Nekonomics: a brief introduction
Cats sell.
That’s basically the premise behind Nekonomics, the idea that adding cats to things will improve their revenues. And it seems to work. The classic example is the Kishi train station in Wakayama, where a calico named Tama turned around a failing train line. Tama went from stray near the station, to official station master, to number three executive (and the highest-ranking female) at Wakayama Electric Rail. The company designed a Tama train, and they eventually also re-designed the station to look like a cat’s face. Economists estimated that Tama contributed over one billion yen (ten million dollars) to the local economy. She died in 2015, but she was enshrined as a Shinto spirit goddess, and her successors visit her every year to pay their respects.
(Interestingly enough, her successors are Tama II and Tama IV, with Tama III apparently having been kidnapped by Okayama prefecture. She was sent here for training, but the human responsible for caring for her refused to give her up, saying, “I will not let go of this child.” I’m trying to figure out how to track down and meet Tama III, so stay tuned.)
Of course, it’s not just Tama. Bicchu Matsuyama (a castle in the north of Okayama) has a feline guardian. He once ran away, but the effect on tourism was drastic, so they tracked him down and returned him to his castle. And let’s not forget about cat islands and cat cafes, two of Japan’s most exciting attractions.
I’m thinking a “cat lovers’ Japan” guidebook is needed. Anyone want to help me write it? We’d need to do an awful lot of hands-on research…
