Tama (cat)

nihongo|Tama|たま|extra=born April 29, 1999 is a calico cat who is the station master at Kinokawa railway station, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.

In April 2006 the Wakayama Electric Railway converted all stations on the Kishigawa Line from manned to unmanned in an effort to cut costs. Station masters were selected from employees of local businesses near each station. For Kinokawa railway station, Toshiko Koyama, the neighborhood grocer, was selected as station master. Koyama had adopted Tama and other stray cats, and he fed them at the station.

In January 2007, railway officials decided to officially name Tama the station master. [cite web
title = Cat named stationmaster
publisher = Japan Probe
date = 2007-01-14
url = http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=908
accessdate = 2008-05-29] As station master her primary duty is to greet passengers. The position comes with a stationmaster's hat; in lieu of a salary, the railway provides Tama with free cat food.

The publicity from Tama's appointment led to an increase in ridership by 17% for that month as compared to January 2006; ridership statistics for March 2007 showed a 10% increase over the previous financial year. It's been estimated that the publicity surrounding Tama's has contributed 1.1 billion Yen to the local economy. [cite web
title = Tama is the purr-fect antidote to financial gloom: study
publisher = Yahoo! News
date = 2008-10-05
url = http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081005/od_afp/japananimalcatoffbeat_081005070319
accessdate = 2008-10-05 (AFP)] In January 2008, Tama was promoted to "super station master" in a ceremony attended by the president of the company and the mayor; as a result of her promotion, she is "the only female in a managerial position" in the company. [cite web
title = This conductor's got a cat's tongue
publisher = IOL
date = 2008-05-24
url = http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=126&art_id=nw20080525120728705C537945
accessdate = 2008-05-29] Her new position has an "office" — a converted ticket booth containing a litter box.

Her staff consists of two feline assistant stationmasters, nihongo|Chibi|ちび|extra=born May 12, 2000 and an orange tabby cat named nihongo|Miiko|ミーコ|extra=born October 3, 1998.Tama is set to appear in a documentary about cats by Italian filmmaker Myriam Tonelotto. [cite web
title = Japanese railway turns to feline 'stationmaster' for help
publisher = Yahoo! News
date = 2008-05-24
url = http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080525/od_afp/japantourismanimalcatoffbeat
accessdate = 2008-05-29 (AFP)]

References

External links

* [http://www.wakayama-dentetsu.co.jp/index.html Wakayama Electric Railway (Japanese)]
* [http://masatosan.blogzine.jp/ Kishigawa Line Blog (Japanese)]