With my mate still off on his latest trip to Japan (I am stuck here *whines*) I wanted to post some more stuff from our trip to Japan earlier this year.

This photo was taken at Hakata station in Fukuoka, Kyūshū. These two are station masters Kuro and Tama, which, oddly neither of which is the station master for Hakata station which seems not to have such a mascot.

Kuro, the black dorg, is station master of Aso station in Aso Kumamoto. Kuro is featured prominently (read, omnipresently) on the JR limited express train "Aso Boy" which is a special kid-friendly train featuring child-size seating, a ball pit, library and play areas made especially for parents and kids: Limited Express Aso Boy!

Kuro adorns the train's exterior and interior in many cute depictions which quite frankly I wanted to peel off and swipe whenever I saw them. (I didn't)

Even though it would look weird to ride this train as an adult with no child(ren) I would still have loved to at least see the train first hand. It was widely promoted by Kuro's likeness all over Kyūshū and there were even shops and diners decorated with Kuro. Sadly I couldn't find anywhere to buy some Kuro merchandise. Come on Japan, my money's right here, just take it already! I'm a huge sucker for shit like this...

Station master Tama the cat, it turns out, was in fact a real cat, and a real station master (Super station master actually) in Kishi station, Kinokawa in the neighboring Wakayama prefecture. Tama's image adorned the comparatively-outfitted Tama Densha (Tama train) which was kid-friendly and plastered with her cute calico likeness.

Tama is remarkable again as she was an actual cat, and held an actual position at Kishi station. Tama had an illustrious career with the rail company and advanced up through the ranks from Station Master (2007), to Super Station Master (2008), and finally to Operating Officer in 2010.

Tama had staff! Two feline assistants, Chibi and Miiko (Tama's sister and mother respectively) helped Tama with the all-important job of welcoming people to Kishi station where she resided in a retro-fitted ticket booth with a soft bed and of course a litter box. The offices granted her were always accompanied by a public ceremony and media session where she could be seen wearing her stylish cat-sized station master's cap.

Tama was memorialized in 2015 after her death with a Shinto ceremony and was placed in a nearby Shinto cat shrine where she was elevated to a spirit goddess Tama Daimyōjin. Her funeral was attended by thousands of people. Not bad for a stray! More about Tama: Super Station Master Tama