All Aboard the Cat Train! Fun and Unique Day-Trip Idea While Visiting Osaka
Looking for a fun and unique attraction while visiting Osaka on your next trip to Japan? If you are a lover of cats and trains, riding the Wakayama Electric Railway might be one of the best things you do!
What is the Wakayama Electric Railway?
The Wakayama Electric Railway operates in the Wakayama prefecture of Japan. This area is more rural than cities that might be on your to-visit list and is about 1.5 hours south of Osaka.
From JR Wakayama Station, there is a specific line Kishigawa Line that is famous for leading you to Kishi Station which is home to the cat stationmaster, Nitama.
There's some history to Kishi Station and the original stationmaster, Tama that's very sweet. Sadly, Tama has since passed away, but is succeeded by several other cat stationmasters!
Visiting Nitama isn't just a singular event either, there's a whole slew of things you can do from collecting stamps, visiting the other stationmasters, and of course, shopping at the Tama Gift Shop, which makes this a perfect relaxing day-trip activity.
Riding the Kishigawa Line
From JR Wakayama Station, you'll know immediately how to get to the Kishigawa Line. All signage in the station and even on the floors will have the unmistakable cartoon Tama leading you to the Kishigawa Line platform.
This line operates outside of your typical subway system. At the entrance to the platform is a window with an agent from whom you can buy a Kishigawa Line day-pass for 800 yen per person (as of 03/2023). This gives you access to the line for the whole day to go back and forth between stations as well as an activity guide and a blank stamp card that you can use to complete a stamp rally!
At every station along the line there is also a timetable that indicates at what times each train will arrive and depart. This is important to pay attention to if you'd like to ride all the available themed trains (and you definitely should if you can!)
Themed Trains
At the time that I visited there were three different themed trains in operation, though they may cycle their themed trains periodically.
Not all of the themed trains are operating at all times, so if you want to ride them all, it may take a bit of patience. When I visited, the Tama train only ran once in the morning and wouldn't run again until after 5:00PM. Since we didn't want to stay that long, we ended up not getting to ride the Tama Train, but we did see it stationed while we were at Idakiso Station! Another thing to note is that at every station, a train comes around once every 30 minutes. So if you're waiting for a specific train or even just trying to get on the next available train, you'll have to wait at least 30 minutes for it. This activity is definitely a slow and steady one!
Ichigo Train
The Ichigo Train is strawberry themed. The outside is decorated in cute strawberries as well as the inside! To complete the stamp rally, you'll need to ride on the Ichigo Train because one of the stamp pads is located inside of it!
Tama Train
The Tama Train is completely dedicated to Tama. The train ends are decorated to look like a cat and there are cats drawn all over it!
Tama Museum Train
The Tama Museum Train is a train that is decorated to operate like a museum to Tama and her successors Nitama and Yontama. Different cars in this train have different pieces of decor and other relics and knick-knacks dedicated to the cats. They even have gashapons on this train!
Stamp Rally
I absolutely love how Japan finds a way to create fun little wholesome activities! If you're not aware, there are often what's known as stamp rallies which are basically unique stamp stations at different locations of interest. In order to complete the rally, you'll need to visit each location (identified for you on some sort of map) to collect them all!
The Kishigawa Line has a cute stamp rally in four different location. When you purchase your day pass, you'll receive a blank postcard sized paper for the stamp rally. At each of the stamp stations, there's a stamp pad designed with a partial image. After layering all the different stamps together you get a complete image of all the station masters! Such a cute and fun idea that results in a cute keepsake too!
The first stamp was the black ink. The following stamp rally stations added more color!
The first stamp is located at Wakayama Station where you'll start/end the journey. From there you'll need to visit Idakiso Station (where Yontama is!) and Kishi Station (the final station). The last stamp is located on the Ichigo Train! So in order to finish the rally, you'll have to make sure you ride the Ichigo Train.
More Stamps!
In addition to the stamp rally that you could participate in, they also had additional stamp stations at the railway stations dedicated to the three stationmasters, Tama, Nitama, and Yontama!
Kishi Station
Kishi Station is the final station on the Kishigawa Line. There you’ll find all things Tama-themed (even the building itself is cat shaped!!)
Right along the tracks is a memorial dedicated to Tama, and upon entering the station (which is very small), you’ll see the Tama cafe where you can find more Tama memorabilia and cat-themed desserts.
In the station you’ll also see the current stationmaster Nitama behind a large window pane.
On the road side of the station, you’ll find the Tama gift shop which as all the Tama-themed goods you can hope for! This is also the side where you can see the front facade of the station which is actually shaped like a cat as well!
I loved all the little Tama touches, and they really dedicated this whole place to her!
Tama Cafe
The Tama Cafe is a cute little spot to grab a drink and/or a snack. To dine here each person needs to order at least one item. There’s memorabilia all over the cafe so you can have a lot of fun just seeing everything on the walls and the display cases. This is also a nice place to rest for a bit while you wait for your next train.
While I was here, I ordered an iced coffee. Others in my group got the matcha drink, a scoop of ice cream, and a “hot cat” which is basically like a hot dog but the sausage is a fish sausage.
All of the food containers were so cute. My clear iced coffee cup had little drawings of Tama on it but I didn’t notice until I mixed my coffee and saw them! It was also topped with chocolate syrup in the shape of a cute little cat paw!
The surrounding area of Kishi Station is also very rural so you won’t really find any other food options. So if you’re hungry, Tama Cafe will likely be your only choice, or you can bring some snacks of your own for the trip. While the cafe’s food and drink isn’t necessarily spectacular it satisfies your hunger and is pretty much of the same caliber as most themed cafes.
Tama Gift Shop
Kishi Station has an adorable small gift shop located right at the entrance of the station. The gift shop has all things Tama-themed from stationery to apparel. Even the the shopping bag is Tama themed! It’s such a cute little place and it’s perfect for getting some sweet souvenirs and keepsakes to remember your visit!
Idakiso Station
Idakiso Station is another station on the train route that you can visit to complete your stamp rally! Yontama is the stationmaster of this station, so you can also pay them a visit!
Yontama wasn’t really up for seeing visitors so she was in a bit of a shaded area of her cat tree. It was all good though, we got a glimpse of her, but left her to her business!
This station is a lot smaller and is mostly rural/residential so there’s not a lot to do here aside from visiting Yontama and getting your stamp. After we did that we just hung out on the platform to wait for the next train to bring us back to Kishi Station. It was really really nice to just sit at the peaceful platform!
Day trip recap
Getting to Wakayama Station
We were staying in Osaka, so this was a nice little chill day trip for us. Since there aren’t any shinkansens or express trains, getting to Wakayama Station did still take around an hour and a half. Since we had a JR Pass, we were easily able to reserve tickets on the trains to get to and from Wakayama, otherwise you’ll need to purchase roundtrip tickets.
Visiting the cat stationmasters
The stationmasters are so cute! I just love the whole idea that there are cat stationmasters (multiple!!) and that we can visit them! On the whole railway line, there’s so much Tama theming even at the stations along the way to Kishi Station. You could really tell that there’s just so much love for Tama here and it’s really sweet and wonderful!
Stamp rally is a must
I’m also a HUGE fan of stamp rallies! Anytime there are themed stamp rallies, I’m all for it! And this one is so cute as well! I love the little cat art so much!
A special and memorable activity
There’s so much hustle and bustle in the major Japan cities that we love visiting, and while that can be really fun, it’s also nice to take a break from that and do something at a bit of a different tempo. Of course, this spot is still a tourist destination, but since it’s a bit of distance away from major cities, you’ll find much lower crowds and a much more peaceful environment. I personally really enjoyed this day trip and would highly recommend anyone with enough time in their schedule to check it out!
