In 2007, the Wakayama Electric Railway appointed a stray calico cat named Tama as honorary station master of Kishi Station as a light-hearted publicity stunt for a railway on the brink of decline. The rural line in Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture had been losing passengers over the years, and its future looked uncertain; to address those concerns, the railway staged a publicity stunt by appointing a cat as station master, and it became one of Japan’s best-known tourism success stories. Following the appointment, within a year, passenger numbers rose significantly as visitors travelled across the country and overseas to meet the feline station master. It is worth noting that economists later estimated that Tama generated more than ¥1.1 billion (around $10 million USD at that time). According to Wakayama Electric Railway , Tama became more than a mascot, with her influence being the driving force for regional revitalisation.
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