The Wakayama Electric Railway company held a funeral this Saturday for Nitama, the second cat to serve as Kishi station manager, a symbolic charge turned into a great tourist attraction and associated with the financial rescue of this local railway operator in western Japan. Nitama died on November 20, at the age of 15.and his Shinto-style funeral took place at Kishi Station, located in the city of Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, as previously announced by the railway company.
Many followers came to the station to pay tribute to the calico catconverted into a local icon. During the ceremony, Wakayama Electric Railway President Mitsunobu Kojima awarded him a posthumous appointment as “special honorary station chief”according to the local news agency Kyodo.
The funeral altar was filled with flowers, letters and cat foodalong with a photograph of Nitama dressed in a cap and cape, while the cat Yontama, the current acting station chief, also attended the event, according to the agency. Nitama (“Tama II” in Japanese) was appointed chief of the Kishi station in 2015.
Tama, the famous predecessor
Nitama succeeded Tama, the famous cat who inaugurated this unique tradition. Tama was appointed station manager in 2007when the railway line was on the verge of bankruptcy. Its unexpected popularity It attracted thousands of visitors and increased the number of passengers by around 20%.according to the company itself, making it a symbol of local tourism and the “savior” of the operator.
The success of the feline led other Japanese companies to name various animals as station bosses.. In Japan, this type of figures known as “Maneki-neko” (“inviting cat”), are an amulet that brings prosperity to business owners, according to popular belief.
