Hi, my name is Ray. I'm originally from Ashford, Kent but am currently working as an economist in ...
Hi, my name is Ray. I'm originally from Ashford, Kent but am currently working as an economist in Malaysia. I enjoy travelling, good food,non-league soocer and Formula 1 motor-racing and love writing about these passions. Hope you enjoy reading my ...
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Maneki-Neko, Japanese Beckoning Cats, can be found in the shop windows of stores and restaurants in countless streets of Tokyo and any other of Japan’s major cities. If you take a peep into the windows of the noodle shop, eateries of all types and stores, you will come across the Maneki-Neko grinning somewhat impudently at you from the counter and inviting you into to savour the produce of the shop.
In business, the Maneki-Neko is believed to bring success because her raised paw beckons in customers. It also welcomes in personal happiness and harmony. A black Beckoning Cat brings health, while a gold one, which is quite rare, brings in riches. Beckoning Cats one often sold as money boxes. In a house they are supposed to beckon in good friends.
Actually the Japanese beckoning cats are part of a very ancient tradition and are perceived of as a symbol of good luck and considered to be the incarnation of the Goddess of Mercy. In the land of rising sun, despite the headlong rush to modernization and industrialization, old superstitions are still tenaciously held onto. Cats, it should be added, are greatly admired for their good manners as well as their independent nature.
The Maneki-Neko you see in the shop windows are made from a variety of materials: some are in porcelain, others are constructed from papier mache while inflatable plastic is often used to make larger ones. They come in various sizes and colors and are positioned in the windows of thousands of neighborhood shops all over Japan. The right or left front paw of the beckoning cat is usually raised to symbolise the Japanese gesture of Beckoning. It is said that if the left paw is raised, the Maneki-Neko will draw customers and bring prosperity to the establishment; if the right paw is raised, money and good fortune will come the way of the shop. Beckoning cats are also trusted to ward off evil: they are used by cocoon breeders to protect the silkworm against rats and they are sometimes tied around a child’s waist to protect them against pained sickness.
There are a lot of legends concerning the Japanese Beckoning cats but there is general agreement that there origins go back at least three or four centuries to the Tokugawa and possibly the Oda Nobunaga dynasties. Several stories relate to temples and there was reputed to be a temple so poor the -Goroki-Ji Temple- it only had a single priest and a solitary cat. Times were hard and ultimately, in absolute desparation the priest requested the cat to assist in raising money for the temple.
The next day, the priest’s cat went away, but a few days later a very wealthy family visited in order to bury their young daughter who had recently passed away The legend has it that the cat had mysteriously entered the soul of the dying girl and persuaded her to make her last wish that she be buried at the temple of the cat. Following the burial the cat returned to the priest, the wealthy family became generous patrons of the temple, and the temple, the priest and the cat never again wanted for anything. The Goruki-Ji Temple now houses dozens of statues of this cat, and owners of lost or sick cats stick-up prayer boards with the image of the Beckoning Cat in this temple. The temple is not only a haven for pets but even has its own pet cemetery.
The Beckoning Cats of Japan that you will see in Tokyo to this day remain a fascinating Japanese artifact with their roots in ancient Japanese culture and links to that most basic of human desires, the acquisition of wealth and prosperity.
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Advantages: Exotic for people from the west, it is a very safe place, toilets :-) Disadvantages: Expensive accommodation, language barrier can cause problems, a bit crowded
gard 27.07.2005 (27.07.2005)
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Review of Tokyo (Japan)
Jul 3rd, 2001
(Sep 27th, 2001)
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