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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.

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Mitsunobu Okada, Chief Executive Officer, Astroscale

Mitsunobu Okada, Chief Executive Officer, Astroscale =Date: September 22, 2017, Place: Japan

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Mitsunobu Okada, Chief Executive Officer, Astroscale

Mitsunobu Okada, Chief Executive Officer, Astroscale =Date:November 28, 2018, Place: Japan

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Mitsunobu Okada, Chief Executive Officer, Astroscale

Mitsunobu Okada, Chief Executive Officer, Astroscale =Date:November 28, 2018, Place: Japan

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Mitsunobu Okada, Chief Executive Officer, Astroscale

Mitsunobu Okada, Chief Executive Officer, Astroscale =Date:November 28, 2018, Place: Japan

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Mitsunobu Okada, Chief Executive Officer, Astroscale

Mitsunobu Okada, Chief Executive Officer, Astroscale =Date: September 22, 2017, Place: Japan

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Station cat

WAKAYAMA, Japan - Tama, a cat "station master" at Wakayama Electric Railway Co.'s Kishi Station, is held by company President Mitsunobu Kojima during a ceremony at the station in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, on Jan. 5, 2014, to mark seven years since the feline "took office." Her promotion to become "ultra" station master to head 14 stations on the railway's Kishigawa Line was announced at the ceremony.

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Shinto priest blazing trail as community activist

HIGASHIHIROSHIMA, Japan - Mitsunobu Okada, chief priest of Sugimori Shrine in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, performs a purification ceremony in front of children at the shrine on Sept. 8, 2013.

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Cat railway president writes book

WAKAYAMA, Japan - Wakayama Electric Railway Co. President Mitsunobu Kojima promotes his new book in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, on Feb. 7, 2012. The book tells the story of efforts to revive a local railway line with the help of Tama (R), a popular calico cat assigned as a ''stationmaster.'' The other calico cat held by Kojima is Nitama, Tama's ''subordinate.''

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Feline station master Tama tourism promoter

WAKAYAMA, Japan - Tama, a feline ''station master'' at Wakayama Electric Railway Co.'s Kishi Station, is held by President Mitsunobu Kojima (L) during a ceremony at the station in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, on Jan. 5, 2011. Wakayama Gov. Yoshinobu Nisaka (R) designated the cat as a special tourism promoter called ''maneki daimyojin'' (a deity beckoning people).

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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.

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China to execute Japanese drug smuggler Apr. 6

BEIJING, China - A Japanese diplomatic vehicle (L) believed to be carrying relatives of Mitsunobu Akano, 65, enters a detention facility in the northeastern city of Dalian, China, on April 5, 2010. Akano is one of four convicted Japanese drug smugglers China has told Japan it will execute on April 6.

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Photo collection of Hokkaido-born centenarians to be published

Publisher Mitsunobu Yamamoto (R) and photographer Manabu Komori pose in March 2015 in Sapporo with a collection of pictures of people, born in Hokkaido, Japan, who were 100 years old or older. The collection is expected to be published in September. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Book about cat stationmaster Tama released

Mitsunobu Kojima, president of Wakayama Electric Railway Co., attends an event at Kishi Station with cat stationmaster Nitama to introduce a book about Tama, Nitama's predecessor, in the western Japan prefecture of Wakayama on July 15, 2016. Tama, who died aged 16 in June 2015, is credited with rescuing the railway operator from financial difficulties. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Yumeji painting unveiled at museum in western Japan

Mitsunobu Kojima (L), head of the Yumeji Art Museum, and photographer Alan Miyatake shake hands in front of a painting of a naked white woman, a work by Japanese painter Yumeji Takehisa (1884-1934), at the museum in the western Japanese city of Okayama on July 5, 2016, the first day of its exhibition. The painting by Yumeji, known for his "Bijin-ga" -- pictures of beautiful women in Japanese art -- was completed about 85 years earlier in the United States and kept individually. It is the only work he painted of a naked Western woman. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Stationmaster cat Nitama

Fans take photos of Nitama, a female calico cat held in the arms of Mitsunobu Kojima, president of Wakayama Electric Railway Co., after an official event at Kishi Station in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan on Sept. 6, 2015. The event was held to unveil a wooden bench donated to the station. Nitama is Kishi Station's honorary stationmaster, having succeeded Tama, the previous feline holder of the post, who died aged 16 in June 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Stationmaster Nitama attends official event

Nitama, a female calico cat seen in the arms of Mitsunobu Kojima, president of Wakayama Electric Railway Co., attends an official event at Kishi Station in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan on Sept. 6, 2015. The event was held to unveil a wooden bench donated to the station. Nitama succeeded Tama, the previous feline stationmaster, who died aged 16 in June 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japanese firm planning on island-like cruise ship

Mitsunobu Kojima, head of Japan's Ryobi group operating a wide range of transportation businesses, shows a cruise ship design in the western Japan city of Okayama in June 2015. Ryobi estimates operating costs for the 2,500-ton island-like ship, which is set to cruise around Japanese coasts, to total 4 billion yen. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japan railway appoints another cat to succeed Tama the stationmaster

Nitama (Tama the Second), a five-year-old female cat, held in the arms of Mitsunobu Kojima, president of Wakayama Electric Railway Co., faces the Tama Shrine at Kishi Station in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan on Aug. 11, 2015. Nitama assumed the role of stationmaster that day to succeed Tama, a cat credited with rescuing the railway from financial difficulties before dying aged 16 in June 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Japan railway appoints another cat to succeed Tama the stationmaster

Nitama (Tama the Second), a five-year-old female cat, held in the arms of Mitsunobu Kojima, president of Wakayama Electric Railway Co., "offers prayers" to the Tama Shrine at Kishi Station in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan on Aug. 11, 2015. At front is a bronze statue of Tama, a cat credited with rescuing the railway from financial difficulties before dying aged 16 in June 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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China to execute Japanese drug smuggler Apr. 6

BEIJING, China - A Japanese diplomatic vehicle (L) believed to be carrying relatives of Mitsunobu Akano, 65, enters a detention facility in the northeastern city of Dalian, China, on April 5, 2010. Akano is one of four convicted Japanese drug smugglers China has told Japan it will execute on April 6. (Kyodo)

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Feline station master Tama tourism promoter

WAKAYAMA, Japan - Tama, a feline ''station master'' at Wakayama Electric Railway Co.'s Kishi Station, is held by President Mitsunobu Kojima (L) during a ceremony at the station in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, on Jan. 5, 2010. Wakayama Gov. Yoshinobu Nisaka (R) designated the cat as a special tourism promoter called ''maneki daimyojin'' (a deity beckoning people). (Kyodo)

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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. (Kyodo)

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CORRECTED Cat railway president writes book

WAKAYAMA, Japan - CORRECTING NAME OF 2ND CAT Wakayama Electric Railway Co. President Mitsunobu Kojima promotes his new book in Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, on Feb. 7, 2012. The book tells the story of efforts to revive a local railway line with the help of Tama (R), a popular calico cat assigned as a ''stationmaster.'' The other calico cat held by Kojima is Nitama, Tama's ''subordinate.'' (Kyodo)

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Japanese railway commemorates 10th anniversary of cat stationmaster

Yontama (L), an 8-month-old calico cat, receives a letter of appointment from Wakayama Electric Railway Co. on Jan. 5, 2017, making it an apprentice stationmaster at Idakiso Station on the Kishigawa Line. Nitama (R), a cat stationmaster at Kishi Station, held by Mitsunobu Kojima, president of the railway operator, also attended the event held at Kishi Station in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, which included a ceremony to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the appointing of Tama, the first feline stationmaster at Kishi Station. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo