The death of Tama, Japan’s feline station master of a struggling local railway, was mourned by company officials and fans.
The calico cat was appointed stationmaster at the Kishi station in western Japan in 2007. In its custom-made stationmaster’s cap and a jacket, Tama quietly sat at the ticket gate welcoming and seeing off passengers.
The feline quickly attracted tourists and it became world-famous, contributing to the railway company and local economy.
Tama died of a heart failure on June 22. On Sunday’s Shinto-style funeral at the station where it served, the cat was made a goddess.
Feline thankedWakayama Electric Railway president Mitsunobu Kojima thanked the cat for its achievement, and said Tama would be enshrined at a nearby cat shrine next month.
