Also called lucky cat, beckoning cat, waving cat, fortune cat
A seated cat figure with one paw raised in the Japanese beckoning gesture, set near a door or till to invite customers and money. It began in Edo (Tokyo) and is now found in shops worldwide.
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Take care: No hazards. When visiting Gotoku-ji or Imado Shrine, follow shrine etiquette and buy figures from the temple office rather than leaving unofficial items.
Returning from falconry, the lord Ii Naotaka was waved over by the temple cat, stepped inside and escaped a sudden thunderstorm. He became the temple's patron and it became the Ii family temple. Today Gotoku-ji has thousands of white beckoning cats left by visitors whose wishes came true.
Uses: white maneki-neko, often with no coin
A poor woman who gave up her cat dreamed it told her to make figures in its likeness. She sold small Imado-ware cats at Asakusa and became prosperous. Imado Shrine now ties the cat to matchmaking, with paired cats for couples.
Uses: Imado-ware clay cat
The cat of the courtesan Usugumo was thought to be bewitching her, but when it was killed its head flew up and killed a snake that threatened her. A grieving customer gave her a carved cat, and copies were sold in Asakusa.
Several Tokyo temples and shrines, including Gotoku-ji, Jishoin and Imado Shrine, claim to be the cat's birthplace, and all of their stories are legends. The earliest firm record is from 1852: an entry in the Buko nenpyo, a chronicle of Edo, and a woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige showing a stall at Senso-ji in Asakusa selling marushime-neko, cats made of local Imado clay. Those early cats did not yet hold the gold koban coin that most carry today.
The figure spread quickly. An 1876 newspaper mentions it, and an advertisement from 1902 shows it was a common shop item by then. After the Meiji government banned phallic good-luck charms in brothels, the cat is often said to have taken their place, though that link is debated. In the 20th century Chinese and Southeast Asian shops adopted it, which is why many people outside Japan think it is Chinese and why battery-powered waving versions are common.
Written charms on red or yellow paper, or on peach wood, pasted at the door or carried, to keep harmful spirits out of a home in Chinese tradition.
East Asian belief that destined partners are tied by an invisible red thread, honored in Japan by en-musubi prayers for good bonds at Izumo Taisha and in Chinese communities through the matchmaker god Yue Lao. This entry gives an open home practice inspired by both.
A shop or small business blessing drawn from hoodoo customer-drawing floor washes and from old first-sale customs: wash the entry, bless the first money of the day, and keep a beckoning charm near the door. It works best alongside good service and honest prices.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
