Template:Did you know nominations/Nekonomics

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Launchballer talk 16:56, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

Nekonomics

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( Article history links:

• Nekonomics
• Cat islands in Japan

)

• ... that the marketing of cat islands to draw tourists is part of the Nekonomics phenomenon of cat-related economic consumption in Japan? Source: "Feral and stray cats are also at the centre of tourist destinations such as Japan's 'cat islands'"
  • ALT1: ... that nekonomics includes the leveraging of stray cat populations on islands to draw tourists? Source: "Feral and stray cats are also at the centre of tourist destinations such as Japan's 'cat islands'"
  • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Dakhni Sarai
  • Comment: A bit fast, but I just saw that "cat day" (February 22) is soon, and that might b a fun day to run this.

Created by Chipmunkdavis (talk). Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 52 past nominations.

CMD (talk) 16:54, 12 February 2025 (UTC).

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: See below. Rjjⁱⁱⁱ (talk) 04:53, 13 February 2025 (UTC) Several questions regarding NPOV for Nekonomics:

• "In the early 21st century, such consumption started to expand alongside the growing popularity of cats." Does any source say why? There are several benefits of cat ownership listed but these would (I imagine) also apply in the 20th century.
• "One researcher who subsequently studied nekonomics called themself a "nekonomist". As their actual title or playfully?
• Do the sources say how or to what extent "cat day" is celebrated?

One NPOV question for Cat islands in Japan:

• It says they were introduced for pest control. Do the sources talk about the effectiveness of this or general impact on the island ecosystems?

And a few other notes: WP:QPQ says that 2 QPQs are needed here but the single QPQ is for a multi-hook and I think that counts as multiple QPQs. Both articles are in good shape. I spot-checked several sources and don't see copying, close-paraphrasing, or factual errors. Both hooks cover the same ground and are fine. ALT1 seems slightly more clear and engaging to me. Rjjⁱⁱⁱ (talk) 04:53, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

• On the popularity of cats, the sources gave the reason given, that is being cheaper and being easier to keep, but they don't say why they these did not apply in the 20th century. There is one obvious contender, demographic change: Japan is becoming more urban (the rural areas are depopulating, and people are in smaller less dog-friendly houses) and older (cats easier to care for). There's probably also something in modern Japanese work culture leaving little time to walk dogs, which I've seen mentioned before (but not in RS).
• On the nekonomist, I assume it's tongue-in-cheek, but the Japan Times article conveys it with a straight face.
• On Cat Day, the sources in this article don't go into detail on it, but it's discussed in other sources [1][2][3]. Certainly a good day for marketing.
• On cats as pest control, the sources don't really go into effectiveness. My assumption was that it was successful, as this is a universal use of cats and clearly it the process was replicated quite a few times. The sources generally also don't mention the local ecosystem; some islands are probably small enough that whatever ecosystem they had folded immediately, and others have had cats for centuries, so it just might not be recorded. The exception I've found is that sources about Tokunoshima do cover how cats have devastated local mammal species. Most of the focus is on the rabbit mentioned in the article, but some sources do note the cats hunt other species too. (On a related NPOV side note, none of the sources include Iriomote Island in this category, home to the country's critically endangered native cat.) CMD (talk) 07:13, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

• Ah, then those are all limitations with the sources. The demographic change makes sense, but if not covered by the sources would be WP:OR here. I've linked "Cat Day" in the lead to National Cat Day#Japan as it is in the body. Sources that mention the day but not nekonomics could be used there, but could be WP:UNDUE in this article. I've marked it as approved, and will post to WT:DYK. Rjjⁱⁱⁱ (talk) 16:54, 13 February 2025 (UTC)