There are also shrines and statues across Japan dedicated to cats – such as Nekogami (Cat God) Shrine in Kagoshima, where two cats were enshrined by a feudal warlord in honour of their military service. “In 2006, the current president of the Wakayama Electric Railway, Mitsunobu Kojima, was asked by residents to revive the Kishigawa Line after the previous owner had announced it was to be abolished,” said Keiko Yamaki, an executive for Ryobi, the company that owns the Wakayama Electric Railway. After all, throughout history, cats have been considered to be spiritual animals and a symbol of good luck in Japan. Tama was so adored by riders and railway staff that a painted portrait of her was soon commissioned, which now hangs alongside numerous glossy photos of her in Kishi Station’s souvenir shop – where visitors can buy everything from Tama badges and keyrings to Tama-branded candy. Read about our approach to external linking. “The Tamaden really has become very popular with people of all ages,” Yamaki said. To capitalise on the region’s Tama craze, in 2010 the railway hired award-winning industrial designer Eiji Mitooka – known for his sleek Japanese bullet trains – to completely redesign the train’s exteriors and interiors as a Tama-themed line. The cat of the railway train. The range of Railwaycat prints and cards can be purchased online (other work will be available soon), but if you want to place an order the old fashioned way and pay by cheque (UK only), then please use the contact button on the menu bar and I will email you my address for you to send an order by post (postage is currently £2 per order). A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Capital and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. This story began in the late 1990s with a young calico cat called Tama. Skimbleshanks, the railway cat. The front of the train even has little whiskers, while inside are old-fashioned wooden floors and shelves of children’s books. In a nation that seems especially fond of felines, Tama and her successors have not only brought plenty of good fortune to the Kishigawa Line, they’ve also carved a place in many Japanese people’s hearts. With the help of its whiskered manager, Wakayama Electric Railway says the annual number of passengers on the Kishigawa Line has increased by almost 300,000 from 2006. She’s currently an employee of Japan’s Okayama Electric Tramway and serves as the acting director of the Okaden Museum.
Meet Yontama, the latest in a line of feline stationmasters that has helped save the Kishigawa railway line in Japan’s Wakayama prefecture, a largely mountainous and rural part of the country famous for temple-studded hillsides and sacred pilgrimage trails. In an ode to Tama, the outsides of Tamaden’s two white carriages are now decorated with paw prints and 101 cartoon images of Tama, including Tama enjoying a satisfying stretch, cheerfully licking a paw and mischievously poised to pounce. But by the mid-2000s, a combination of low ridership and financial problems threatened to close down the rural rail line, and the line’s 14 stations were finally unstaffed in 2006. Rob Goss), View image of Nitama poses with her custom-made conductor hat in front of a framed image of Tama, Kishi station's original 'cat master' (Credit: Credit: Rob Goss), sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter. Having her around the station makes everyone happy.
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Meet Yontama, the latest in a line of feline stationmasters that has helped save the Kishigawa railway line in Japan’s Wakayama prefecture, a largely mountainous and rural part of the country famous for temple-studded hillsides and sacred pilgrimage trails. In an ode to Tama, the outsides of Tamaden’s two white carriages are now decorated with paw prints and 101 cartoon images of Tama, including Tama enjoying a satisfying stretch, cheerfully licking a paw and mischievously poised to pounce. But by the mid-2000s, a combination of low ridership and financial problems threatened to close down the rural rail line, and the line’s 14 stations were finally unstaffed in 2006. Rob Goss), View image of Nitama poses with her custom-made conductor hat in front of a framed image of Tama, Kishi station's original 'cat master' (Credit: Credit: Rob Goss), sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter. Having her around the station makes everyone happy.
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