Meet Tama the stationmaster cat who became a goddess in Japan

Los Angeles - A cat called Tama has been named a deity in Japan.

Tama the calico cat was a stationmaster at the Kishi station in western Japan - where they are considered spiritual animals - since 2007.

Unfortunately Tama - who turned 16 in April - died last week and is now being mourned by company officials and thousands of fans across Japan.

Thousands of her fans left gifts of canned tuna, watermelon, apples and even cabbage at the station in her honour.

(Photographs: AP and AFP Photos)

In a speech at the ceremony to ordain Tama a goddess, Wakayama Electric Railway president Mitsunobu Kojima said: "Tama-chan really emerged like a saviour, a goddess. It was truly my honour to have been able to work with her."

The Telegraph reported that Tama climbed the corporate ladder from stationmaster to "ultra-stationmaster" and vice president of the company before receiving the additional title Sunday of "honourable eternal stationmaster".

She will be succeeded by another calico cat, Nitama, who is now an apprentice stationmaster.