Maneki Neko
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Maneki Neko is also a Hugo award-winning short story by science fiction writer Bruce Sterling.
Maneki_Neko_Bank.JPG
Maneki Neko come in different colors, styles, and degrees of ornateness. In addition to sculptures, Maneki Neko can be found as keychains, piggy banks, air fresheners, and other miscellaneous ornaments.[1] (http://www.namaii.com/manekineko/)
The cat breed generally represented in the sculpture is a Japanese Bobtail.
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Common features
PD-Maneki_Neko.JPG
The gesture
To Americans and Europeans it may seem as if the Maneki Neko is waving rather than beckoning. This is because Westerners use a different gesture to beckon someone than the Japanese. The Maneki Neko's upraised paw is actually in imitation of the Japanese beckoning gesture. The Japanese beckon by holding up the hand, palm out, and repeatedly folding the fingers down and back up, thus the cat's appearance. Some Maneki Neko made specifically for Western markets will have the cat's paw facing backwards, in a beckoning gesture more familiar to Westerners.[2] (http://gojapan.about.com/cs/traditionculture/a/luckycats.htm)
Maneki Neko can be found with either the right or left paw raised (and sometimes both). The significance of the right and left raised paw differs with time and place. The most common belief is that the left paw raised brings in customers, while a right paw brings wealth and good luck. But some believe the opposite. Still others say that a left paw raised is best for drinking establishments, the right paw for other stores. (Those who hold their liquor well are called hidari-kiki in Japan, "left-handed".)[3] (http://www.harapan.co.jp/english/manekineko.htm)
It is commonly believed the higher the raised paw, the greater the luck. Consequently, over the years Maneki Neko's paw has tended to appear ever higher. Some use the paw height as a crude method of gauging the relative age of a figure. Another common belief is that the higher the paw, the greater the distance good fortune will come from.
Some Maneki Neko feature battery- or solar-powered moving arms endlessly engaged in the beckoning gesture.
Color
Maneki Neko come in all sorts of colors. While originally the colors may have been simply decorative, different colors are now associated with different attributes. (Again, the meanings of the colors, like everything else about the Maneki Neko, are incredibly varied):
- Tricolor: Tricolored cats are white with black and red or orange spots. This coloring is considered especially lucky and is the most popular color for maneki neko. This belief may be related to the rarity of this coloring in the Japanese bobtail cats, after which the Maneki Neko is modeled.
- White: White cats indicate purity and are the second most popular type.
- Black: Black Maneki Neko are believed to keep away evil. These are especially popular with women as they are supposed to be particularly effective at keeping away stalkers.
- Red: Red is also a protective color, and is believed to keep away evil spirits and illness.
- Gold: Associated with wealth.
- Pink: While not a traditional color this color is popular now and is associated with love.[4] (http://www.actioncat.com/luckycat.html)
Collar, bib and bell
Maneki Neko usually have some sort of decoration around their neck. This can be a neckerchief or a scarf but the most common attire is a collar, bell and decorative bib. These items are most likely in imitation of what was common attire for cats in wealthy households during the Edo period. Red collars made from a red flower, the hichirimen, were popular and small bells were attached for decoration and to keep track of the cat's whereabouts.
The bib might also be related to the bibs often decorating statues of the divinity Jizo Bodhisattva. Protective statues of Jizo can be found gaurding the entrances to Japanese shrines and graveyards. Jizo is the protector of sick and dying children and grateful parents of children recovered from illness will place a bib around Jizo as a gift of thankfulness.
The coin
Maneki Neko are sometimes depicted holding a coin; usually a gold coin called a koban, used during the Edo period in Japan. A koban was worth one ryō, another early Japanese monetary unit. The koban most Maneki Neko hold though is indicated to be worth ten million ryō. (A ryō can be imagined as worth a thousand dollars, although the value of the coin, like the value of the dollar, varied considerably.)
The coin obviously ties into the cat's role in bringing good fortune and wealth. It is not surprising then that one can often find Maneki Neko used as piggy banks, a practice which goes back at least to the 1890s, though they are not represented as pigs.
Material
Typical Maneki Neko are made of porcelain or ceramic. However, other, usually cheaper, Maneki Neko can be made of anything from plastic to wood to paper maché to clay. The moving Maneki Neko are usually made of plastic.
Origins
History
While it is believed that Maneki Neko first appeared during the later part of the Edo period (1603-1867) in Japan the earliest documentary evidence comes from the 1870s, during Japan's Meiji Era. It is mentioned in a newspaper article in 1876 and there is evidence kimono-clad Maneki Neko were distributed at a shrine in Osaka during this time. An ad from 1902 advertising Maneki Neko indicates that by the turn of the century they were popular.[5] (http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/maneki-neko.shtml)
Beyond that, the exact origins of Maneki Neko are uncertain.
One theory ties Maneki Neko's origin, or at least its growth in popularity, to the rise of the new Meiji government. In its attempts to westernize Japanese society the Meiji government banned overtly sexual talismans then popular, often displayed prominently in brothels. With these popular items gone, Maneki Neko soon appeared in their place as a substitute charm, their beckoning gesture perhaps in imitation of a beckoning woman.
Others have noted the simliarities between the Maneki Neko's gesture and that of a cat washing its face. There is a Japanese belief that a cat washing its face means a visitor will soon arrive. This belief may in turn may be related to an even older Chinese proverb that states that if a cat washes its face, it will rain. Thus it's possible a belief arose that a figure of a cat washing its face would be thought to bring in customers.
Legends and stories
Maneki Neko is the subject of a number of legends. Here are three of the most popular, explaning the cat's origins:
The Temple Cat: This story goes that a wealthy feudal lord was taking shelter under a tree near Gotoku-ji temple (in Western Tokyo) during a thunderstorm. The lord saw the temple priest's cat beckoning to him and followed; a moment later the tree was struck by lightning. The wealthy man became friends with the poor priest and the temple became prosperous. When the cat died, supposedly the first Maneki Neko was made in his honor.[6] (http://www.actioncat.com/luckycat.html#Maneki)
The Courtesan: A courtesan named Usugumo, living in Yoshiwara, in eastern Tokyo, kept a cat, much beloved by her. One night, the cat began tugging at her kimono. No matter what she did, the cat persisted. The owner of the brothel saw this, and believing the cat bewitched, cut its head off. The cat's head then flew to the ceiling where it killed a snake, ready at any moment to strike. Usugumo was devestated at the death of her companion. To cheer her up one of her customers made her a wooden likeness of her cat as a gift. This cat image then become popular as the Maneki Neko.
The Old Woman: A old woman living in Imado (eastern Tokyo) was forced to sell her cat due to her extreme poverty. Soon afterwards the cat appeared to her in a dream. The cat told her to make its image in clay. She did as instructed, and soon afterwards sold the statue. She then made more, and people bought more. They were so popular she soon became prosperous and wealthy.[7] (http://www.amy.hi-ho.ne.jp/~mono93/cat/english/engi_e.html)
Influence
Such is the influence of the Maneki Neko as a cultural icon that many other characters and cultural imagery are derived from it.
- The name of Hello Kitty, a popular Japanese merchandising character, may arise from a flawed translation from the Japanese 招き猫.
- Meowth, a Pokémon, brings money to its owner and most likely was derived from the Maneki Neko.
- The Thai prosperity goddess Nang Kwak has adapted the beckoning gesture of the Maneki Neko.[8] (http://www.luckymojo.com/beckoningcat.html)
- An NGO group working in Ukraine ran a poster campaign with the photograph of Maneki Neko to promote a fair election process.
External links
- Maneki Neko Club website (http://www.amy.hi-ho.ne.jp/~mono93/cat/english/index_e.html)
- Sushi Cat Maneki Neko page (http://www.namaii.com/manekineko/)
- Lucky Cats (http://www.actioncat.com/luckycat.html)
- Maneki Neko - the lucky beckoning cat (http://www.catanna.com/luckycat.htm)
- LEGO Maneki Neko (http://bill.wards.net/blosxom/lego/models/sculpture/maneki-neko.html)
References
- Dale-Green, Patricia, The Cult of the Cat (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1963).
- Daniels, Inge Maria, 2003. Scooping, raking, beckoning luck: luck, agency and the interdependence of people and things in Japan. Royal Anthropological Institute 9 (4), 619-638.