KISHIKAWA, Japan (CNN) -- Tama is a 9-year-old calico cat, who used to live a simple life hanging out at the train station next to her home at the grocery store.

Tama the "Super Stationmaster," in her hat cocked at a rakish angle, has become a sensation.

But with the addition of a hat, usually worn at a jaunty angle, she's become a local, national and even international star.

Tama's home of Kishikawa in Japan is an isolated town of just a few thousand people, the last stop on what had been a failing train line.

That all changed when the Wakayama Electric Railway decided to use Tama as a mascot.

They called her a "Super Stationmaster," made a promotional poster for train carriages and gave her that stationmaster's hat.

Now tourists flock here to see the cat and to snap a picture.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/29/japan.station.cat/index.html