What are Maneki Neko? 6 Secrets about Japan’s Lucky Cats

by David McElhinney | CRAFT

Maneki Neko, meaning beckoning cats, are good luck charms populating shop fronts, domestic shelves, shrine precincts, hotel receptions, pachinko parlors and more throughout Japan. Generally stationed by or near a main entrance, these feline statuettes are known for their pale white coats, red collars and pointy ears. They are an enduring icon of Japanese spirituality and have bled into mainstream culture since the Edo period (1603-1868) – perhaps unsurprising, given the lofty status of cats in contemporary Japan! So, for all you need to know about maneki neko, read on.

1. What Are Maneki Neko?

Tiresome, Woodblock Print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1888

The origins of maneki neko start with folklore, though the exact tale is not entirely agreed upon. Perhaps it was the cat that saved the life of Setagaya daimyo Ii Naokoto by beckoning him into Gotoku-ji temple on a stormy night in the early Edo period. It may have been the cat which brought an unassuming old pauper great fortune in the 1850s. Or was it the famous courtesan Usugumo of Tokyo’s former pleasure district who decapitated her pet feline only for its severed head to chomp down a venomous snake in the bathroom?

© Tadanori Yokoo, Hino Moto no Keko, 1997

Irrespective of their origins, the luck-bringing properties of maneki neko are undisputed, and as such, they have become deeply ingrained in the Japanese psyche. Today they come in many different forms. Some raise their right paw (for financial prosperity and good fortune), others their left paw (for friendship and welcoming), and still others hold up both, because who doesn’t want both friendship and good fortune?

Maneki nekoto are available in a spectrum of color themes that bestow the dolls with specific meanings. Gold cats bring wealth, red ward off illness, pink herald romance, green are beneficial for upcoming studies, and black combat evil. You might also see them clutching objects, including koban (Edo-period coins), fish, mallets, balls, gourds, and more.

2. Where Can You Find Maneki Neko?

© Yang Ping / Creative Commons, Maneki Neko at Awsashima Jinja

Although cat figurines are common fixtures across Japan, particularly at shrines (including the aforementioned Gotoku-ji in Tokyo) and souvenir shops, there are also museums dedicated to maneki neko. If you love cats, and Japanese art, you should check out these 20 Greatest Japanese Cat Paintings You Will Love!

© Asturio Cantabrio / Creative Commons, Seto Maneki Neko Museum

There’s the Maneki-Neko Museum in Seto City, Aichi Prefecture, containing 5,000 beckoning cats. The Manekineko Museum of Art in Okayama has another 700. In coastal Onomochi at the Maneki Neko Museum you’ll find 3,000 such figurines. And for those of you living in the US, there’s even a Lucky Cat Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, with over 2,000 waving paws.

But Tokoname, also in Aichi Prefecture, may be the best place of all to check out maneki neko, a heartland of Japanese pottery, with numerous workshops constructing maneki neko, it’s home to a giant lucky cat erected on a footbridge in the town and dozens of others hiding in plain sight around the city.

3. What are Maneki Neko Made Of?

Maneki neko are most commonly made of porcelain or ceramic, though papier-mache, wooden and plastic versions are not unheard of, while exclusive jade and gold versions are also available – although they are exceedingly rare.

The pottery process for making porcelain and ceramic maneki neko from clay is as follows:

The individual sections – head, body, paws, raised arm, any objects, etc. – are molded separately from wet clay before being glued together. The features of the cat are then inscribed into the clay before the figurine is baked in a kiln at high heat. Once cooled, the figurine is painted.

4. What Are Tokoname Lucky Cats?

© Asturio Cantabrio / Creative Commons, Tokonyan on Tokoname’s Maneki Neko Street

Tokoname lucky cats are the maneki neko local to Tokoname city. The local pottery style, known tokoname-yaki, is one of the city’s most prized assets, with a history dating back to the 12th century and a lineage of legendary potters, including Yamada Jozan III who was named a Living National Treasure in 1998, several years prior to his death.

Although local potters throw all kinds of wares, Tokoname is the number one maneki neko producing region in Japan with lucky cats crowded around the city – particularly along the aptly named Maneki Neko Street, which contains around 40 sculptures, and the Tokoname Central Shopping Arcade.

5. The Ancient Kiln of Tokoname

Tokoname Kyusu Teapot, available at Japan Objects Store

Owing to its great pottery lineage, Tokoname is one of the Six Ancient Kilns of Japan – referring more to the location and its distinct brand of pottery, than a specific kiln in which the pottery is fired.

Tokoname flourished as a pottery hub thanks to the iron-rich clay deposited at a nearby lake and an oceanside location in central Japan which placed it near major sea and land transport routes. Though Tokoname has been a major pottery producer for nearly 1,000 years, the industry became both more refined and more robust during the artistic revolution of the Edo period, housing over 300 individual factories by the late 1800s.

A climbing kiln with eight firing chambers erected in Meiji Era (1868 - 1912) is the largest of its kind in Japan and was subsequently designated an Important Tangible Cultural Property.

If you want to learn see, or buy, some examples of tokoname-yaki, you can check out our collection of Tokoname-made kyusu teapots, teacups, and matcha bowls over at Japan Objects Store.

6. The Biggest Lucky Cat in the World

So enmeshed are lucky cats in the fabric of Tokoname life, that one particular creation became the mascot of the town. Tokoyan – full name Tokoname Mimamori Neko Tokonyan, or Cat to Watch Over You – is a 12-feet (3.8-meter) high, 20-feet (6.3-meter) wide cat statue rising from a concrete slab in the city, made to look as though it’s peering over a wall. If size corresponds to the amount of luck a maneki neko can exude, then perhaps this is the luckiest lucky cat on earth!