--- title: Japan's Cutest (Feline) Stationmaster Has Died at 16 description: Japan's most famous (and only) feline train stationmaster died Monday at an animal hospital canonical: https://time.com/3935123/cats-japan-trains-world-train-station-rails/ author: Alissa Greenberg article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-25T08:56:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:22.707Z og:title: Japan's Cutest (Feline) Stationmaster Has Died at 16 og:description: The most adorable ticket collector you've ever seen. og:url: https://time.com/3935123/cats-japan-trains-world-train-station-rails/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3828ed1a55444705/6988583d0a4a22027f9c4e0c/81228249.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: School girls admire "Tama", a nine-year- og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Japan's Cutest (Feline) Stationmaster Has Died at 16 twitter:description: The most adorable ticket collector you've ever seen. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3828ed1a55444705/6988583d0a4a22027f9c4e0c/81228249.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Japan's Cutest (Feline) Stationmaster Has Died at 16 ## Video: Paying for Petting Time in Japan's Cat Cafes [Watch (HLS stream): Paying for Petting Time in Japan's Cat Cafes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HhzXsIjc.m3u8) (3:38)  _Published 2010-06-28. In Osaka, Japan, where many apartment dwellers aren't allowed to keep pets, cat fanciers spend time with their favorite felines at the Cats’ Time Cafe_ by [Alissa Greenberg](https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Jun 25, 2015 8:56 AM UTC  Schoolgirls admire Tama as the feline sits on a ticket gate at Kishi Station in the city of Kinokawa, in Wakayama prefecture, Japan, on May 22, 2008 Schoolgirls admire Tama as the feline sits on a ticket gate at Kishi Station in the city of Kinokawa, in Wakayama prefecture, Japan, on May 22, 2008Toru Yamanaka—AFP/Getty Images by [Alissa Greenberg](https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Jun 25, 2015 8:56 AM UTC Like many of our most famous and beloved celebrities, she had only one name: Tama, a tortoiseshell renowned for her jaunty hat and cool smirk, was Japan’s most [famous](http://travel.cnn.com/cat-saves-japanese-train-station-586471) (and only) feline train stationmaster. She [died](http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/25/travel/japan-station-cat-tama-dies/index.html) Monday at an animal hospital in Wakayama prefecture aged 16, having worked at her post in a converted ticket booth in Kishi Station for almost eight years. Tama first rose to fame when she was appointed stationmaster at Kishi, a secluded hamlet of at the end of a rail line that had changed hands after closing from disuse, CNN reports. She was whisked away from a simple life at the village grocery store and given a new perch at the station entrance, soon to find herself on posters, T-shirts, stickers and even the center of a themed café. It didn’t take long for stardom to come knocking. The number of passengers on the train line jumped from 1.92 million in 2005 to 2.27 million in 2014, [according](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/25/national/wakayamas-popular-stationmaster-cat-tama-16-dies/#.VYuvBhOqpBd) to the _Japan Times_. In fact, the new stationmaster had so many visitors that an Osaka University study estimates that Tama’s popularity added $10 million into the local economy. Many credit her for single-handedly saving both the station and its train line. Wakayama Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka paid tribute to Tama in a statement to the _Japan Times_, saying the late stationmaster “contributed greatly to promoting tourism in our prefecture. I am filled with deep sorrow and appreciation.” Tama is survived by her apprentice, Nitama, who takes her workload of eating, sleeping and upholding the local economy as seriously as her illustrious predecessor. Tama’s funeral will be held at Kishi Station on June 28. \[[_CNN_](http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/25/travel/japan-station-cat-tama-dies/index.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3935123/cats-japan-trains-world-train-station-rails/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3935123/cats-japan-trains-world-train-station-rails/"},"headline":"Japan's Cutest (Feline) Stationmaster Has Died at 16","datePublished":"2015-06-25T08:56:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:22.707Z","description":"Tama is credited with stimulating the local economy and saving both her station and its train line","url":"https://time.com/3935123/cats-japan-trains-world-train-station-rails/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","cute","cats","Japan","World","Trains"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3828ed1a55444705/6988583d0a4a22027f9c4e0c/81228249.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alissa Greenberg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3828ed1a55444705/6988583d0a4a22027f9c4e0c/81228249.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"School girls admire \"Tama\", a nine-year-","caption":"School girls admire \"Tama\", a nine-year-","creditText":"Toru Yamanaka—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3935123/cats-japan-trains-world-train-station-rails/","name":"Japan's Cutest (Feline) Stationmaster Has Died at 16"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Paying for Petting Time in Japan's Cat Cafes","description":"In Osaka, Japan, where many apartment dwellers aren't allowed to keep pets, cat fanciers spend time with their favorite felines at the Cats’ Time Cafe","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/HhzXsIjc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2010-06-28T20:48:17.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HhzXsIjc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3935123/cats-japan-trains-world-train-station-rails/","duration":"PT3M38S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3935123/cats-japan-trains-world-train-station-rails/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```