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Giant black cat appears in Shinjuku Station, gives gifts in exchange for nose rubs【Pics & Video】

Oona McGee Sep 30, 2015
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You never know what you might find when you’re walking the streets of Tokyo. You could stumble upon nine cats in a stroller along the Omotesando shopping strip or enjoy a chance encounter with costumed meerkats on a sunny street in Ginza.

But it’s beneath the city where the big surprises lie. For the rest of this week, deep within the underground labyrinth of passages, shops, and platforms that make up Shinjuku Station, you’ll find a huge black cat. And this particular feline is especially spectacular as it responds to a nose rub by opening its mouth and dispensing presents to passers-by.

The two-metre (6.6 feet) tall, six-metre (19.7 feet) long black cat is part of an impressive campaign by Japan’s largest delivery company, Yamato Unyu (Yamato Transport), who are so well-known for their cute black cat logos that they’re more commonly referred to as Kuroneko (black cat) Yamato.

▼ The campaign, to advertise their new line of compact delivery boxes, began with this adorable commercial.

YouTube/ヤマト運輸

Now their cat has grown into a kind giant, meowing and handing out compact delivery boxes with unique, themed merchandise inside to anyone who stops to rub its nose.

▼ To see the unusual way presents are handed out, take a look at the video below.

The big cat will be “awake” and spitting out presents at Shinjuku Station’s Metro Promenade from 11:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. every day until 4 October. After that, he goes on tour, stopping at ten locations around the country, like a giant, furry, four-legged, off-season Santa with presents for furballs.

This black cat’s got an unending supply of 72 different presents in his stomach. In the line-up to pat the giant, compact boxes adorning the wall give you a hint of what might lie ahead, while also giving you an idea of the kinds of things that will fit in the box for sending.

▼ The huge number of prizes available are hilariously weird and cute.

▼ And they all feature the wide-eyed black cat, using the company’s black and yellow colour scheme.

▼ A set of cards, a T-shirt, toy cars and bags of rice.

▼ Chips, sponge cake, tuna and Kuroneko Curry.

▼ The most sought-after items include a multi-outlet power cord, an electronic dictionary with paw-shaped buttons, a computer tablet and a camera.

▼ A bikini, an alarm clock, flip-flops and lipstick. Check out kitty’s lips!

▼ A book cover, dry flowers, tealight candles and a fountain pen with ink.

▼ A scarf, yukata (summer kimono), socks and a pair of jeans.

▼ Kuroneko cat-branded cigars, a tool kit, a ring and a soldering iron.

▼ Furikake, a calligraphy brush set, an electric razor and coffee.

▼ Oh, and catwoman.

With hundreds of presents being given away each day, it’s not surprising that we ended up with one of the least exciting prizes on offer: a set of black cat stickers.

▼ On the bright side, we received a cute compact box ready for sending.

▼And we got to pat a giant cat!

Get down to Shinjuku Station fast if you’d like to meet this giant, gift-giving feline!

▼ Another short video shot by a reporter from our sister site, RocketNews24 Japan: