招き猫 (Maneki Neko)

2nd May – 皐月

招き猫 (Manekineko) – The cat shaped ornaments with front hand up. Cats catch mice which harms crops and house. Thus, Cats were appreciated by people and 招き猫 has been considered as a lucky item.

There are different shaped and various colored 招き猫.

• If the right hand is up, it is believed to bring money. Those ones are male cats.

• If the left hand is up, it is regarded as bringing people (customers).Those are female cats.

Also the height of its hand is different – the higher the hand is, the more it will bring lucks.

Generally, 招き猫 is tortoiseshell cats, especially the male tortoiseshell cat is very rare so it is considered to have more luck.

In addition, black 招き猫 is for amulet, protecting from evils. This is because black cat has believed that they could see things in the night (I think all the cats actually can?). Red 招き猫 is for good health, as red is considered as the color that god of sickness hates.

Why is 招き猫 believed as lucky item?

There are many possible origins. One of the interesting ones is – In the Edo period, one famous warrior called 井伊直孝 (Naotaka Ii) went for the walk. When he passed in front of the temple 豪徳寺 (Goutokuji), there was a cat beckoning him. Therefore, he took a break. While he was waiting in the temple, the heavy storm and thunder hit the area. Thanks to the cat, he survived. After this incident, he made 招き猫 and placed in that temple. This is the possible origin of 招き猫.