Where did the cat with the paw come from - maneki-neko (8 photos)

Maneki-neko means "inviting cat" or beckoning in Japanese. It is customary to place it in restaurants and at checkouts in shops. Where did this tradition come from? What is the cultural background?





In Japan, the cat population was small, so cats were considered a treasured pet. They were kept on leashes; only a wealthy Japanese could afford a cat.



An ugly drawn cat on a leash, it's creepy)

But cats are needed against mice, you say. In Europe, cats were destroyed as accomplices of witches, and mice and the plague immediately multiplied with them. There should be a lot of cats on the farm!

But what can you do, there wasn’t enough for everyone (I think they were still trying to maintain an artificial shortage and not give everyone a kitten). Therefore, farmers could only afford... a painting with a cat.





Do you have a cat? Better, I have a PICTURE OF A CAT

During the Edo period (from the 17th century), silkworm farmers hung pictures of cats in their buildings to repel mice. Although, if a mouse has never seen such an expensive animal in its life, how will it understand that it should be afraid?

That’s why they started making cat dolls, the same Maneki-neko. They were placed in temples instead of a real cat to also scare away rats and mice.

But why is she waving her paw? Because according to legend, a samurai named Ii Naotaka passed by the Gotokuji Temple and saw a cat that waved its paw at him. As soon as he followed her and went under the roof of the temple, a severe thunderstorm broke out outside.



Ceramic neko made in the 1800s

So he escaped from lightning and rain, and considered the cat a good sign. If the cat invites you, you must enter. The samurai was touched by the care and began to support the temple with funds, and the kind cat became a symbol of the temple. She brought good luck not only to the samurai, but also to the temple servants, because since then they have not needed anything.



A modern photo from that same Gaokuji Temple

That is, the cat gives good luck to absolutely everyone!

Gradually, all the surrounding residents wanted to get good luck cats, and then by 1852, cat figurines “crawled” to Edo (then the capital of Japan).

The first maneki-neko were a little different from modern ones; they also did not have a coin. Over the years they went through a bit of a “rebranding” as each craftsman made a cat based on his own preferences.



Another pre-mass production maneki-neko, unique

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, plaster molds became popular, and cats began to be cast on an industrial scale. They became so cheap that every peasant could now afford a lucky cat. Since then, her image has become more down-to-earth.

Maneki-neko became not a symbol of good luck and random happiness, but simply to bring prosperity. This is how the peasant understood happiness for himself.



At some point, the bell on the cat became a coin for wealth

By the way, in Japanese culture there is no contradiction with wealth and purity of thoughts. In Europe, “money does not bring happiness,” but in Japan, a successful, harmonious person will be provided for, and this is normal, not mercantile.

Although the cats themselves do not need money. In Japan, there is even an equivalent to the phrase "throwing pearls before swine" - "throwing coins before cats."

With mass production in plaster casting, the cat “broke out” beyond the borders of Japan. The first country where it gained popularity was China. From Hong Kong she was sent to Taiwan and mainland China.



Now these are variations on the theme of maneki-neko, such a beauty!

Maneki-neko has a simple and kind legend about how she brought happiness to everyone. There are no unlucky maneki-nekos, feel free to buy any for yourself!