats of Gokogu Shrine

The Cats of Gokogu Shrine (2024) The Cats of Gokogu Shrine (2024) The Cats of Gokogu Shrine (2024) The Cats of Gokogu Shrine (2024) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Gokogu is a small, ancient Shinto shrine in Ushimado, Japan. Home to dozens of street cats, it is also known as Cat Shrine. Many people visit the shrine for various reasons: some to worship gods, others to enjoy gardening. Some people come to clean the shrine as volunteers while others just stop by on their way to fish Japanese sardinella -- and it is the perfect place for kids to play after school. It is a heaven for cat-loving residents and visitors too. Some people visit Gokogu to feed the freely roaming stray cats. Others just come to see these cats or to take pictures of them. But some residents complain about the waste the cats leave around the neighborhood. Gokogu looks peaceful on the surface, but it is also the epicenter of a sensitive issue that divides the local community. Master Soda started rolling his camera to observe and depict the aging, traditional community and its spiritual center Gokogu.
Director
Kazuhiro Sôda
Producer
Kiyoko Kashiwagi, Kazuhiro Sôda
Production Co
Laboratory X, Inc.
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Japanese
Runtime
1h 59m