the only type suitable for transporting cats, as the cat’s weight helps with wheel-rail friction. A standard locomotive would need to be very heavy to pull cat-filled carriages. The train has an open roof for quick cat exits.
In Kanazawa (where Ukon Takayama had stayed for 26 years in the service of Lord Maeda), I visited a descendant of Takayama, who mentioned that it was the family tradition for the eldest son to care for a site where a finger of Takayama had been buried. We went to a nearby forested ar...