New cat stationmaster

Wakayama Electric Railway Co. President Mitsunobu Kojima holds Yontama, a calico cat appointed as the third feline stationmaster at Kishi Station in Kinokawa in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 7, 2026. Yontama succeeded Nitama, the second stationmaster who died in November, continuing a nearly two-decade tradition that has boosted tourism and helped save the line from financial trouble.

Sample
PDF Preview

Product Code
ILEA005024723

Registered date
2026/1/07 00:00:00

Credit
Kyodo / Kyodo News Images

Media source
2026 Kyodo News

Media size
1083 × 1489 pixel

Resolution
240 dpi

Deployment size
281.53(KB)*

Special instruction

*File size when opened in Photoshop, etc.

Similar Images & Videos

New cat stationmaster

Calico cat Yontama (R) is pictured after being appointed the third feline stationmaster alongside a feline apprentice recruit, Rokutama, at Wakayama Electric Railway's Kishi Station in Kinokawa in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Dec. 13, 2025. Yontama succeeded Nitama, the second stationmaster who died in November, continuing a nearly two-decade tradition that has boosted tourism and helped save the line from financial trouble.

Funeral for cat stationmaster

A funeral for cat stationmaster Nitama is held at Wakayama Electric Railway's Kishi Station in Kinokawa in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Dec. 13, 2025, following the cat's death in November at age 15.

Wind-bells at railway station

Japanese style wind-bells are hung at a platform of Nankai Electric Railway's Gokurakubashi Station in Koya in the western Japan prefecture of Wakayama on June 20, 2024.

Wind-bells at railway station

Japanese style wind-bells are hung at Nankai Electric Railway's Gokurakubashi Station in Koya in the western Japan prefecture of Wakayama on June 20, 2024.

Tama marks 8 years since becoming "station master"

KINOKAWA, Japan - Tama (R), the calico cat "station master" at Wakayama Electric Railway Co.'s Kishi Station, and subordinate Nitama are surrounded by fans at the station in Kinokawa in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 4, 2015, during a ceremony to commemorate the eighth anniversary of Tama's appointment.

British consul general in Osaka meets with 'Tama'

WAKAYAMA, Japan - Michael Shearer (R), British consul general in Osaka, meets "Tama," a popular cat stationmaster of Wakayama Electric Railway's Kishi Station in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Sept. 2, 2014. (Kyodo)

Kitten named 'apprentice attendant' at rail station

AIZUWAKAMATSU, Japan - Michiko Kobayashi, manager of Aizu Railway Co.'s Ashinomaki Onsen Station in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, holds a kitten appointed as an "apprentice attendant" on July 28, 2014. She hopes the kitten will succeed an aging "cat stationmaster" in the near future.

Railway unveils new 'cat stationmaster' building

WAKAYAMA, Japan - People gather at the newly renovated Kishi Station on the Kishigawa Line, famous for its cat ''stationmaster'' Tama, in Wakayama Prefecture on Aug. 4, 2010. Wakayama Electric Railway Co. unveiled the building which has a cat-shaped exterior and an interior with decorations of Tama, who has attracted tourists from across Japan.

Railway unveils new 'cat stationmaster' building

WAKAYAMA, Japan - Wakayama Electric Railway Co. President Mitsunobu Kojima holds Tama, the ''stationmaster'' of Kishi Station on the Kishigawa Line in Wakayama Prefecture on Aug. 4, 2010. The company unveiled a station building which has a cat-shaped exterior and decorations of Tama, who has attracted tourists from across Japan.