is a passenger

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in located in the city of Kinokawa,

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, operated by the private railway company Wakayama Electric Railway.

Lines

Kishi Station is a

terminal station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

of the

Kishigawa Line is a railway line in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. It is the sole line of the Wakayama Electric Railway Co., Ltd. The 14.3 km route extends from Wakayama Station in the city of Wakayama to Kishi Station in neighboring Kinokawa. Including the ...

, and is located 14.3 kilometers from the opposing terminus of the line at

Wakayama Station is an interchange passenger railway station located in the city of Wakayama (city), Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, jointly operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and the private railway company Wakayama Electric Railway. Li ...

Station layout

The station consists of one deadheaded

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

serving a single bi-directional track. The station is staffed and managed by a cat.

Adjacent stations

History

Kishi Station opened on August 18, 1933. On February 1, 2010, the Kishi Station building was closed and demolished. Construction began on a new station facility in March, with the cat-themed new complex opened in July. Kishi Station was known for Tama the stationmaster cat, who became the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

for the station until she died in June 2015. The cat held the official position as Super Station Master. Tama was succeeded as Station Master by another cat, named Nitama. Since renovation, the station is housed in a cat-face-shaped building, with a Tama-theme cafe, with cat theme chairs and cakes. There is a souvenir shop with a wide range of stationery (pens, staplers and others) and Kishi Station uniforms. The Wakayama Electric Railway operates three cat-themed trains: Strawberry, Tama, and Toy. The feline stationmaster works on Friday–Tuesday (10am–4pm) and is off duty on Wednesday and Thursday.

Passenger statistics

Gallery

Kishi stn, Wakayama04.JPG, The renoveted platform with a

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

on the left, August 2010

Surrounding Area

*former Kishigawa Town Hall *Kinokawa City Nakatakashi Elementary School

References

External links

Kishi Station timetable
Railway stations in Japan opened in 1933 Railway stations in Wakayama Prefecture Kinokawa, Wakayama {{Wakayama-railstation-stub