Tama (cat)

Tama (たま, April 29, 1999 – June 22, 2015) was a female calico cat who gained fame for being a station master and operating officer at Kishi Station on the Kishigawa Line in Kinokawa, Wakayama, Japan.

Early life and adoption

Tama was born in Kinokawa, Wakayama, and was raised with a group of stray cats that used to live close to Kishi Station. They were regularly fed by passengers and by Toshiko Koyama, the informal station manager at the time. The station was almost shut down in 2004 because of financial problems. Around this time, Koyama adopted Tama. Eventually the decision to shut down the station was withdrawn after the citizens demanded it stay open. In April 2006, the Wakayama Electric Railway destaffed all stations on the Kishigawa Line to cut costs. Station masters were selected from employees of local businesses near each station, and Koyama was officially chosen as the station manager. In January 5, 2007, railway officials decided to officially name Tama the station master. As station master, her primary duty was to greet passengers. The position came with a station master's hat; in lieu of a salary, the railway provided Tama with cat food.

Masami Shiratama

Masami Shiratama (白玉 雅己, Shiratama Masami, born April 27, 1974), also known as Tama or Shiratama (シラタマ) is a Japanese musical composer and multi-instrumentalist from Innoshima and a bass guitarist of Porno Graffitti in September 1999. After leaving the band in June 2004, he released the album Great Pleasure in December 2005.

Profile

Discography

Singles

Albums

Great Pleasure (December 21, 2005)

Tama (votive)

Tama (Greek: τάμα, pl. ταμάτα tamata) are a form of votive offering or ex-voto used in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, particularly the Greek Orthodox Church. Tamata are usually small metal plaques, which may be of base or precious metal, usually with an embossed image symbolizing the subject of prayer for which the plaque is offered.

Ceremony and symbolism

Tamata may be offered to an icon or shrine of a saint as a reminder of a petitioner's particular need, or in gratitude for a prayer answered.

A wide variety of images may be found on tamata, with the images capable of multiple interpretations. A heart may symbolize a prayer for love or a heart problem. Eyes may indicate an eye affliction, hands or legs may indicate maladies of the limbs, a pair of wedding crowns may mean a prayer for a happy marriage, a torso for afflictions of the body, and so forth.

Tamata may be bought in shops selling Greek Orthodox religious items, and then hung with a ribbon on a pole or hooks near an icon or shrine of a saint, the act of which is usually accompanied with a prayer, and sometimes with the lighting of a votive candle. The destinations of pilgrimages often include shrines decorated with many tamata.

Talking drum

The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to modulate the pitch of the drum by squeezing the cords between his or her arm and body. A skilled player is able to play whole phrases. Similar hourglass-shaped drums are found in Asia, but they are not used to mimic speech, although the idakka is used to mimic vocal music.

Names in West Africa

History

Hourglass-shaped talking drums are some of the oldest instruments used by West African griots and their history can be traced back to the Yoruba people, the Ghana Empire and the Hausa people. The Yoruba people of south western Nigeria and Benin and the Dagomba of northern Ghana) have developed a highly sophisticated genre of griot music centering on the talking drum . Many variants of the talking drums evolved, with most of them having the same construction mentioned above. Soon, many non-hourglass shapes showed up and were given special names, such as the Dunan, Sangban, Kenkeni, Fontomfrom and Ngoma drums. Interestingly, this construction is limited to within the contemporary borders of West Africa, with exceptions to this rule being northern Cameroon and western Chad; areas which have shared populations belonging to groups predominant in their bordering West African countries, such as the Kanuri, Djerma, Fulani and Hausa.

Tama people

Tama is a non-Arab, African ethnic group of people who live in eastern Chad and western Sudan. They speak Tama, a Nilo-Saharan language. The population is 200,000–300,000 people and they practice Islam. Many Tama are subsistence farmers who live in permanent settlements and some raise livestock. In the civil war in Chad (2005–2010) the Tama were involved in ethnic conflicts with the Zaghawa tribe.

Culture

The Tama people are a non-Arab (i.e., "African" or "black") tribe that live in Dar Tama in northeastern Chad and Darfur in western Sudan. They number 200,000–300,000. They speak Tama, a Nilo-Saharan language. Many of the Tama are subsistence farmers who live in permanent settlements and raise millet, beans, cucumbers, gumbo, and sesame. They also raise cattle, camels and goats. The majority of Tama are Muslims, but they also have some animistic beliefs.

Subgroups

The Tama are made up of a number of subgroups: Abu Sharib (approximately 50,000 people), Asungor (60,000), Dagel, Erenga (35,000), Gimr (50,000), Kibet, Marari (20,000), Mileri (9,000), and Tama proper.