WAKAYAMA (Japan) •The fame of Tama, the popular calico cat stationmaster of a railway station in Kinokawa, Japan, has been spreading overseas.. Read more at straitstimes.com. Isn’t this the cutest train station you’ve ever seen? หรือ. CNN news report, 2008: The $10 million cat. The word could translate as treasure, ball or spirit. Even the clock has a cute cartoon version of Tama. Wakayama Electric Railway saw a sharp boost in train ridership after Tama was named the “Super Stationmaster” of one of its operating stations. Tama is a true Maneki Neko as she is attracting customers. Especially with my travel posts, there’s usually not much to say unless you’ve been there yourself already. Mari's parents knew that I'm not only fascinated by cats in general, but that I was also really excited about Kishi Eki's feline stationmaster, Tama. Choose Wisely: ALT vs Eikaiwa, The Shocking Truth About Dating in Japan as a Foreigner, 4 Common Problems when Dating Japanese Men, All You Ever Wanted To Know About Dating Japanese Men. ou. Don’t worry, there will be a successor, so it’s still worth visiting. Tama was the appointed station master of Kishi Station, a railway station in Wakayama prefecture, Japan. Since 2007, a calico named Tama has served as Super Station Master of Kishi station in Kinokawa City, helping boost ridership by drawing tourists from all over Japan. File:Super Stationmaster Tama 20090104.JPG . It was like that for Spanish and later for Japanese. Kishi Station. It is pretty incredible that many people still come all the way to Kishi Station just to see Nitama, especially since the station is pretty remote. But that’s more than enough for me and for other cat lovers! Can’t believe she’s already 16. i actually bought something at that shop, too…i couldnt resist… and in case anyone wants to go there, dont do it in summer… i did and its been horrible… though you could enjoy yourself at the nearby lake/river…, the clothes are strange… its actually hard to decide… of course it looks funny, so i like it somehow… but then again its close to animal cruelty, somehow… though japanese dont mind that anyway as long as they are entertained… but yes, tama looks cool in uniform… Lots of people went to visit Tama so she was made Super Station Master due to the massive increase in revenue. :sweatdrop2: But maybe then we would not have only-in-japan-thingy-experiences anymore ....:huh: The new president of the Wakayama Railway took pity on Tama, and decided to let her replace the recently deceased human stationmaster, so she could stay at the station. Update (06/2015): On June 22, 2015 Tama passed away at the age of 16. Tama remained employed as the super stationmaster until her death on June 22, 2015, at the age of 16. If you have time sit a while and visit the Tama café or the gift shop next to the station where you can buy a plenty of Tama and Nitama goods! This story gives m are me very happy. http://www.wakayama-dentetsu.co.jp/ The station was near closure in 2004 because of financial problems on the rail line. たま駅長(猫) Super Stationmaster Tama (cat), Wakayama. I asked the people working there about Tama and they told me that Tama wears her uniform only for “official” photo shoots, e.g. BBC News Asia-Pacific, May 2008: Cat puts Japan rail firm on track. And the thought that just crossed my mind about a Tama-like station maintained by the Deutsche Bahn is not that great either :D. Maybe I philosophize to much into this theme.. and should just enjoy the sight of cute little Tama :fan: Yaaaaayyyy... my first comment.. I´ve been lurking around for months.. and finally commented... go me! A calico cat named Tama is the wildly popular Super Station Master at this train stop in southeast Japan. There’s not that much to see, but the area is really beautiful and if you come in spring (February – May) you can go strawberry picking! In 2008 Tama was promoted to ‘super stationmaster’ in a ceremony attended by the companies president and the local mayor, making her the only female in a managerial position in the entire company. The tradition of a cat stationmaster goes back to January 2008, when officials of the Wakayama Electric Railway promoted Tama to the “super station master” of the Kishi station.