The Lucky Cat Temple
In a corner of Gotokuji Temple, I discovered a Kannon figure totally surrounded by maneki neko lucky cats! Their raised paws are believed to beckon money and good luck into the owner’s business, so shopkeepers from all over Tokyo come here to buy a cat figure and offer it to the bodhisattva, hoping for a big uptick in the bottom line.
Cats, cats, and more cats (plus a few strings of those ubiquitous origami cranes).
The bigger the cat, the bigger the wish!
Racks and racks of cats!
Even the prayer plaques at Gotokuji feature cats. My favorite one, though, is the one someone drew on the back of the ema in the upper right!
Cats for your every business-building need!
Jonelle Patrick is the author of the Only In Tokyo mystery series, published by Penguin/Intermix.
