The Basic Cat
It may seem obvious that the beckoning gesture defines a Beckoning Cat, but it is specifically through the welcoming gesture of much of Asia-palm facing down-that the Lucky Cat brings good fortune. To many Westerners, the Maneki Neko statues they see in restaurants and other businesses appear to be waving-even waving goodbye. Some less traditional Lucky Cats, manufactured for the Western market, make the palm-up beckoning gesture; these statuettes, sometimes called "Dollar Cats," may also feature blue eyes and hold a coin painted with a dollar sign, rather than the traditional Japanese koban.
There is great significance attached to the issue of which paw-left or right-is doing the beckoning, and some controversy about which is "better." It's generally believed that the right paw beckons fortune (specifically, financial prosperity), while the left paw beckons guests or customers. But there are deeper layers of fold meaning: The right paw is sometimes said to beckon men, the left paw, women. There are also regional quirks and distinctions; in Kyoto, for instance, business owners may choose to display a Maneki Neko with its right paw raised, while owners of bars and restaurants prefer a statuette that beckons with its left paw.
According to the Maneki Neko Club, older, more traditional Lucky Cats beckon with their left paws. In fact, some people decry the increasing popularity of the right-paw Beckoning Cat as a sign of the materialism afflicting global culture, though perhaps that is rather too harsh an assessment to fall on the cat's little shoulders. Still, it's possible to cover all the bases and find a Maneki Neko that beckons with both paws simultaneously, or a set of two cats, each beckoning with a different paw. There are also cat statuettes that hold their palms earnestly together in front of them, not beckoning so much as supplicating.
Whichever paw is raised, it traditionally rises just above the whisker level. On the theory that a longer arm might give the cat an advantage in snatching passing fortune, cats with extra-long arms sometimes streching well above their heads-have become popular, especially among Japanese Lucky Cat fans weary of the country's economic stagnation. Unluckily, though, these longer arms may break more easily.
The classic Maneki Neko wears a bell around its neck. This convention recalls a time when cats were rare and expensive in Japan. (It is thought cats were imported to Japan from China to protect Buddhist texts from rats and mice, just as they are believed to have been imported from India to China.) Because the animals were so valuable, they were often kept tied up, and the bell, which could be used to locate the cat if it managed to get loose, was a backup security feature. Maneki Neko's bell is suspended from a collar, which is usually red-a color associated with good fortune.
Beneath the bell, many Lucky Cat figurines-perhaps half-sport some kind of neckwear. the most common is a bib, or yodarekake (literally, "saliva catcher"). The next most popular is a noren-style neckpiece, so called this because it is formed of flaps of fabric much like the familiar half-curtains in Japanese restaurant doorways. A scarf or bandana is a less popular fashion look. common colors for any of these neckpieces are red, green, and blue, sometimes with decorative gold accents.
Though it's a given that Maneki Neko is more fashion-forward than most felines, historical illustrations don't seem to indicate that bibs or scarves were popular for pet cats in Edo-or Meiji-period Japan, and anyone who lives with a cat knows why: Most cats hate wearing anything around their necks. One possible explanation for Lucky Cat's neckwear, suggested by holdings in the Tokyo Edo Museum, is that it may be a design element left over from an earlier fad seen in dog statuettes. These bib-wearing statuettes were placed in pregnant women's bedrooms to ensure easy childbirth and a healthy baby, and to keep evil spirits away; the bibs likely emphasized their connection with babies. Another possible explanation is that the scarf recalls the accessory traditionally seen in depictions of Jizo, the Japanese name for a popular Buddhist bodhisattva who appears as a child-monk and according to Zen priest, author, and Jizo expert Chozen Roshi-is supposed to protect babies and children, the poor, and the sick.
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