# Cat

猫 neko

![Cat](https://www.furoshiki.com/swatches/neko.svg)

Cats protected stores from mice and are linked with luck and wealth (see maneki-neko); a popular playful modern motif.

Cats in Japan from around the Nara–Heian periods; lucky-cat imagery from late Edo

Cats are thought to have come from China to protect Buddhist scriptures and stores from rats, and were pets at the Heian court. Edo-period ukiyo-e artists, especially Utagawa Kuniyoshi, made cats a popular print subject, while the beckoning maneki-neko appeared in late Edo Asakusa. Folklore also had shape-shifting bakeneko. As a textile motif, cats are mostly a modern, playful choice.

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