OMG! Japanese railway gets second cat station master

Tokyo, Aug 25: Wakayama Electric Railway Co in Japan has got another cat station master as successor of Tama, the cute calico that had served as stationmaster of Kishi Station in Wakayama Prefecture since 2007.

Nitama, Tama's old assistant stationmaster, has assumed the position, beating several other cat candidates to run Kishi train station in Wakayama Prefecture's rural Kinokawa neighbourhood, reported CNN.

"Tama", the cat who was named railway station master in western Japan and became an important tourist attraction in the region, died due to heart failure in June.

Nitama had been Tama's subordinate since January 2012, when she was appointed acting stationmaster.
Domestic and international tourists began to flock to Kinokawa, where the station is located, causing parking problems in the locality.

Tama's unusual success led the company to put its name on one of its three trains on the line and to even name the feline as the honorary president in 2013.

Tama was a "tourism superstar extremely popular in and out of Japan who contributed greatly to promoting tourism in our prefecture," Wakayama Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka said in a statement.

Tama is credited with saving a dying train line on behalf of local residents.

The new stationmaster Nitama was born in Okayama City. She was found under a car on a rainy day before being adopted by Okayama Electric Tramway.

OneIndia News