The beckoning cat has become a symbol of good fortune and prosperity in Japan. TODAY’s Natalie Morales looks into the feline folklore and visits the Tokyo temple where legend has it, the cat craze began.

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#LuckyCat #Japan #Culture

50 Comments

  1. Welcome to Tokyo, Natalie. And welcome to Gotokuji, my hometown! You could've brought Savannah and Craig also.
    I could've showed you around more of the area, not just the cat dolls. There's a lot more to see in Gotokuji, Kyodo, and Seijo on Odakyu Line.
    The number of those cat dolls at Gotokuji temple has been on the increase as local people bring theirs more and more each year. Indeed, there is no enough for the dolls anymore…

  2. Watching this Today's video after my mini Left Paw rise Japanese Good Luck Beckoning Cat which is seating under a window started to wave her paw profusely this morning Friday / 6thAug2021 & your this video released yesterday / Thursday / 5thAug2021! That's Serendipity alright! Thank You So Much Today News for sharing! Stay Safe & Stay Grateful! 🙏🕯🌷🌿🌍🇺🇸🇯🇵

  3. Wonderful place. It’s just ridiculously a cat 🐈 world in Japan! Thanks for this reporting this morning! From southern Colorado.

  4. there is also a story about a girl who left her cat because she's didn't know how to feed them or feed herself
    and one night, the girl dreamed of her cat telling her to make status looks like them
    and then she made a few and sell them and she's get out of her poor life
    IDK I feel both of the stories are adorable heartwarming

  5. You actually have the cats' arm meaning reversed – left is usually for businesses to attract customers and wealth, and right is to attract money, success and prosperity of all sorts. The left is for customer facing areas of the business and the right is for the living area, typically the back of shop for many Asian business owners but it transfers to a non-business home. There are feng shui positions for the cats as well – left arm would be best placed in customer-facing NE area of the business. Right arm is best for SE area of the home, preferably as near the office area as possible.

  6. I definitely did not search for this cause I bought a Chinese cat today-

    Edit: also, question, how do they make it lucky?

  7. From personal experience, having cats in your place of business brings good fortune. But you cannot just adopt or worse buy a cat, the cat should choose you. If a cat stays outside your place of business and begs to be let in, could be a sign cat is choosing you. Be kind to the cat. Take care of it but never expect. It just comes naturally. Particular cat fur markings and colors mean particular things like calico cats especially those bobtails bring food luck, black cats drives away bad fortune and evil doers, white cat brings peace etc etc

  8. My favorite color of the beckoning cat is probably black. It’s because i have owned lots of black cats over the years.

  9. I wish there is a cartoon show about a Japanese beckoning cat rather that chinese siamese cat who wasn't actually a siamese cat, but originally an all white cat before she got her grey colours by ink, but her little sister is all white, but still I want a traditional cartoon on a Japanese white cat made, but I could do that or a Japanese descent director do that too be great, but I still did not had an animation career and never had a chance in my 20s anymore as I just become in my 30s.

  10. My favorite Lucky Cat is the one with the right paw raised, while the left holds an orange fish 🤗

  11. Correct me if I'm wrong,
    In Islam we believe that cat bring joy, blessing and fortune to our house and our life. That's why cat is the animal most loved by Muslim people.

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