Tama

Tama was a calico cat who lived near Kishi station on the Kishigawa line in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. In 2006, the privately run railway line was facing financial ruin and considering closure, unable to afford a human stationmaster. On a whim, the company appointed Tama — already a familiar presence at the station — as stationmaster. She was given an official stationmaster's hat and her duties were to greet passengers at the entrance. The effect was remarkable: visitor numbers to Kishi station increased by 55% in the first year. Tourism to the entire Wakayama region rose by an estimated 1.1 billion yen annually. Tama was subsequently promoted to "super stationmaster" and then "operating officer" — the first cat to hold a corporate officer title in Japan. The railway decorated an entire train in her image, renamed "Tama Train." When Tama died in June 2015, her funeral was attended by 3,000 people, and she was posthumously elevated to "honourable eternal stationmaster." She was deified as a local goddess at a shrine erected at Kishi station, where her successor — a calico named Nitama ("Tama II") — continues her duties today.