The maneki-neko or beckoning cat is a good luck symbol in Japan.
The cats, found in a variety of colours and styles, are usually sitting up with
one paw raised in a gesture of beckoning. The Maneki-neko is a common sight in
Japan, placed in the entrances of shops and restaurants, in the hope that she
will bring good luck and prosperity in the form of customers and extra
business. The cat's colour, her attire and which of her paws is raised, even
the height at which her paw is raised, all has significance.
The Origin of the Lucky Cat
There are many stories surrounding the origin of the beckoning cat, perhaps the
most popular being the Legend of the Gotokuji Temple. This story, which is
thought to date back to the beginning of the Edo Period (1603 - 1867), tells of
a local priest, who looked after the Gotoku-ji Temple in Tokyo and kept a cat.
Despite his poverty, the priest often shared his limited food with his cat. One
day, during a storm a samurai sheltering under a tree at the temple saw the
priest's cat, apparently beckoning to him to come into the temple for shelter.
Just as he approached the cat, a bolt of lightning hit the tree that he had
been sheltering under, causing it to crash to the ground where he had
previously been standing. Grateful to the cat that had saved his life, the
wealthy samurai rewarded the temple with funding for its upkeep and adopted it
as his family place of worship. When the cat died, it was honoured by being
buried in a special cemetery and a statue was made in his likeness, thus
initiating the image of the lucky cat we know today.
