In Japan, as long as you are cute and furry, people adore you. Just like this tabby cat which has become the mascot for a particular train station.

This 9-year-old female cat sits by the entrance of Kishi Station everyday and wears a black uniform cap. She poses for photos with tourists who are now flocking in droves from across the nation.

Tama has been doing such a good job of raising revenue for the troubled Kishikawa train line that she was recently promoted to “super-station-master.”

“She never complains, even though passengers touch her all over the place. She is an amazing cat. She has patience and charisma,” Wakayama Electric Railway Co. spokeswoman Yoshiko Yamaki told The Associated Press Monday. “She is the perfect station master.”

Appointing a cat to turn around fortunes makes cultural sense in Japan, where cats are considered good luck and are believed to bring in business.

People are snatching up novelty goods — postcards, erasers, notebooks and pins — decorated with Tama’s photos. There’s even a special 1,365 yen (US$13) book of photos of Tama called, “Diary of Tama, the Station Master.”

Tama had been on the brink of losing her place to live, with the nearby store where she was raised being torn down. Now, the station is home.

After Tama’s appointment last year passengers have been gradually returning, recently rising 10 percent to about 2.1 million a year.

In December Tama was rewarded with bonus pay — all in cat food.

Source: Mainichi Japan

Maybe soon we will see all different types of animal mascot on the Kishikawa line.