Tama the stationmaster cat

We are currently planning a trip to Japan - I would love to meet Tama the Stationmaster Cat at Kishi Station! Where can I get more information about him? I would also love to ride the special "Tama Densha" train with pictures of Tama on it. Does it only run at certain times or on certain days?




Thanks :)

Here's the wikipedia link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tama_%28cat%29

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+51066

Here is the official web site of Wakayama Dentetsu (Wakayama electric railway). But it seems they have not English page.
http://www.wakayama-dentetsu.co.jp/
If you can't read it please tell us what information you need.

How to get there: Take JR line to Wakayama station.
(From Shin-Osaka or Tennoj: It takes 60 minutes by limited express, Ocean-arrow or Super-Kuroshio. You can go there from Osaka station too but you need to change train on the way.)
Then, transfer to Wakayama Dentetsu line at Wakayama. Kishi is the terminal station.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishigawa_Line

Note:
Kishi station will be under construction from 20th January.
They say that Tama may take some HOLIDAYS in term of the construction.
By the way, this is an image of new station. It will have thatched-roof.
http://wakayama.ryobi-openlab.jp/blog-information/?p=130

Kishi station will be under construction from 20th July, not from January.
Tama may take some holidays in the term of construction.

I just visited Tama earlier this month when I was in Japan. Kishi station is undergoing construction, but the nearby convenience store sells Tama merchandise, and has a small cabinet in which she sits and is on display. The other assistant stationmaster cats were not there though. The Tama densha train is absolutely amazing, and the strawberry one was cute too.

My friend and I ended up taking the train from Nara, eventually getting to Wakayama city. I don't recall how long the ride took from Wakayama to Kishi, but it didn't seem all that long. At Wakayama station you can buy a passport ticket for the ride, which saves you about 50 yen I think. Otherwise the train is like a bus, where you have to go to the front and pay when you get off.

I run a rail themed website called iridetheharlemline.com and at some point I am going to post pictures of the adventure. I know I also have a copy of the schedule (which I think lists what type train it will be, strawberry, tama, or regular) that I can scan and post for you guys here.

Oh I forgot to mention, Tama is a girl! I figured I'd mention that since you called her a "him" :D In fact she is the highest ranking female working for Wakayama Electric Railway... :P

I just looked to see if I have the schedule with me now, but I don't have it. I brought it to work to show people, since it had a cartoon version of Tama on the front. I will be able to scan it when I am at work on Monday.

It seemed that the train ran rather regularly, the first train I boarded was a regular train to get to Kishi. But I saw several children that wanted to ride the Tama densha so they waited. I was able to ride it when I went back to Wakayama. Then I learned why the kids love it so much! In the second car of the Tama densha, there is a library of children's books and manga for kids to read!

Wow, thanks for the info everyone. I really appreciate it. Emily, I look fwd to reading the schedule! :) Can't wait to meet Tama!

Glad to help you out! I happened to find a schedule of the "special" trains online actually. They have the Strawberry train, a Toy train, and the Tama train. This schedule is supposed to tell which train is which, but I can't read japanese!

http://www.wakayama-dentetsu.co.jp/jikoku/pdfs/wakjb.pdf

You can use google to run a translation on it, but it makes it hard to read. Perhaps someone else here can help with it?

gets promoted if he/she is willing to work for at a higher position for almost nothing and thats the main point of this story. Cat can't say "no thanks" or something like that.

you think a visit to Tama could be combined with Mount Koya with Kyoto as starting point?