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A cat appointed stationmaster of a struggling Japanese railway has been mourned by railworkers at its funeral and elevated to the status of “honourable eternal stationmaster”.
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In an eventful life, she was appointed stationmaster at the Kishi station in the west of the country.
The station was about to go bust before her appointment, so you can see why rail officials liked her so much.
Tama had a special outfit made for her, and she greeted passengers as they came and went.
After she died of heart failure, moves were quickly taken to turn her into a deity.
The Shinto religion has a variety of gods, including animals, and Tama became a goddess at her funeral on Sunday.
Wakayama Electric Railway President Mitsunobu Kojima said a cat shrine would follow.
He said: ‘Tama-chan really emerged like a savior, a goddess. It was truly my honour to have been able to work with her.’
Mr Kouima credited Tama with contributing an estimated 1.1 billion yen to the local economy.
He said he had visited the cat in hospital the day before she died, and she had reached out for a hug.
He said he told Tama to get well so they could celebrate her upcoming 10th anniversary as a stationmaster, and said the cat responded with a ‘meow’.
She was made vice president of the company, before receiving the title of ‘honourable eternal stationmaster’.
She will be succeeded by another calico cat, Nitama, now an apprentice stationmaster.
We get the feeling she will be a hard act to follow, so good luck with that, Nitama.
Agencies/Canadajournal
