The island shrine of the black-tailed gulls, Hachinohe
Kabushima Shrine stands on a small island at Hachinohe, on the Pacific coast of Aomori Prefecture. Every spring, the island is shared with somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 black-tailed gulls — known in Japanese as umineko, or “sea cats” — that come here to nest.
The shrine is dedicated to the goddess Benzaiten, and the gulls are revered as her messengers. For local fishermen they had a very practical meaning too: the birds guide them to the fish.
The gull breeding ground is designated a Natural Monument of Japan, and visitors can walk among tens of thousands of nesting birds at arm's length.
Being hit by a gull dropping here is considered good luck — the shrine office will even issue you an official “Certificate of Good Fortune.”
The shrine building was completely destroyed by fire in November 2015. Because it is surrounded by a protected bird colony, reconstruction was complicated, but the shrine was rebuilt by 2020.
This landmark is covered in a Long episode on the Japan in 60 YouTube channel. New Shorts and Long episodes are posted every week.