{"id":70985,"date":"2026-08-08T14:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/70985\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:44:12","slug":"what-japans-flying-cat-signs-are-actually-warning-you-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/70985\/","title":{"rendered":"What Japan\u2019s Flying Cat Signs Are Actually Warning You About"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post What Japan’s Flying Cat Signs Are Actually Warning You About<\/a> appeared first on A-Z Animals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Japan has a variety of signs depicting animals that cross major roadways throughout the country. From turtles to bats<\/a>, deer, and raccoons<\/a>, these animal signs are posted because the government wants both drivers and animals to be safe on roadways.<\/p>\n

Cats<\/a> are beloved in Japan, and they have a reputation for good luck<\/a>, so it should come as no surprise that there are signs depicting them as well. However, with flying cat signs popping up across the country, drivers are doing a double-take and wondering what these signs mean.<\/p>\n

Flying Cat Signs Serve as a Warning to Drivers<\/p>\n

At first glance, a yellow street sign featuring multiple black cats with outstretched arms makes it seem as though Japan may be dealing with a highly unusual cats-falling-from-the-sky problem. Of course, this is not the case. The signs serve as a warning, and local communities are hoping the warning is heeded.<\/p>\n

In different regions of Japan, large cat colonies exist. Over the years, many of these cats have been hit by cars. To combat this, signs have been popping up in different prefectures in the country, kindly and comically warning drivers to slow down.<\/p>\n

\"Flying<\/p>\n

A sign depicting flying cats in Japan is meant to slow drivers down, warning that cats may dart into the road.<\/p>\n

\u00a9Japan Travel Dan \/ Instagram \u2013 Original<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the known locations of the flying cat signs<\/a> include:<\/p>\n

Kitakami City, Iwate Prefecture<\/p>\n

Namikawa, Inocho, Agawagun, Kochi Prefecture<\/p>\n

While cats may not be flying through the air, they can easily run in front of cars before drivers even know what happened. By slowing down, fewer cats will be injured or killed in the communities where they are loved.<\/p>\n

What Do the Signs Say?<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the strange image of flying cats has been catching drivers’ attention when traveling through different territories of Japan. The language underneath just adds another layer of joy to the whimsical yet important signpost.<\/p>\n

\"Sign<\/p>\n

When translated, the signs state, “Watch out for jumping cats.”<\/p>\n

\u00a9Street Art Utopia \/ Facebook \u2013 Original<\/a><\/p>\n

When translated, the sign with flying cats can have several meanings<\/a>. The first is “Watch out for jumping cats.” Another is, “Caution: Cats may run out.”<\/p>\n

When startled, it is not uncommon for a cat to run into the street without looking. The hope is that by erecting these signs, drivers will be more cognizant of their surroundings and slow down, protecting the cats and drivers alike.<\/p>\n

Signs Are Not Installed by the Japanese Government<\/p>\n

Typically, road signs are installed by the government, be it local or central. However, the cat warning signs that are popping up around Japan are installed by local residents instead.<\/p>\n

\"Deer<\/p>\n

The Japanese government does install animal warning crossing signs, just not for cats.<\/p>\n

\u00a9Khun Ta\/Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

Unlike warning signs posted by the government, such as those for deer or children, the signs reminding drivers to slow down for cats are put up by community residents<\/a>. Because cats are beloved by their communities, local citizens and even HOAs have taken it upon themselves to save cats from being struck by vehicles.<\/p>\n

The signs depicting flying cats may be comical, but they serve as a reminder to slow down. In these areas, cats are seen as precious creatures whose lives are worth being saved.<\/p>\n

The post What Japan’s Flying Cat Signs Are Actually Warning You About<\/a> appeared first on A-Z Animals<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post What Japan’s Flying Cat Signs Are Actually Warning You About appeared first on A-Z Animals. Japan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45713,8,33,45712],"class_list":["post-70985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-japan","tag-flying-cat-signs","tag-japan","tag-nihon","tag-warning-signs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}