Japanese Train Station Inaugurates Third Cat Stationmaster, Yontama

Japan is so much better at transit than the United States. Not only do they have high-speed rail over there, but they have stations with the best stationmasters around: Cats. The country's Kishi Station has long been famous for its feline stationmaster, Tama, who passed away back in 2015 — but her legacy has carried on, with Kishi Station welcoming its third-generation station cat this month. This is Yontama, who was just promoted to the station's top job according to the Japan News.

Kishi Station is located in the southern Japanese mainland, south of Osaka in the prefecture of Wakayama, and it was very nearly shuttered the mid-2000s due to low ridership. By 2006, only one employee remained at the station: Tama, the calico cat who acted as stationmaster. Tama's popularity brought Kishi Station back from the brink, to the point that it was entirely demolished and remodeled in 2010 — with a new design in Tama's image.

When Tama died in 2015, she was promoted once again — from station master to local Shinto god. She didn't leave Kishi Station without corporeal help, however, as her successor Nitama (Tama Four) was officially inaugurated as her successor. If you're wondering about Tama Three, she was sent to Okayama for "training" and the station loved her so much they refused to give her back. Her name, Sun-tama-tama, is apparently a pun that doesn't really translate to English. 

When Yontama isn't on shift, her juniors Gotama (Tama Five) and Rokutama (Tama Six) cover for her. Those two also work over at Idakiso Station, a few miles down the line, where Yontama also worked until her promotion at Kishi. We deserve station cats like Tama, Yontama, and all the rest here in the states; at least, we will once we have train stations worthy of them. Please, someone, bring high-speed rail to the States so we can have cats run our stations. Imagine how much better our lives would be.