Maneki-Neko (招き猫)

If you spent anytime in Japan, you will soon become familiar with the "Lucky Cat", which is literally (ok, sometimes figuratively) beckoning luck with its little raised paw. Depending on which paw is raised, you either beckon money or luck. The beckoning part is somewhat confusing for westerners, since we usually beckon people by having our palm face upwards and inwards... not so in Japan, my friends! I guess they do it backwards.

Either way, there are apparently two shrines that like to say they are the originator of the Maneki-Neko. WHICH ONE IS LEGIT?! I will let you decide for yourself.

The first one I went to visit is called the Imado Jinja Shrine.

The story of the lucky cat at this shrine comes from a legend of a very poor woman who had a cat. In the ultimate act of betrayal (in my mind), she sold the cat to get whatever money she could... I guess the cat didn't have hard feelings because it came to her in a dream and told her to make clay figurines in its image. She did so and became rich. Lucky.

This particular shrine is more about getting married. The cats here are in pairs and represent a male and female finding their love (I guess you could probably confer this on to homosexual couples).

As such, there were TONS of ema written by lonely girls (more likely... I suppose that's sexist) praying for their one true love.

There were also plenty of other lucky cats around the facilities, including a REAL lucky cat!

Following that, I went to Gotoku-ji Temple.

This temple, which apparently is famous for the grave of an important Japanese warrior, is also a "shrine for the cute cats that wave with one arm raised." That's per their little English information sheet, which believe me, I greatly appreciated since English pamphlets are hard to come by.

Anyway, this temple believes that the lucky cat story started in a much different way. Essentially, a monk lived with a cat, and he was very poor (there seems to be a correlation with having a cat and being poor... hmmm). Having enough of this thankless cat, he told it, "If you are grateful to me, bring some fortune to the temple." The cat was able to wave in six samurai warriors to the temple right before the onset of a big storm, which either lead to not getting wet, not getting struck by lightning, or hearing the monk preach Sanzei-inga-no-hou (past, present, future reasoning sermons), depending on your version of the story. I guess the monk was a really great lecturer because the samurai were so "delighted" by it that they donated rice fields and crop lands to make the temple amazing. The cat who was responsible for all this is said to be in this little urn type thing, as pictured, and its grave site was blessed by the monk.

There was also a big pagoda nearby, and a kind old Japanese guy came around and showed me photos of little cat carvings on the pagoda while speaking profusely in Japanese. I only wish I understood him, because I'm sure he was quite informative. Try and squint at my photos to see if you can find the little kitten statues in the pagoda... I bet you can't!

Off to the right of the pagoda was a cool little cat shrine. You can buy your very own ceramic cat and either place it at the shrine (I'm guessing to wish for luck, money or perhaps your dead cat) or bring it back with you. I naturally brought mine back with me... after all, I'm a crazy cat lady!

Gotokuji Temple
2-24-7, Gotokuji, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Get off at Odakyu Electric Railway "Gotokuji" Station from Shinjuku, and 5-min walk 
Get off at Tokyu Setagaya Line "Miyanosaka" Station from Sangenjaya, and right outside the station

Imado Shrine 
1-5-22, Imado, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Get off at Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Asakusa Line or Tobu Isesaki Line "Asakusa" Station, and 15-min walk