2.5 Kishi Station

Most train stations are run by a station master. But Kishi Station in Japan has a very special station master.  All of the passengers love her. In fact, she might be the most popular station master in the entire country. But when people ask her questions, she always gives the same answer: “Meow!” 

Her name is Tama and she’s a cat. She became Kishi Station’s station master in 2007. Before that time, the railroad company was thinking about firing all of the station’s workers to save money. But then the company’s president had a surprising idea — he decided to make Tama the station master.

Tama’s job is pretty simple. She walks around the station in her special railway cap. She greets passengers and poses for photos for tourists. Since Tama became station master, the station’s number of passengers rose by more than 50,000 in a year. Because of this, Tama became an executive officer of the railroad company in 2009.

Tama is paid with cat food, and she can keep her job for the rest of her life. But if you want to meet her, don’t come on a Sunday. Tama works from 9 to 5 the rest of the week, but she takes Sundays off!