Ride on, Tama.

June 25, 2015 7:02 AM

Tama, the feline station master and mascot of Kishi Station, has passed away at the age of 16.

Tama was named station master in 2007, and her popularity saved the struggling station. Kishi Station is now a tourist destination, and Tama's likeness appears on posters, souvenirs, and a Tama-themed train.

She appears to be the inspiration for Neko Atsume's Ekichou-san (Neko Atsume previously).

Her successor is former apprentice Nitama, who has been helping Tama with her station master duties since 2012.

posted by Metroid Baby (37 comments total)

I am at work but you can bet there's a cranky old ladycat who is due to turn 17 in September that is getting some love when I get home.

^.^
posted by Kitteh at 7:07 AM on June 25, 2015 [9 favorites]

Tama looks very stern, and I imagine that attitude is necessary for keeping commuters in line. I hope Nitama can step into her paw prints with the same steely determination.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:20 AM on June 25, 2015 [6 favorites]

.

/˳˳_˳˳\!˳˳X˳˳!(˳˳_˳˳)[˳˳_˳˳]
posted by Fizz at 7:25 AM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

😿
posted by Small Dollar at 7:28 AM on June 25, 2015 [2 favorites]

.

Tonight we put out food bought with the gold fish.
posted by Artw at 7:29 AM on June 25, 2015 [25 favorites]

.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:36 AM on June 25, 2015

🐾
posted by Fongotskilernie at 8:03 AM on June 25, 2015 [6 favorites]

=^.^=
posted by tilde at 8:21 AM on June 25, 2015

:(
posted by Space Kitty at 8:30 AM on June 25, 2015

.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:31 AM on June 25, 2015

Tonight we put out food bought with the gold fish.

Hmm. Ekichou-san (the station master cat) lookslike she was inspired by Tama....
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:39 AM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Awww, I hope she is taking the kitty train to heaven now. I'm glad Nitama is there to step in, with a presumably a future Santama down the line.
posted by nicebookrack at 9:11 AM on June 25, 2015 [2 favorites]

Tama was adorable, but (from the "posters, souvenirs" link:

Tama attracted a lot of attention. More and more people came to see her. She’s the only cat, but also the only female in such a position within the Japan Railway Company!

If that's true man is that depressing.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:19 AM on June 25, 2015 [12 favorites]

.
posted by Canageek at 9:35 AM on June 25, 2015

OMG the roof of the station is built to look like a kitty there is too much cute I am having flashbacks to my year in Japan
posted by Hoopo at 9:58 AM on June 25, 2015

>O.O<
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 10:07 AM on June 25, 2015

.
posted by chance at 10:44 AM on June 25, 2015

🐾
posted by strixus at 11:01 AM on June 25, 2015

.
posted by acb at 11:05 AM on June 25, 2015

Metroid Baby, I have no idea how I managed to miss the 3rd paragraph of your post. Maybe nekoatsume should always have a blink tag.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:09 AM on June 25, 2015

3:

good cat.
posted by Spatch at 11:43 AM on June 25, 2015

🐈
posted by fitnr at 1:19 PM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 2:09 PM on June 25, 2015

.
posted by Lexica at 3:21 PM on June 25, 2015

.

At least we still have Maru.
posted by Rangi at 4:07 PM on June 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Sangermaine: "If that's true man is that depressing."

It's not true. There are very few female JR station masters, but Tama was neither the first nor the only one.
posted by Bugbread at 4:15 PM on June 25, 2015

Huh. Googling around, the station master for my own local station is a woman. The first female station master was appointed in 1894, but the numbers were really low until the late 90s, early 00s, and they've been ramping up since then, which basically reflects Japanese society as a whole.
posted by Bugbread at 4:19 PM on June 25, 2015 [2 favorites]

🐾
posted by Deoridhe at 4:59 PM on June 25, 2015

In Neko Atsume, I named the Station Master Cat “TamaSama”. Entirely unrelated to this, there is a prominent DJ these days who goes by Tama Sumo. This leaves me all feeling a bit confused at times. Homonyms!
posted by Going To Maine at 5:19 PM on June 25, 2015

And he gives a wave of his long brown tail
Which says "I'll see you again!
You'll meet without fail on the Midnight Mail
The Cat of the Railway Train!
posted by SPrintF at 2:01 AM on June 26, 2015 [3 favorites]

.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 3:31 AM on June 26, 2015

There are very few female JR station masters, but Tama was neither the first nor the only one.

Not one at all, actually, since Kishi Station isn't on the JR.
posted by Umami Dearest at 7:52 AM on June 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

Well, Tama has now been elevated to the status of goddess, which is apparently something one can do in the Shinto religion. A bit of searching doesn't really give me any insight into how this is done, but I'm quite pleased that it has been.
posted by Shepherd at 12:30 PM on June 30, 2015 [2 favorites]

A bit more poking around later: it seems possible that Tama was deemed to have achieved Kami, which the Western media kind of sort of got an idea about and then ran giddily away with.
posted by Shepherd at 12:32 PM on June 30, 2015 [2 favorites]

Umami Dearest: "Not one at all, actually, since Kishi Station isn't on the JR."

Nice catch!
posted by Bugbread at 2:19 PM on June 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

Shepherd: "Well, Tama has now been elevated to the status of goddess, which is apparently something one can do in the Shinto religion...it seems possible that Tama was deemed to have achieved Kami, which the Western media kind of sort of got an idea about and then ran giddily away with."

It seems not even that. She was declared the Goddess of Welcoming Tourists, by the mayor. Mayoral declarations of godhood carry as much weight as a mayor who is really into music calling Jimi Hendrix a "Guitar God".
posted by Bugbread at 2:34 PM on June 30, 2015 [2 favorites]

So you're saying Tama is a god, then.
posted by Etrigan at 2:43 PM on June 30, 2015 [1 favorite]