Two goats are grazing beside Yotsuya Station in central Tokyo. They haven't escaped a farm. JR East brought them in to clear weeds. Named Nagi and Pokke, they even earned a Know Your Meme entry on October 23, 2026. Their problem: doing the job perfectly means eating their workplace out of existence.
Yes, this is a real job
JR East introduced the trial in an official October 19 X post. Japanese television reported on October 21 that it started October 9, following a station employee's idea. Nagi is a one-year-old male and Pokke a two-year-old female. Station staff look after them. The report described it as a first inside Tokyo's Yamanote rail loop.
The assignment is planned through December, unless the grass runs out first. In most offices, finishing early earns praise. Here, each productive bite closes a little more of the company cafeteria. Performance targets and food shortages are literally the same thing.
What people actually said
On October 19, a Japanese storyteller posted that acquaintances refused to believe his account of goats outside the station. Understandable: "The maintenance crew was chewing the landscaping" sounds like a made-up excuse. Japanese coverage also recorded all-you-can-eat jokes and people who enjoyed seeing the goats on their way to school.
On October 22, reporters described children calling to the goats and passersby stopping to watch. Know Your Meme added its entry the following day. An English-language poster called them official JR mascots, but that is the poster's description, not proof of an official appointment. These reactions are documented in identifiable posts and reporting; the entire reply threads were not independently reviewed.
Our imaginary performance review
The following is original satire, not a real comment.
Interviewer: "Your strongest skill?" Goat: "Eating." Interviewer: "During work?" Goat: "That is the work."
Manager: "The contract ends when the last weed is gone." Goat: "Then I shall savor that final blade with great professionalism."
No desks, no laptops, and a lunch break indistinguishable from the shift. Commuters even come to watch employees chew.
The punchline
Nagi and Pokke genuinely reduce unwanted vegetation. The comedy lies in ordinary goat behavior becoming an official job beside Tokyo trains. Once the grass disappears, the commuters may be the ones demanding a contract renewal.
