According to Wikipedia, The Maneki Neko, literally meaning "beckoning cat", is a common Japanese figurine which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. The figurine depicts a cat (traditionally a calico Japanese Bobtail) beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed in, and often at the entrance of shops, restaurants, and other businesses.
In a residential area of Tokyo, there is a unique temple with row after row of these lucky statues, or in other words, the purr-fect place for cat lovers to pray.
According to the Japan National Tourist Organisation, during the Edo period, the feudal lord of Hikone walked past the temple on the way back to his home. The temple's cat beckoned to him from the front gate, so he did what any sensible person would do when given advice from a cat. He went into the temple for some rest. Just then, a severe thunderstorm struck, but the feudal lord was warm and dry inside the temple all thanks to the cat. To show his gratitude he donated a ton of money to the poverty-stricken temple and designated it as his family temple. When the cat died, he was enshrined in the temple grounds, becoming a god called Shobyo Kannon. Visitors to the temple started bringing a maneki neko as a gift after their wishes were granted, which is how they amassed an army of beckoning cats.
-------------------------------- When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
Posts: 38221 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
We visited that temple the last time we were in Tokyo! It pretty much looks exactly like those photos -- expect that you can't tell from the photos that the temple grounds are very expansive, and it is nestled in this very run-of-the-mill neighborhood, surrounded by regular homes, and it's kind of hard to find the temple. You sort of just stumble upon it. I'll see if I have any other interesting photos to share.
The thing about all those maneki-neko statuettes is that, when you visit the temple, you buy one and then you place it there in the temple, the act of putting it there is a way of making a prayer. But think about it, you *buy* one, and then you leave it there. So you're basically paying to decorate the temple! Nice work if you can get it!
Anyway, we did indeed buy some to leave there but we also bought some to bring home.
This is one of the photos I shared in your knickknacks thread, the maneki-neko from the temple is on the top row, second from the right:
Edited to add: the temple is called Gotkuji 豪徳寺 in case anyone wants to do a google image search
