Kishi Station and the cat stationmasterPhoto: 暇・カキコ / CC BY-SA 4.0
The Wakayama Electric Railway made a cat named Tama stationmaster of Kishi on 5 January 2007.
- Getting there
- Taxi from the berth to JR Wakayama Station, 6.6 km, about 9 min and ¥2,850, our estimate; then the Kishigawa Line from platform 9, about 30 min, ¥480
Checked · Researched, not yet visited · times from official timetables and our estimates · Takumi Yamada
Yontama is the stationmaster of Kishi. The railway’s roster in November 2026 has her on duty 10:00–16:00, off on Wednesdays and Thursdays, when the candidate Rokutama sits in. The cats stay behind glass and can be absent. Tama, the first stationmaster, has a shrine on the platform. Trains run twice an hour; the line takes cash only, and a 1-day pass is ¥1,200.
- Number 3 of ten on our list for Wakayama.
- 4 hr 30 min door to door needs a 6.5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
Kishi Station and the cat stationmaster and your ship
Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.
Where the 4 hr 30 min goes
The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside. The minutes are our estimates from timetables and maps, not timed on the ground.
If your ship is late, cut the 3 hr 10 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Routes that already include it
Finished days timed from official timetables and our estimates, with this stop in them.
Wakayama Castle and the Momijidani gardenNeeds a 5-hour call · ~3h door to doorAny call: the keep closes on 29–31 December and on occasional days the castle announces on its site
The cat stationmaster of Kishi, ramen and the castleNeeds a 9-hour call · ~7h door to doorCalls of 9 hours or more. Yontama is on duty Friday to Tuesday; on Wednesdays and Thursdays the candidate Rokutama sits in. Times assume 09:30 off the shipWhat to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
See · ~2.5hWakayama Castle
The white keep stands on a hill in the middle of the city, about nine minutes’ climb from the gate.
See the detail
See · ~3hTuna-cutting show at Kuroshio Market
A whole tuna is cut up in front of the crowd every day at 12:30 and 15:00, and at 11:00 as well on weekends and holidays.
See the detail
See · ~2.5hKimiidera
A temple on the hillside above Wakaura Bay, with a vermilion pagoda among cherry trees.
See the detail