Beckoning cat

招き猫 maneki neko

Beckoning cat

The cat with a raised paw beckons customers and money; a lucky charm for business prosperity.

Late Edo period, Edo (Tokyo), Imado ware

The oldest known figurines are Imado-ware 'marushime-neko' sold at Sensō-ji in Asakusa; an 1852 record and a Hiroshige print show them. Several temples and shrines tell origin legends: at Gōtoku-ji a cat beckoned the lord Ii Naotaka in out of a storm; at Jishō-in a cat guided Ōta Dōkan; at Imado a poor old woman was told in a dream to make cat figures; and the Yoshiwara courtesan Usugumo's cat saved her from a snake. They spread widely in Meiji.

A raised left paw is said to call customers, a right paw money; shops still put one by the till.

Technique catalog · draft for review

Every way to wrap, carry and wear a furoshiki.

The furoshiki.com archive, sliced into annotated steps with plain directions, plus techniques found in research.