Maneki Neko / The Lucky Cat

I had occasionally spotted the iconic beckoning cat sculpture during my life, but when I lived near Chinatown in The Hague I saw it everywhere and got intrigued to find out why.
Asking the local inhabitants gave me a clue that it was a Chinese tradition and had to do with good business, at least thats what I made of communicating in the compromise of their English and my Chinese verbal limitations ;-)

Real desk research later on thought me that the Beckoning Cat Statue originates from Japan and is called Maneki Neko - read the nice history anecdote here.

There are differences in the color and in the paws held up, I don't know them by heart yet, so here's a short explanation:

Tri-color Cat: (modeled after the Japanese bob-tail breed, this is a popular & traditional color for lucky cats, beckoning general good luck, wealth, prosperity)


White Cat: purity, happiness


Black Cat: safety, wards off evil and stalkers (remember that on friday the 13th ;-)


Golden Cat: wealth and prosperity


Red Cat: protection from evil & illness (especially illness in children)


Pink Cat (a more modern color): love, relationships and romance


Green Cat (also a modern color): educations/studies

Right Paw raised: invites money and good fortune (usually to businesses)


Left Paw raised: invites customers or people
(Some suggest the right & left paws both invite business-related prosperity, but that the left paw is for businesses of the night, such as bars, geisha houses & restaurants. Use of lucky cats in homes is more recent)


Both Paws raised: invites protection of home or business


Coin: wealth and material abundance


Bib and Bell: may relate to protection, as well as wealth and material abundance

Anyway, enough on this little crash course in fortune..

I had never spotted this 'Super Lucky Asahi Beer Drinking Cat' before and liked to share it with you today!

Cheers!