TOKYO: Amid the hectic bustle of the crowds in central Tokyo, a pair of four-legged workers are moving at their own pace, getting rid of the weeds on a small plot of land in front of JR Yotsuya Station.
Two goats named Nagi and Pokke have been making quick work of overgrown plants at the Shinjuku Ward station. Nagi, a one-year-old male, and Pokke, a 2-year-old female, are rented and have been in Yotsuya since early October, according to East Japan Railway Co. (JR East).
They’re quickly gaining fans as people stop to look at the unusual sight of two bovids in the middle of a huge metropolis. According to JR East, nearby elementary school students have been seen calling out to the goats, and others have commented on how cute they are.
“It’s really soothing to see the goats in the middle of the city,” said a 56-year-old company employee who works near the station.
A JR East employee said that the area is a historic site and has been generally left untouched. A station employee suggested using goats as an environmentally friendly way to maintain the area, according to the railway company.
The company has used goats at railway yards and other locations in the past, and the plant-covered plot of land at the Shinjuku Ward station was deemed suitable for the animals.
Station employees look after the goats, handling such tasks as monitoring their health, giving them water and cleaning up after them.
“We look in on them every day and have a sort of checklist,” said Daisuke Watanabe, one of the employees involved. “For example, if they look or behave a certain way, it can be dangerous, so we have to contact the person we rented the goats from … checking on them every day is a must.”
“[The goats] are doing well, and I think they’ve gotten fatter,” he added with a chuckle.
Nagi and Pokke are scheduled to remain at Yotsuya Station through the end of December, but their departure might be moved up depending on how soon the plants disappear, according to the railway company.
“I was here the day they arrived … so I’ll be pretty sad when we have to return them,” Watanabe said.
However, goats are scheduled to be back at the station from around March, depending on how much vegetation has grown back. - The Japan News/ANN
