thumb|Maneki-neko with motorized arm beckons customers to buy lottery tickets in Tokyo, Japan
The maneki-neko (招き猫, ) is a common Japanese figurine which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. In modern times, they are usually made of ceramic or plastic. The figurine depicts a cat, traditionally a calico Japanese Bobtail, with a paw raised in a beckoning gesture. The figurines are often displayed in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, dry cleaners, laundromats, bars, casinos, hotels, nightclubs, and other businesses, generally near the entrance, as well as households. Some maneki-neko are equipped with a mechanical paw that slowly moves back and forth.
Maneki-neko come in different colors and styles and vary in degrees of detail. Common colors are white, black, red, and gold. In addition to statues, maneki-neko can be found in the form of keychains, piggy banks, air fresheners, pots, and numerous other media and merchandise. Maneki-neko are sometimes referred to simply as "lucky cats" or "calling cats". The typical Japanese beckoning gesture is made by holding up the hand, palm down, and repeatedly folding the fingers down and back, thus the cat's appearance. Some maneki-neko made specifically for western markets will have the cat's paw facing upwards, in a more familiar beckoning gesture.
Maneki-neko can be found with either the right or left paw raised (and sometimes both). The significance of the right and left raised paw differs with time and place. A statue with the left paw raised is to get more customers, while the right paw raised is to get more money. Hence it is also said that the one with left paw is for business and the right is for home.
Battery- and solar-powered maneki-neko are a modern iteration. Those sources power a simple circuit that regulates a current going through a coil, whose electromagnetic field subsequently "pushes" a magnet mounted to the end of the waving arm.
Composition
thumb|upright|A wooden mold for a maneki-neko and Okiagari-Koboshi [[Daruma doll from the Edo period, 18th century. Brooklyn Museum.]]
Antique examples of maneki-neko may be made of carved wood, stone and metal, handmade porcelain or cast iron. The earliest known record of maneki-neko as figurines is the marushime-neko, a variation of maneki-neko made of Imado ware in the late Edo period.
One of the earliest records of maneki-neko appear in the Bukō nenpyō's (a chronology of Edo) entry dated 1852. Utagawa Hiroshige's ukiyo-e "Joruri-machi Hanka no zu," painted also in 1852, depicts the marushime-neko, a variation of maneki-neko, being sold at Sensō-ji Temple, Tokyo. In 1876, during the Meiji era, it was mentioned in a newspaper article, and there is evidence that kimono-clad maneki-neko were distributed at a shrine in Osaka during this time. A 1902 advertisement for maneki-neko indicates that by the turn of the century they were popular.
thumb|Many maneki-neko are enshrined in [[Gōtoku-ji Temple. The temple is famous for its folklore as the birthplace of maneki-neko.]]
The most famous folklore concerns Ii Naotaka during the Kan'ei era (1622–1624) of the Edo period. On their way back from the falconry, Naotaka's party stopped at Gōtoku-ji Temple to rest after being beckoned by a cat at the temple gate. A violent thunderstorm soon followed, and they marvelled at the cat's good fortune and thanked the temple priest for his hospitality. As a result, Gōtoku-ji became the family temple of the Ii clan, and the temple prospered under their patronage. In honour of the cat that brought prosperity to the temple, maneki-neko was created in later generations.
Gallery
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File:PD-Maneki Neko.JPG
File:Collection of gold and white Maneki Neko in store window.jpg
File:Yellow Maneki Neko.jpg
File:BellRingingManeki-neko.jpg
File:Fortune Cat.jpg
File:Maneki neko by pixietart in Chinatown.jpg
File:Fortune Cat, Japan.jpg
File:Blackmanekineko-saitama-2016july16.jpg
File:Yellow maneki neko - Tokyo area - dec 13 2017.jpg
File:Triplemanekineko-aug30-2014.jpg
File:Fushimi-Tonpuppe 1 makffm.jpg
File:Gotokuji Temple (25157733895).jpg
</gallery>
See also
- Bakeneko
- Fukusuke
- Hello Kitty
- Jin Chan
- List of lucky symbols
- Meowth
- Neko-dera