Kishigawa Line

 

The Kishigawa Line is the only line of the Wakayama Electric Railway. It runs 14.3 kilometers from Wakayama Station to Kishi Station. Japan has some delightful small railway lines, and not far south from here is the Kishu Railway, the shortest in Japan.

Some cars of the Kishigawa Line have interiors designed by Eiji Mitooka. I have ridden several of his trains in Kyushu, and find them quite interesting and satisfying. A few trains are still in the livery of Nankai  Railway who owned the line until 2006.

On day 9 of my walk along the Saigoku Pilgrimage, which at this point is still the Kumano Kodo, I take a slight detour to 3 famous shrines that can be reached on the line.

The railway's fortunes have vastly improved since they started having cat "stationmasters". This has brought in huge numbers of tourists.

The original cat was called Tama and he was based at the terminal station in Kishi.

Several more cats have been added, and some have passed on.

The photos at the bottom are of Idakiso Station, where I rejoined my walk along the Kumano Kodo.

The cat here was named Nitama, literally Tama 2, but when he is unavailable for duty, a stuffed cat is placed in his glass case... When Tama died, Tama 2 was promoted and moved to Kishi Station, and a new cat added here.

The previous post was on Fujishiro Oji Shrine, considered the start of the Kumano Kodo and the last stop on yesterday's walk.

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