#yontama

A cat that rose to a Stationmaster, a Super Stationmaster, a Knighted cat awarded the title "Wakayama de Knight", a Mentor, and... a Kami/God/Goddess/Deity!!!

Her little sister and mother acted as her Assistant deputys!

Her legacy extends to Okayama station with Santama, otherwise known as Sun-tama-tama!

Her original Apprentice, Nitama, is the Chief Priestess of her Shrine at Kishi Station.

20 thousand people came to her funeral from all over Japan to pay respects.

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.

Ever heard of Stationmaster Tama?  

(Photo from the railway’s homepage)

In the early 2000’s, Wakayama Electric Railway (和歌山電鉄) was on the verge of closure when the stationmaster of Kishi station adopted Tama, a stray cat.  Tama was appointed to station master in January in 2007 and ridership for the railway line increased enough to keep the railway from closing down in a phenomenon called “nekonomics” or “cat economics,” the idea that having a cat mascot will increase a company’s popularity.  Tama passed away in 2015 of old age, but was later deified and has a shrine dedicated to her inside Kishi station, where her apprentice and successor Nitama (Tama 2) and Nitama’s apprentice Yontama (Tama 4) are currently employed.  For those of you concerned about Santama (Tama 3). worry not—she was sent to Okayama for training and the public relations officer in charge of taking care of her refused to give her up.

You can visit Kishi station, meet Nitama (who greets passengers in a window during her office hours 10-4 Fri-Tue, Yontama works at Kishi Wed-Thu and Idakiso Sat, Sun, and Tue.), visit the café to buy Tama and Nitama merch and cute drinks, or buy omamori (protective charms sold at shrines) from the shrine shop.  It’s an easy day trip from Osaka.  From JR Tennoji or most stations on the loop line, take the Kishuuji kaisoku (express) going to Wakayama and the airport (be careful to get on the right car as the train decouples at Hineno station and the back half of the train goes to the airport).  The trip to Wakayama station will take about 2 hours.  Transfer at Wakayama to the Wakayama Electric Railway (Wakayama Dentetsu) Kishigawa Line, which is a direct transfer (don’t leave the JR gates first, head towards platform 9).  The best option is to buy a day pass for all of the stops on the Kishigawa line for 800 yen (children 400).