Tama (cat)
Tama (たま, April 29, 1999 -) is a tortoiseshell cat who is the stationmaster of the railway station in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.
In April of 2006, in an effort to cut costs, the Wakayama Electric Railway converted all stations on the Kishigawa Line from manned to unmanned. Station management was delegated to employees of nearby businesses: in Kinokawa, this was Toshiko Koyama, the neighboring grocer. Koyama had adopted Tama and other stray cats, and fed them at the station.
In January of 2007, railway officials decided to officially name Tama the stationmaster [1]; her duties are 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. In January 2008, Tama was promoted to "super stationmaster" 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 [2].
She is assisted by two assistant stationmasters, Chibi (ちび, May 12, 2000 -) and Miico (ミーコ, Mīko, October 3, 1998 -), an orange tabby cat.
Tama is set to appear in a documentary about cats by Italian filmmaker Myriam Tonelotto.[3]