Not only did Tama’s sweet nature and photogenic features make her popular with commuters on the Kishigawa railway, but the ‘cat master’ became so famous she was knighted.
The First Feline Stationmaster in Japan, who also saved a Japanese Railway Line in Wakayama Prefecture
A beautiful tale of how a feline saved the Kishigawa Railway in Wakayama Prefecture, which is a largely mountainous and rural part of Japan, known for its temple-studded hillsides and sacred pilgrimage trails.
It started in the 90s when a kitten, Yontama aka Tama, lived near Kishi Station and frequently hang out by the railway, soaking up affection from commuters who jokingly called her the stationmaster.
But in 2000, the line was shut down due to financial problems and low ridership. In 2006, the president of the Wakayama Electric Railway, was asked by residents to revive it after the previous owner announced about abolishing it.
The cat’s guardian who owns a store near Kishi Station decided to move on, leaving the cat under the care of the president who fell for her. He ordered a customized stationmaster hat for the cat and officially named her Tama the Stationmaster of Kishi Station, the first feline stationmaster in Japan.
Tama’s duties was to be the face of the railway and appear in promotional material and media coverage, greeting passengers by the ticket gates or the glass window of the office at the ticket booth. Her presence attracted 55,000 more riders than expected.
In 2010 the railway hired an award-winning industrial designer known for his sleek Japanese bullet trains to redesign the train’s exteriors and interiors as a Tama-themed line. The Tamaden railway was born. There are even train carriages decorated with paw prints and cartoon images of Tama, including her actual voice purring through the PA system when the doors open at each station.
When she passed away in 2015, thousands of people attended her funeral at the station where there’s a phone box sized shrine on Kishi’s platform to elevate her to the status of a goddess of the Wakayama Electric Railway. And after her death, her Twitter account has more than 80,000 followers and is still growing.
Now, there’s a new cat to carry on the torch named, Nitama.
Click the link above to read more of her story.