Maneki Neko: The Beckoning Cat (招き猫) and What Its Paw Means

Maneki neko: 招き猫 (the beckoning cat)

Maneki neko is 招き猫 (まねきねこ, maneki neko, “beckoning cat”): a Japanese lucky charm, a figure of a cat with one paw raised, kept in shops, restaurants and homes to invite customers and good fortune. The raised paw isn't waving hello. It's the Japanese way of beckoning someone over, with the palm facing down.

The figure is Japanese in origin, not Chinese. It's often called a "Chinese lucky cat" because it's so common in Chinese shops and Chinatowns, but the story of the beckoning cat belongs to Japan.

Here's what the figure means, one question at a time: the name, the paws, the colours, the coin in its other paw, and where the legends say it began.

Maneki neko meaning: what the name says

The name is literal. It joins two words: 招く (まねく, maneku, “to beckon”) and 猫 (ねこ, neko, “cat (esp. the domestic cat, Felis catus)”). The first half, 招き, is the stem of 招く (the form that joins to other words), so 招き猫 is "a cat that beckons". The kanji 招 is "beckon, invite", and 猫 is "cat". New to kanji? See What is Kanji?.

The dictionary describes a 招き猫 as a figure of a cat with one paw raised, usually white porcelain. It's an 縁起物 (えんぎもの, engimono, “talisman”): an object you keep for the good luck it's thought to bring.

The name gives the main idea: the cat beckons fortune and customers towards you.

Why the paw looks like a wave

If you grew up in the West, the raised paw looks like a wave goodbye. In Japan, beckoning is done with the hand held up, palm down, and the fingers folded down and back repeatedly. The dictionary word for that gesture is 手招き (てまねき, temaneki, “beckoning”). Seen from the front, a paw tipped forward and down looks much like that.

Some figures made for Western buyers turn the paw to face you. The traditional figure keeps the Japanese gesture.

Japanese Wikipedia offers one theory for the pose. A Tang-dynasty Chinese text, 酉陽雑俎, says that when a cat washes its face with a paw above its ear, a guest is coming. It's a theory, not a settled origin.

Left paw or right paw: what each one means

Online guides agree on a rule of thumb, and it's the one most shops use:

• Left paw raised: welcomes customers and people. It's the usual choice for a shop or restaurant.
• Right paw raised: draws in money and luck. It's the usual choice for a home.

Guides give the same rule in different words: Nichigo Press ties the left paw to people and relationships and the right to money, and adds that two raised paws are said to bring both, though some read them as a surrender. English Wikipedia notes that the meaning of the left and right paw "differs with time and place". No old rulebook settles any of this, so treat it as a modern convention.

The best-known temple tells another story. At Gōtoku-ji in Tokyo, every beckoning cat raises its right paw and holds no coin. The temple's explanation, as Japanese Wikipedia reports it, is that the cat brings opportunities and the result depends on your own effort. So the most famous maneki neko of all follows no "money paw" rule.

The Japanese words for the left and right hand, also used for paws, are 左手 (ひだりて, hidarite, “left hand”) and 右手 (みぎて, migite, “right hand”).

The simple answer: pick the paw for the luck you want, knowing the rule is a custom and not an ancient law.

Maneki neko colours and their meanings

White and calico (三毛猫 (みけねこ, mikeneko, “calico cat”), three-coloured) are the traditional choices for general good luck, called 開運 (かいうん, kaiun, “better fortune”). The other colours are said to have come later, and each guide gives a slightly different list. The common ones:

Japanese Taste also lists green for health and family, and purple for study and wisdom. Treat these as modern shop labels. They're easy to buy, but they aren't a traditional code.

Black is worth a note. A black cat is often thought unlucky in the West, but the Japanese lists say the opposite: a black maneki neko guards against evil. No colour of maneki neko is listed as bad luck.

The coin: what the cat is holding

Many figures hold a gold oval coin in the other paw. It's a 小判 (こばん, koban, “koban”), a small oval gold coin used in the Edo period. Japanese Taste says many figures carry one marked with 千万両, (senmanryō), ten million ryō, a huge sum. You'll also see 開運 ("better fortune") or 合格 ("passing an exam") on it.

Some cats hold other things. Japanese Taste names a sea bream, linked to the god Ebisu and business success, and a mallet, linked to the god Daikokuten and granting wishes. Shops sell cats for the luck you want, such as 金運 (きんうん, kinun, “economic fortune”) or 商売繁盛 (しょうばいはんじょう, shōbaihanjō, “thriving (prosperous) business”).

Gōtoku-ji's cats hold nothing at all.

Where the maneki neko comes from: the legends

Several places claim the first beckoning cat. These are legends, and historians treat them with care.

• Gōtoku-ji, Tokyo. The best-known story says that in the early 1600s, Ii Naotaka, lord of Hikone, was passing the small temple when a cat beckoned to him. He stepped inside to shelter from a sudden thunderstorm. Grateful, he made the temple the Ii family's own, and it grew. Sources date the story to the 1620s or 1630s, and say the cat was honoured with a figure after it died.
• Jishō-in, Tokyo. Another story says a cat led the warlord Ōta Dōkan to this temple during a battle in the Muromachi period.
• Imado, Asakusa. In a third story, an old woman's cat appeared in a dream and asked to be made into a figure. She had Imado potters make it, and sold the figures at the gate of Asakusa Shrine.

What do we actually know? The oldest figures that documents and excavations back up are the clay ones sold at Asakusa, made in 今戸焼 (いまどやき, imadoyaki, “Imado ware (style of unglazed porcelain)”), called 丸〆猫 (marushime-neko). The term 招き猫 appears in an 1852 diary of Edo news. Kotobank gives a story that the custom goes back to the Tenmei era (1781 to 1789), when a Ryōgoku shop sold gilded "gold cats and silver cats", but that is not confirmed.

Kotobank adds an everyday reason: farmers bought cat figures to keep mice away from their silkworms. A cat that scares off mice is a good luck charm for a shop, too.

So Gōtoku-ji's story is a legend, and the Imado figures are the earlier evidence.

Where to put a maneki neko, and what it costs

Maneki neko usually stand at shop entrances, restaurant fronts, hotels and home doorways, facing visitors. Online advice adds details: eye level, facing the door and not a wall, and away from bathrooms. That's modern advice, not a recorded Japanese rule. Place it where people will see it.

Prices vary a lot by size and material. A December 2019 report gave Gōtoku-ji's figures as 300 yen for a two-centimetre cat and 5,000 yen for a 30-centimetre one. Other guides give different top prices, so ask at the temple. Staff there said there's no strict rule: some visitors leave a figure at the temple and come back for it once their wish has come true, and others take it home the same day.

Questions about maneki neko

What does maneki neko mean literally?

Maneki neko (招き猫) means "beckoning cat". 招き comes from the verb 招く, "to beckon" or "to invite", and 猫 means "cat".

Where should a maneki neko be placed?

A maneki neko is usually placed near the entrance, where people can see it. The common advice is eye level and facing the door, but that's a modern custom and not an old rule.

How much does a lucky cat cost?

A lucky cat costs anything from a few hundred yen to many thousands, depending on size and material. A 2019 report gave Gōtoku-ji's figures as 300 to 5,000 yen, and other guides differ.

What is the luckiest colour for a maneki neko?

White or calico is the traditional lucky cat for general good fortune. Gold is the usual choice for money. These meanings are modern shop customs, and guides differ.

What is the luckiest colour cat in Japan?

White and calico are the classic maneki neko colours for good luck. There isn't one official "luckiest" colour, and the others depend on the luck you want: gold for money, red for health, pink for love.

What colour of cat is associated with bad luck?

In Japanese maneki neko lists, none. A black cat is thought unlucky in some Western traditions, but a black maneki neko is said to protect against evil.

What hand should the lucky cat be raised on?

A maneki neko can have either paw raised: the common rule is the left for customers and the right for money. The meaning differs with time and place, and Gōtoku-ji's cats raise the right paw and hold no coin.

Is a lucky cat Chinese or Japanese?

The lucky cat is Japanese. It's often called a "Chinese lucky cat" because it's common in Chinese communities and shops, where feng shui later added colours and meanings, but the legends and early records are Japanese.

Is Hello Kitty a maneki neko?

No, not officially. Hello Kitty is a Sanrio character, designed by Yuko Shimizu in 1974. Some people have guessed that she comes from the maneki neko, but Wikipedia says no definitive statement supports that.

What is neko in LGBT?

In Japanese gay slang, ネコ is the word for the "bottom" role in a couple, the opposite of タチ, the "top". It's a separate use of the word neko, and the theories of where it comes from differ. It has no link to the lucky cat.

Are nekomata good or evil?

In folklore, nekomata are evil, or at least dangerous. The 猫又 (ねこまた, nekomata, “nekomata”) is a cat yōkai with a forked tail, and Wikipedia calls it far more malicious than the mischievous 化け猫 (ばけねこ, bakeneko, “monster cat”). A nekomata isn't a maneki neko.

Sources

• Readings and meanings: JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0).
• Definition, the Tenmei-era shop, Imado, silkworms: Kotobank, 招き猫.
• Legends, Gōtoku-ji's right-paw cats without a coin, colours, the oldest documented figures, the 1852 record, the face-washing theory: Japanese Wikipedia, 招き猫; English Wikipedia, Maneki-neko (paws, colours, "Chinese lucky cat").
• Gōtoku-ji's legend and the competing origin claims: Jalan, Gōtoku-ji's maneki neko; SoraNews24, A visit to Gōtoku-ji (prices, reported 2 December 2019).
• Paws, colours, koban inscriptions, placement: Japanese Taste, Maneki Neko Guide; Nichigo Press, What is maneki-neko? (the beckoning gesture, other paw readings).
• Nekomata: English Wikipedia, Nekomata. Hello Kitty: English Wikipedia, Hello Kitty. Neko in gay slang: Japanese with Anime, Tachi, neko, riba.
• Reviewed independently; the points about paw meanings, colours, placement and prices are waiting for a native speaker's check.