A funeral was held in Japan to bid farewell to Tama, a cat who held the position of head of the provincial railway station. The president of Wakayama Electric Railway, Mitsunobu Kojima, expressed his gratitude towards Tama for her contributions and announced plans to erect a monument in her honor in July. Recalling his last visit to Tama before her passing, Kojima shared how she looked into his eyes and reached out to him with her paws, as if trying to hug him. He had wished for her speedy recovery so that they could celebrate her 10th year of service together, to which Tama had responded with a simple “Meow.”
Nitama, a newly appointed cat, has taken over as the station chief after the passing of Tamama, a beloved 16-year-old feline who had become a sensation in Japan. Tamama was made the head of the Kishi substation in Wakayama Prefecture back in 2007 when the regional railway line faced significant losses, and the last employee had left the station a year before. Dressed in a railway employee’s cap, the three-colored Tamama quickly became famous, attracting hordes of excited tourists from all over Japan. Tourists purchased souvenirs and gave a boost to local businesses, resulting in an increase of 55,000 people using the Kishigawa railway line and an economic boost of 1.1 billion yen (488.4 million rubles). Tamama’s accomplishments led to a nomination for the position of vice president of Wakayama Electric Railway in 2013.
