Japan is nothing if not a servant to tradition; even if the tradition is a little strange.
Admittedly a little less strange than the annual Kanamara Matsuri festival in Kawasaki (parental guidance suggested) the custom of railway lines promoting cats to the rank of stationmaster certainly raises eyebrows, but also spirits, it must be said.
In the port town of Choshi, near Tokyo, employees of a struggling railway company found either a stray or abandoned cat last October skulking around the station, thin, sick, and eyes frozen shut.
With plenty of space at the station, the tabby was nursed back to health by the platform staff before signing up as an ‘apprentice’ in January. Then, in July, Nakano-san achieved the rank of stationmaster, and was awarded with a neat cap and medallion for her collar.
Her CV includes such crucial skills as “pushing computer mouses off the desks” and “sleeping on paperwork.”
She now figures prominently in Choshi Electric Railway Co. public relations content as a mascot, and her July debut saw the rail hub of Nakanocho Station swarmed with reporters to catch a glimpse of the new boss.
In all seriousness though, being too close to Tokyo to stand out but too far away to comfortably visit, Choshi Railway felt that more needed to be done to draw interest in the city’s numerous historic temples, lighthouses, and characteristic waterfront area.
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To that end, the 4-legged stationmaster seemed a good idea. They had good reason to believe it was too. In January, at Wakayama Electric Railway Co.’s Kishi Station in the city of Kinokawa, officials welcomed their third stationmaster cat.
In 2007, the station announced Japan’s first-ever cat stationmaster: Tama. After Tama passed away in 2015, she was succeeded by Nitama (literally, “looks like Tama”) who also passed away in last November. Now, Kishi Station is run by Yontama (literally, “Fourth Tama,” after the ‘third Tama’ was adopted back into private house life).
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The publicity from Tama’s original 2007 appointment led to an increase in passengers by 17% for that month as compared to same period from the previous year. A study estimated that the publicity surrounding Tama has contributed 1.1 billion yen to the local economy, and she was widely credited with saving Nishi Station from closing.
Yontama previously served as stationmaster at Idakiso Station in Wakayama City, and vowed to “follow in Nitama’s ‘pawprints’.”
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