"Tama (Japanese: たま; April 29, 1999 – June 22, 2015) was a female calico cat who gained fame for being a railway station master and operating officer at Kishi Station on the Kishigawa Line in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. She is credited with saving the station and line from closure, " Wikipedia says.

"Tama was born in Kinokawa, Wakayama, and was raised with a group of stray cats that used to live close to Kishi Station. They were regularly fed by passengers and by Toshiko Koyama, the informal station manager at the time."

Career

"The station was near closure in 2004 because of financial problems on the rail line. Around this time, Koyama adopted Tama. Eventually the decision to close the station was withdrawn after the citizens demanded that it stay open.[3] In April 2006, the newly formed Wakayama Electric Railway destaffed all stations on the Kishigawa Line to cut costs, and at the same time evicted the stray cats from their shelter to make way for new roads leading to the stations, Wikipedia says

"Koyama pleaded with Mitsunobu Kojima, president of Wakayama Electric Railway, to allow the cats to live inside Kishi Station; Kojima, seeing Tama as a maneki-neko (beckoning cat), agreed to the request.

"On January 5, 2007, railway officials officially awarded Tama the title of station master. As station master, her primary duty w" as to greet passengers."

"In lieu of an annual salary, the railway provided Tama with a year's worth of cat food and a gold name tag for her collar stating her name and position. A station master's hat was specially designed and made to fit Tama, and took more than six months to complete.[6] In July 2008, a summer hat was also issued to Tama for hotter weather.[7] Tama's original gold name tag was stolen by a visitor on October 10, 2007, bt a replica was quickly made to replace it.[

"The publicity from Tama's appointment led to an increase in passengers by 17% for that month as compared to January 2006; ridership statistics for March 2007 showed a 10% increase over the previous financial year. A study estimated that the publicity surrounding Tama has contributed 1.1 billionyen to the local economy.^[9] Tama is often cited as part of a phenomenon known in Japan as "Nekonomics" (ネコノミクス, nekonomikusu; lit., "catonomics", "cat economics"), which refers to the positive economic impact of having a cat mascot and is a play off the term Abenomics and "neko" – "cat", Wikipedia says

"On January 5, 2008, Tama was promoted to "super station master" (a title equivalent to Superintendent rank) in a ceremony attended by the president of the company, the mayor, and approximately 300 spectators. As a result of her promotion, she was "the only female in a managerial position" in the company.[12] Her new position had an "office" — a converted ticket booth containing a litter box. Her gold name tag was modified to a gold tag with a blue background with an added "S" for "super", also corresponding to the highest grade in the Japanese grading system."

The world's first stationmaster cat was a calico cat named Tama, who greeted passengers and saved a rural Japanese railway line from financial ruin. (AI Overview)

Background and Appointment

• Location: Kishi Station on the Wakayama Electric Railway’s Kishigawa Line in Kinokawa, Japan.
• Date: Officially appointed as stationmaster in January 2007 by railway president Mitsunobu Kojima.
• Compensation: Paid entirely in free cat food rather than a monetary salary.

Japan says goodbye to Tama, the cat stationmaster

"The most beloved train station employee in Japan, Tama the cat, has died at age 16. Co-workers and her many fans gathered at the Kishi station where she served to attend her funeral," the DW reported.



"Tama, the cat stationmaster whose fame managed to turn around a struggling local train line in Kishi, Japan, was laid to rest on Sunday in a Shinto ceremony which elevated her to the status of goddess. The calico feline was credited with bringing in so much revenue from tourists and merchandise that she single-handedly saved the failing Kishigawa Line of the Wakayama Electric Railway, which lost its last human employee in 2006.

"Tama was named stationmaster in 2007, and could always be found in her custom-made stationmaster's hat, waiting at the ticket gate to welcome passengers. She was such a hit with visitors, estimates indicate that she pumped at least 1.1 billion yen ($9 million) into the local economy in just her first year on the job."

Tama the cat: 3,000 attend elaborate funeral for Japan’s feline stationmaster

"Japan’s most famous cat, who saved an obscure railway line in rural Wakayama prefecture from financial ruin, earns posthumous status of Shinto goddess," The Guardian says.

"In an outpouring of grief usually reserved for the passing of a cultural icon, thousands turned out at the weekend to bid a final farewell to a cat credited with saving an obscure Japanese railway line from financial ruin.

An estimated 3,000 people, including railway officials, attended Tama the cat’s Shinto-style funeral on Sunday, days after she died of heart failure aged 16 – the equivalent of about 80 human years."

The Station with a Cat as Its Stationmaster: Wakayama Electric Railway’s Kishi Station

"Kishi Station on the Wakayama Electric Railway Kishigawa Line is famous for its stationmaster cat. Cats have been kept from time immemorial in Japan and around the world for their useful ability to catch rats and mice. It is known that, in the United Kingdom, cats have been officially employed as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office since 1924.

"In more recent times, cats in Japan like many other countries are less often used as rat catchers, instead being kept almost exclusively as pets. However, since 2007, a cat has been serving as stationmaster at Kishi Station on the 14-kilometer-long Wakayama Electric Railway Kishigawa Line, which connects Wakayama City and Kinokawa City in Wakayama Prefecture in the Kinki region," the Public Relations Office of the Government of Japan says.

"News of the unprecedented event of a cat assuming the post of stationmaster instantly spread across Japan, and many passengers began to visit Kishi Station to get a look at the dignified and adorable stationmaster cat in her miniature stationmaster hat. The story was also picked up by the international media, and Tama the stationmaster cat began to attract fans from overseas."

"The spirit of Tama, the first stationmaster cat, is enshrined in the Tama Jinja shrine on the platform of Kishi Station, her final abode. From here, she continues to watch over the work of her successors.

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