A cat in Japan has been made the lord of a castle after drawing in tourists that helped the area recover from a devastating flood, America-based media outlet NextShark reports.

The three-year-old cat, named Sanjuro after a local samurai, was made lord of the Bitchu Matsuyama Castle in Takahashi, Okayama Prefecture on Dec. 16.

According to Japanese media outlet The Mainichi (TM), Bitchu Matsuyama Castle was built in 1240, on top of a 430-meter high mountain.

It is also the highest and the oldest surviving castle in Japan. 

Here is the cat with a samurai escort while it eats:

Gif of video from Asahi Shimbun

Presence led to an upsurge of visitors

NextShark reported that the cat was made lord as its presence had led to a sharp increase in the number of visitors for the castle, in the wake of the devastating July 2018 floods that had hit the country.

According to TM, this allowed the country to recover quickly from the disaster, so much so that by Oct. 2018, visitor figures had overtaken that of 2017.

TM added that prior to being made lord, the cat had been made a promotional mascot by Hideo Aihara, the executive director of a local tourism association which manages the castle.

Aihara was quoted by TM as stating:

"He is our saviour as he brought back visitors. We will take good care of him as the castle's new representative".

Originally belonged to a 40-year-old woman

Japanese media outlet Sankei reported that Sanjuro was originally the pet of a 40-year-old woman called Megumi Namba in Takahashi.

However, Sanjuro went missing on Jul. 14, 2018, during the floods.

It was then found a week later at the castle, 6km away from Namba's home, by a man who worked there.

The cat took up residence in the castle after being fed by the worker.

When Namba heard that her cat was living there, she went to the castle in mid-October, 2018, to retrieve it.

She subsequently decided to give the cat to the tourism association instead, where Sanjuro was subsequently made the castle's lord.

Here are some videos of the cat lording it over his hoomans by Asahi Shimbun:

Top image collage screenshot from Asahi Shimbun video and 備中松山城　猫城主 さんじゅーろー Facebook