Maneki Neko: a bit of Japanese culture

"Maneki Neko” is a very common artifact in the Japanese culture and roughly translates into “beckoning cat” or “welcoming cat” because of its lifted paw which is said to be welcoming people. Maneki Nekos are believed to be lucky charms and are usually placed in front of stores and inside houses all across Japan as a means to attract customers and friends.  Apart from being a lucky charm that brings love, money, and peace depending on its color and which paw is being raised, Maneki Nekos are very typical cultural artifacts from Japan and this is the reason why we chose to analyze and study them.

The history of Maneki Neko dates back from the Edo Period (1693- 1867), however, the information found from this period is scarce, which suggests that maneki nekos were not as common then as they are nowadays. Nevetheless, From the Meiji Period (1868- 1912) onwards, maneki neko becomes a very common lucky charm and registers are already plentiful, differently from the Edo Period. A possible explanation for this growth of Maneki Nekos in Japanese culture relies on the fact that in Japan during the Edo Period, brothels used to have a shelf on which the owners of the establishment would keep a large amount of lucky charms shaped as penises.  Keeping that in mind, it was quite hard for the Japanese people not to shock westerners when they visited Japan. So as a means to make Japan a more “decent” country in the light of the Western Christianism, the owners of brothels decided to change the lucky charms that were molded as penises to those of cats, since cats symbolize woman in the Japanese imagery.

On top of that, there are many myths and legends on the origin on Maneki Neko. One of the most famous legends has it that in a village there was a geisha who had a small cat whom she loved very much. One day, however, her cat started to tug at her apparently without any reason. Seeing this, a brave swordsman thought that the cat was attacking the geisha and as soon as he could, he chopped off the head of the cat, which flew to the ceiling, killing a poisonous snake that was about to strike. Needless to say, killing the cat made the geisha very sad; this touched the swordsman very deeply to the point that he asked a very skilled craftsman to carve a likeness of the murdered cat, thus making the geisha happy again.

The second story is about a noble man who was coming back from a hunt and was caught on in a very violent storm. In the midst of the downpour, the man saw a cat beckoning to him as if it were calling him. Following the cat, the man was startled by the fact that as soon as he got away from where he was, a lightening hit a tree which fell down just where he was. The cat had saved his life as a token of his appreciation he started to make carved copies of the magical cat as an homage.

In conclusion, Maneki Nekos are very cute little catlike charms which are said to have the power to bring luck, money and heath depending on their color and on which paw it is raising. They are ancient cultural artifacts and reflect a very nice aspect (perspective) of Japanese culture: their supersticiousness. So, if you ever happen to visit Japan, make sure to buy yourself some maneki nekos, you never know when you may need some extra luck.

 ps: The Pokemon Meowth is based on the Maneki Neko!