In the 1990s, Tama, a young calico cat, lived near Kishi Station in Japan. The stop was the final one out of 14 along the line that connected small villages to Wakayama City. The cat was famous for wandering around the railway and greeting the commuters. As the years wore on, the cat naturally stole the hearts of the community and commuters, with her affectionate personality and adorable face – leading some to call her “Kishi’s stationmaster”. However, an unfortunate combination of financial problems and only a small number of commuters because of the line’s rural location forced the rail line to shut down in 2006.
Tama posing with a customized classic mini stationmaster hat
Luckily, also in 2006, the residents asked the then-president of Wakayama Electric Railway, Mitsunobu Kojima, to revive the Kishigawa Line after the line was announced to be abolished. At the time, a local convenience store owner near Kishi Station had been taking care of Tama, but had also wanted to move on, entrusting the railway organization to look after Tama. Although Kojima had been known to be a dog person, after meeting Tama, he immediately fell for her charms and decided to adopt her. After her adoption, Kojima ordered a custom station master hat for her and declared her to be the official Stationmaster of Kishi Station in 2007, making her the first ever cat stationmaster in Japan.
As the official Stationmaster, Tama had many duties: to be the face of the railway, appear for media coverage, and to greet passengers from her work desk by the ticket gates. Her fame amongst the commuters and staff soon garnered her to have a painting of her to be commissioned, now hanging along Kishi Station’s shop, along with souvenir photos of her and other badges, rings, and Tama-branded sweets. In exchange for her services, she was rewarded with unlimited cat food and a promotion in 2008 to become a “super station manager”, knighted by the prefecture’s governor. Tourists became more intrigued by her and started to come to the small, rural station just to see a glimpse of her.
In a 2008 study by Katsuhiro Miyamoto, an estimated 55,000 more riders were said to have commuted on the Kishigawa Line as a result of Tama, and throughout her 8 year stint as stationmaster, she brought more than 1.1 billion yen to the community’s economy. In 2010, the railway even hired Eiji Mitooka to redesign the trains and model them after Tama, which still exist today. Now two of Tamaden’s trains are decorated with prints and images of Tama, and even better, include the cat’s meows over the speaker system when the doors open.
Trains on the Tamaden railway decorated for Tama (Credit: Rob Goss)
Unfortunately in 2015, Tama died at the age of 16, and the news made it to TV shows, magazines, and media all over Japan. Thousands attended her funeral, leaving bouquets and cat food outside the station. She was memorialized through a shrine on Kishi Station’s platform and was elevated to a goddess status through Japanese Shinto traditions. However, Tama now leaves behind her former apprentices, including Nitama, who now serves as Kishi’s stationmaster, and Yontama, who is located five stations away at Idakiso. They both work from 10 am to 4 pm, only taking breaks two days out of the week. Tama and her apprentices are greatly attributed in reviving the Kishigawa Line and it only helps that throughout Japanese history, cats have been a symbol of good luck.
Citations:
Goss, Rob. “The Cat Who Saved A Japanese Rail Line”. Bbc.Com, 2021, http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190522-the-cat-who-saved-a-japanese-rail-line. Accessed 15 Feb 2021.