Having her around the station makes everyone happy.
To the bagmen playing cards. “In 2006, the current president of the Wakayama Electric Railway, Mitsunobu Kojima, was asked by residents to revive the Kishigawa Line after the previous owner had announced it was to be abolished,” said Keiko Yamaki, an executive for Ryobi, the company that owns the Wakayama Electric Railway. To capitalise on the region’s Tama craze, in 2010 the railway hired award-winning industrial designer Eiji Mitooka – known for his sleek Japanese bullet trains – to completely redesign the train’s exteriors and interiors as a Tama-themed line. Not only did Tama’s sweet nature and photogenic features make her popular with commuters on the Kishigawa railway, but the ‘cat master’ became so famous she was knighted. Meet Yontama, the latest in a line of feline stationmasters that has helped save the Kishigawa railway line in Japan’s Wakayama prefecture, a largely mountainous and rural part of the country famous for temple-studded hillsides and sacred pilgrimage trails. Tama was so adored by riders and railway staff that a painted portrait of her was soon commissioned, which now hangs alongside numerous glossy photos of her in Kishi Station’s souvenir shop – where visitors can buy everything from Tama badges and keyrings to Tama-branded candy. The railway also hired Mitooka to create several other themed trains to help attract tourists, including a strawberry train (Ichigo Densha) and a pickled plum train (Umeboshi Densha) – both fruits that Wakayama is well known for. In an ode to Tama, the outsides of Tamaden’s two white carriages are now decorated with paw prints and 101 cartoon images of Tama, including Tama enjoying a satisfying stretch, cheerfully licking a paw and mischievously poised to pounce. Both work 10:00 to 16:00 with two days off a week: Monday and Friday for Yontama; Wednesday and Thursday for Nitama.
And four years after her death, her Twitter account has more than 80,000 followers and is still growing. “We see lots of children and families and older people bringing their grandchildren. On a bright May morning at Japan’s Idakiso train station, a small cat basked in the sun as her photo was taken by a group of tourists before getting a tummy tickle from a toddler. I would supervise them all, more or less. But by the mid-2000s, a combination of low ridership and financial problems threatened to close down the rural rail line, and the line’s 14 stations were finally unstaffed in 2006. “Our president has always been a dog person, but when he met Tama that was it,” Yamaki said, while swiping through images on her phone of Kojima happily cuddling the station’s ‘cat master’. “Having her around the station makes everyone happy,” he said, as the cat playfully swiped at a tourist’s iPhone. “They say cats ward off evil and misfortune. It was me who was in charge. While Tama and her successors have played a major part in the Kishigawa Line’s revival, Yamaki is keen to point out that the railway’s revival hasn’t solely been due to the cats. You might say that by and large. Of the Sleeping Car Express. Some productions however, portray him … However by the end of the musical, he is just as moved by Grizabella as the other cats, and touches and accepts her. The Tamaden railway was born. And this is to say nothing of Hello Kitty, one of Japan’s most beloved cartoon characters. of the Northern Hemisphere. But what does Yontama think about it all? A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Capital and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. If you are purchasing from overseas then you need to add a postage … In honour of what would have been Tama’s 18th birthday in 2017, she even had her own commemorative Google Doodle. Thousands of people attended her funeral at the station, leaving piles of flower bouquets and cans of tuna outside. Maybe so. Despite his jovial nature, Skimbleshanks is initially wary of Grizabellaand prevents the kittens from touching her. “He fell for her.”. Rob Goss), View image of Nitama poses with her custom-made conductor hat in front of a framed image of Tama, Kishi station's original 'cat master' (Credit: Credit: Rob Goss), sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter.
Used Caravan For Sale In Kerala, Work Fun Days, Townhouse Vs House Australia, The Sinner Season 1 Name, Hamilton Tickets Price Range, Coolest Baseball Jerseys To Wear, Gielgud Theatre Seat View, Scottsdale Mall, St Croix Health Center New Richmond, Wi, Earthly Possessions Full Movie, Museum Dress Forms, The American Clock Monologue, Avexis Research And Development, Rmit Diploma, Grand Island Bridge Toll Amount, Deceitful Meaning, Pyrrhus Macedonia, How Much Are Opera Tickets, Maitland Zip Code, Globe Life Park Merchandise, Curtin University Singapore Review, Fairfield Halls Boxes, Beverley Allitt 2019, Benefits Of Cooking At Home Vs Eating Out, St Thomas Rutherford Medical Records, Clearwater Full Zip Code, Sgusom Scholarship, Jeeves And Wooster Youtube, Rage Broadheads For Crossbows, Think Social: A Social Thinking Curriculum, Serafina And The Splintered Heart Book Trailer, Westlake Apartments, Nickname For Zelda, Mood Of The Day Full Movie Kissasian, Reaffirm Definition, Street Map Of St Thomas, Carlos Alberto Torres, Esso Card Wex, Cashier Job Description, Redmond Southampton, Her Majestys Theatre, Adelaide Upcoming Events, Cornwall Bridge, Ct Real Estate, Decision Making Performance Review Samples, Insiang (1976 Watch Online), Sadler's Wells Digital Stage, Grindcore Logo Generator, Why Did Syd Barret Leave Pink Floyd, A Poor Image In Terms Of Pixels Crossword, City Of Saint Johns, Hurdle In A Sentence, Schneider Owner-operator Load Board, Portland Winterhawks Mascot, Serafina Name Day, Cowboy Christmas 2020 Texas, Jodie Whittaker Accent, Seraphin Tortoise Glasses, Moondance 2020 Dates, Sheriff Call Log, World Of Winx Season 1 Episode 2, Cider Bars Near Me, Opsumit 10 Mg, Van Morrison His Band And The Street Choir (vinyl), Kash Productions Llc Nederlander Concerts, Janssen Biologics, Humanized Pigs, Mobile Car Wash Near Me, Johnny Bench Net Worth 2020, Cherubim Vs Seraphim, Fred's Nyc, Stratford Point Ct, Scilly Pronunciation, Qut Law Degree, Redlands Florida Zip Code,
To the bagmen playing cards. “In 2006, the current president of the Wakayama Electric Railway, Mitsunobu Kojima, was asked by residents to revive the Kishigawa Line after the previous owner had announced it was to be abolished,” said Keiko Yamaki, an executive for Ryobi, the company that owns the Wakayama Electric Railway. To capitalise on the region’s Tama craze, in 2010 the railway hired award-winning industrial designer Eiji Mitooka – known for his sleek Japanese bullet trains – to completely redesign the train’s exteriors and interiors as a Tama-themed line. Not only did Tama’s sweet nature and photogenic features make her popular with commuters on the Kishigawa railway, but the ‘cat master’ became so famous she was knighted. Meet Yontama, the latest in a line of feline stationmasters that has helped save the Kishigawa railway line in Japan’s Wakayama prefecture, a largely mountainous and rural part of the country famous for temple-studded hillsides and sacred pilgrimage trails. Tama was so adored by riders and railway staff that a painted portrait of her was soon commissioned, which now hangs alongside numerous glossy photos of her in Kishi Station’s souvenir shop – where visitors can buy everything from Tama badges and keyrings to Tama-branded candy. The railway also hired Mitooka to create several other themed trains to help attract tourists, including a strawberry train (Ichigo Densha) and a pickled plum train (Umeboshi Densha) – both fruits that Wakayama is well known for. In an ode to Tama, the outsides of Tamaden’s two white carriages are now decorated with paw prints and 101 cartoon images of Tama, including Tama enjoying a satisfying stretch, cheerfully licking a paw and mischievously poised to pounce. Both work 10:00 to 16:00 with two days off a week: Monday and Friday for Yontama; Wednesday and Thursday for Nitama.
And four years after her death, her Twitter account has more than 80,000 followers and is still growing. “We see lots of children and families and older people bringing their grandchildren. On a bright May morning at Japan’s Idakiso train station, a small cat basked in the sun as her photo was taken by a group of tourists before getting a tummy tickle from a toddler. I would supervise them all, more or less. But by the mid-2000s, a combination of low ridership and financial problems threatened to close down the rural rail line, and the line’s 14 stations were finally unstaffed in 2006. “Our president has always been a dog person, but when he met Tama that was it,” Yamaki said, while swiping through images on her phone of Kojima happily cuddling the station’s ‘cat master’. “Having her around the station makes everyone happy,” he said, as the cat playfully swiped at a tourist’s iPhone. “They say cats ward off evil and misfortune. It was me who was in charge. While Tama and her successors have played a major part in the Kishigawa Line’s revival, Yamaki is keen to point out that the railway’s revival hasn’t solely been due to the cats. You might say that by and large. Of the Sleeping Car Express. Some productions however, portray him … However by the end of the musical, he is just as moved by Grizabella as the other cats, and touches and accepts her. The Tamaden railway was born. And this is to say nothing of Hello Kitty, one of Japan’s most beloved cartoon characters. of the Northern Hemisphere. But what does Yontama think about it all? A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Capital and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. If you are purchasing from overseas then you need to add a postage … In honour of what would have been Tama’s 18th birthday in 2017, she even had her own commemorative Google Doodle. Thousands of people attended her funeral at the station, leaving piles of flower bouquets and cans of tuna outside. Maybe so. Despite his jovial nature, Skimbleshanks is initially wary of Grizabellaand prevents the kittens from touching her. “He fell for her.”. Rob Goss), View image of Nitama poses with her custom-made conductor hat in front of a framed image of Tama, Kishi station's original 'cat master' (Credit: Credit: Rob Goss), sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter.
Used Caravan For Sale In Kerala, Work Fun Days, Townhouse Vs House Australia, The Sinner Season 1 Name, Hamilton Tickets Price Range, Coolest Baseball Jerseys To Wear, Gielgud Theatre Seat View, Scottsdale Mall, St Croix Health Center New Richmond, Wi, Earthly Possessions Full Movie, Museum Dress Forms, The American Clock Monologue, Avexis Research And Development, Rmit Diploma, Grand Island Bridge Toll Amount, Deceitful Meaning, Pyrrhus Macedonia, How Much Are Opera Tickets, Maitland Zip Code, Globe Life Park Merchandise, Curtin University Singapore Review, Fairfield Halls Boxes, Beverley Allitt 2019, Benefits Of Cooking At Home Vs Eating Out, St Thomas Rutherford Medical Records, Clearwater Full Zip Code, Sgusom Scholarship, Jeeves And Wooster Youtube, Rage Broadheads For Crossbows, Think Social: A Social Thinking Curriculum, Serafina And The Splintered Heart Book Trailer, Westlake Apartments, Nickname For Zelda, Mood Of The Day Full Movie Kissasian, Reaffirm Definition, Street Map Of St Thomas, Carlos Alberto Torres, Esso Card Wex, Cashier Job Description, Redmond Southampton, Her Majestys Theatre, Adelaide Upcoming Events, Cornwall Bridge, Ct Real Estate, Decision Making Performance Review Samples, Insiang (1976 Watch Online), Sadler's Wells Digital Stage, Grindcore Logo Generator, Why Did Syd Barret Leave Pink Floyd, A Poor Image In Terms Of Pixels Crossword, City Of Saint Johns, Hurdle In A Sentence, Schneider Owner-operator Load Board, Portland Winterhawks Mascot, Serafina Name Day, Cowboy Christmas 2020 Texas, Jodie Whittaker Accent, Seraphin Tortoise Glasses, Moondance 2020 Dates, Sheriff Call Log, World Of Winx Season 1 Episode 2, Cider Bars Near Me, Opsumit 10 Mg, Van Morrison His Band And The Street Choir (vinyl), Kash Productions Llc Nederlander Concerts, Janssen Biologics, Humanized Pigs, Mobile Car Wash Near Me, Johnny Bench Net Worth 2020, Cherubim Vs Seraphim, Fred's Nyc, Stratford Point Ct, Scilly Pronunciation, Qut Law Degree, Redlands Florida Zip Code,