# Beckoning cat

招き猫 maneki neko

![Beckoning cat](https://www.furoshiki.com/swatches/maneki-neko.svg)

The beckoning cat invites luck: a raised right paw attracts money, a raised left paw attracts customers. A shop-opening and business gift.

Late Edo period, Edo (Tokyo)

Beckoning-cat figures are first securely recorded in the late Edo period as Imado-ware 'marushime-neko' sold at Sensō-ji; an 1852 Hiroshige print shows them on sale. Several temples and shrines claim the origin story: Gōtoku-ji (a cat that beckoned the lord Ii Naotaka in from a storm), Jishō-in and Imado Shrine. By the Meiji period they were advertised widely and spread to shops across Japan.

A standard shop-opening gift; Gōtoku-ji in Setagaya is filled with offered cat figures.

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Source: https://www.furoshiki.com/patterns/maneki-neko/