Metrotown Maneki Nekos

Looking for a place to buy a Lucky Cat in the Vancouver, BC area? Gift Surprises at the Metropolis (also known as Metrotown) Mall in Burnaby is one of the best places I’ve found (if you’ve got a bit of cash to spend). The store is full of cute Japanese plush toys and gifts, including character items such as Doraemon, Anpan Man, Totoro, and (of course) Hello Kitty.

(Located on the ground floor at the east end of the mall close to the Bay and beside the Best Buy Mobile store –below the food court)

These top shelf Maneki Neko (above) are the most expensive (I think the large one on the right was at least $100), and a selection of cellphone charms (including the ones below) is the least (approx $8-10).

If it’s that other cat you’re looking for (did you know Hello Kitty may actually have been inspired by Maneki Neko, the beckoning cat?), she can be found here in many sizes, outfits, and incarnations:

And once you’ve finished shopping, you may find yourself beckoned into the Japanese restaurant across the hall by these two Lucky Cats:

Tags: Hello Kitty, Lucky Cats, Maneki Neko, Vancouver, where to buy

Maneki Neko Matsuri

Photos by Jean-Pierre Antonio, Suzuka, Japan

Each year at the end of September, the city of Seto, Japan (located about 25 kilometres northeast of Nagoya) celebrates Maneki Neko, the cat that beckons good fortune. Lucky Cats appear all over the city (for sale in shops and on tables along the streets, on display in restaurants and other venues), children as well as adults roam the streets with their faces painted like cats, and a general atmosphere of fun and good humour prevails (with all the painted faces, the mood is reminiscent of North American Halloween).

As well as hosting the Maneki Neko Matsuri (or festival), Seto is home to the Maneki Neko Museum, where over 1000 beckoning cats can be viewed all year. Seto is also one of Japans oldest and most renowned pottery towns (dating back over 1000 years). Seto kilns have been producing a distinctive style of finely crafted beckoning cat statue since the 1890s (more elegant and slim than the plump round-faced cat holding a gold coin, which was first produced in the neighbouring city of Tokoname in the 1950s).

Lucky Cat Thrift Store

Walking along Victoria Drive in Vancouver (near 37th St.), I noticed a thrift store, and on a whim, decided to go inside. As I perused the shelves crowded with household items and nick-nacks I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Until I saw the Japanese Daruma, and it suddenly occurred to me that I might find a lucky cat. An instant later and two objects to the left and behind the Daruma, there they were. Not one, but two lucky cats. It seemed I was meant to find them.

It wasn’t until I walked up to the check-out counter with my lucky find that I noticed the gold lucky cat by the cash register, the two living cats, and the big white beckoning cat looking out through the front window. It must have worked its beckoning magic without me even being aware of it.

Lucky wind chime

For centuries in Japan, the tinkle of a wind chime has brought to mind the cooling sound of water on a hot summer day. Wind chimes (or wind bells) were originally brought from China to Japan around 400 BC. Buddhists hung them from the eaves of temples, pagodas and other religious buildings to attract beneficial spirits and drive away malevolent ones. Eventually they were adopted by the secular world, and people began to hang them in their homes and gardens for their pleasing sound and to call good luck. The wind chime below combines the good luck associated with a wind chime and the luck attracting power of Maneki Neko, the beckoning cat.

This Beckoning Cat wind chime comes from Tokoname, Aichi prefecture, near Nagoya. The head is a miniature of the giant Maneki Neko head that has become a civic symbol in Tokoname. The five yen coin (go ‘en), which is used to attach the body to the head, is also a good luck symbol or charm (a Japanese word for “fate” is pronounced “en” and “go en” means something like “fortunate/good fate”).

So, this wind chime combines three different good luck amulets (wind chime, Beckoning Cat, go ‘en coin) to bring the owner exceptional good fortune!

With thanks to Jean-Pierre Antonio, Suzuka International University

Show me your Nekos, New York! *

By Jacqueline Pearce, author of the children’s book, Mystery of the Missing Luck (http://wildink.wordpress.com/)

Although Lucky Cats are originally from Japan, the world’s Chinatowns are a great place to find them. And what better place to look than in one of the largest and oldest Chinatowns in North America, New York City’s? Even before I got to Manhattan’s Chinatown neighbourhood I spied some gold Lucky Cats amid the New York souvenirs on a street vendor’s cart near Battery Park.

I love the old buildings, colours, and wrought iron fire escapes in New York’s Chinatown. By 1870, there were about 200 Chinese immigrants living in the neighbourhood around Mott Street, Park, Pell and Doyers Streets, east of the notorious Five Points district, which was New York’s most derelict and overcrowded slum area at the time. By 1900, there were 7,000 Chinese residents in the area, but fewer than 200 were women (thanks to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which made it difficult for the men who had come to North America to work on the railroads, etc. to then bring their wives and families over).

Today, there are 90,000-100,000 residents in Manhattan’s Chinatown, but growth has slowed due to high rents, and many Chinese immigrants are now moving to suburbs or the newer Chinatown neighbourhoods of Flushing and Brooklyn.

I don’t know when the first Lucky Cats found their way to New York, but walking along streets such as Hester, Pell and Canal today, they look back at you from many windows.

(Notice the “I ♥ China” hats in front of the shop below)

(Lucky Cat or Lucky Rabbit?)

(Ever wonder what the Lucky Cat sees as it looks out at you?)

There were no signs of any Lucky Cats/Maneki Nekos in the very good Japanese restaurant I ate dinner in on my last night in New York, but I don’t think I saw a single Chinese restaurant without one. Here’s the one that welcomed me on my first night in the city, performing its beckoning job well (luckily, the food was good too).

Goodbye, New York! I had a lot of fun searching out your Lucky Cats (not too mention a few other sights). Keep those paws beckoning (you too, Liberty), and I’ll be back.

*Thanks to Marlene Zach, one of Lucky Cat – Maneki Neko‘s fans on Facebook, for the phrase used in the title of this post

Tags: Chinatown, Lucky Cats, Maneki Nekos, New York City

Lucky Cat welcome and delicious food!

We’ve been hoping to post a story about the current Maneki Neko exhibit at the Mingei Museum in San Diego (March 13, 2011 – Jan 15, 2012), but it looks like we’ll be making a couple more stops before then.

First, a plug for Narita Sushi Restaurant near the Metrotown Mall in Burnaby, which welcomes hungry diners with a Maneki Neko noren (the split curtain that traditionally hangs in the entrance to a Japanese shop) and friendly beckoning cats sitting on the counter under the noren. The food is great, and the service friendly. The chef even came out of the kitchen to ask how we enjoyed his unique yam tempura tries (dribbled with three delicious sauces). The fries were so good I can feel them beckoning to me as I write this!

Tags: Burnaby, Japanese food, Lucky Cat, Maneki Neko, Vancouver

Taste of Asia in Burnaby, Canada

From Chinese food and healing herbs to Japanese candy and Philippine baking, the Crystal Mall in Burnaby (at Kingsway and Willingdon, near Metrotown) has plenty to offer to someone with a craving for a taste of Asia. This applies to fashions, toys, cooking utensils, and other consumer goods as well food (there’s even a store that sells those modern Japanese toilets with all the bells and whistles). And there are plenty of Lucky Cats to be seen (many, not for sale, but in use to beckon costumers and good fortune into the stores). Here are a few I spied on a visit to the Crystal Mall back in February:

This last group of Lucky Cats (above) is in the window of Moon Bear, a store that sells authentic Japanese Maneki Neko (including cell phone charms and stickers as well as more expensive figurines of different sizes) as well as other gift items.

A stop at the Crystal Mall is not complete without a visit to CandyLand, where you can buy a variety of fun candy from Japan (I came away with a bag full).

The Chinese traditonal herbal medicine store (below) looks intriguing.

Check out the whiskers on this last Lucky Cat (the Crystal Mall is possibly the only place I’ve  seen Lucky Cats with actual whiskers –not just painted on).

Next stop on the Lucky Cat tour? With a little luck, we’ll be heading south to San Diego, California, and the Mingei Museum.

Grinning Lucky Cats

These unusual Maneki Neko with laughing open mouths caught the eye of photographer James Kemlo in a craft shop in Atami on the Izu peninsula, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan.  The Lucky Cats hold fans, swords, umbrellas and fish, rather than the usual gold coin. Instead of sitting straight up in the standard beckoning cat pose, they lounge around, looking quite casual and joyous. Perhaps their wide, laughing mouths give them extra beckoning power –like they’re having a party you’re welcome to join. The three Lucky Cats in the store window display were each a different color – one blue, one white, and one red (a change from the more common white or black). Each one is hand-made individually by a local craftsperson from clay and kiln-fired. 

For more of James Kemlo’s photos of Japan, check out his Views of Japan blog. You can also find him on Twitter @JapanPhotos.

Tags: Japanese crafts, Lucky Cat sighting, Maneki Neko, Views of Japan

The Lucky Cat in Vancouver’s Chinatown

Pay a visit to Vancouver’s historic Chinatown and you are sure to see a few Lucky Cats — welcoming customers into businesses and also for sale.

Modelled after the original Japanese Maneki Neko (beckoning cat figure), the Chinese-style Lucky Cats tend to be colored gold –reflecting their goal of attracting money and good fortune.

They range in size and price (all the way up to super large $150 Lucky Cat).

If you look closely, you might even find a tiny Lucky Cat charm (there’s one for sale amid the trinkets below).

Of course, there are plenty of other interesting things to see and buy in Chinatown. Besides the restaurants, food, household items, etc, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden (below) is a tranquil oasis even on a rainy day.

If you’re searching for a Japanese-style Lucky Cat, you can find one right on the edge of Chinatown at Yokoyaya, a Japanese 100-yen-style store (associated with the Japanese Daiso chain) in the International Village (Tinseltown) Mall.

Everything in the store is $2 –even these Maneki Neko below (made in China for Daiso).

These popular and inexpensive Maneki Neko figures go fast, and each time I visit the store, the stock seems to be different, so you never know what you’ll find. The yellow, pink, and white beckoning cats and Darumas below, for example, were in the store one week and gone two weeks later.

Sometimes you can even find a beckoning Tanuki (a Japanese raccoon dog that, in folklore, is a shape-changing, sake-swilling trickster-like figure).

Sometimes you can find other Maneki Neko items like rubber stamps, tea cups, or this framed Maneki Neko:

So, if you feel the need of a little Maneki Neko luck in your life and can’t manage a trip to Japan any time soon, the nearest Chinatown may be the next best thing.

Tags: Chinatown, Lucky Cats, Vancouver, Yokoyaya store

Leggy Lucky Cat

This is cross-legged Maneki Neko was spotted in the window of a Ramen noodle restaurant on Broadway near Granville St. in Vancouver, Canada. I didn’t go in to eat, but the Lucky Cat did attract my attention (caught my eye first as I was passing by on the bus). Definately, the first Maneki Neko I’ve seen with legs.

From time to time, this blog will feature random “Lucky Cat sightings” –photos of unusual, interesting, or unexpected beckoning cats. Drop us a note in the comment section, if you have one you’d like to share. The Lucky Cat doesn’t even have to be all that unusual. Just the fact that it caught your eye and perhaps made you smile, is enough. Plus, we want to know where you sighted it.

(At left: Ramen restaurant, a few shops east of Granville on north side of Broadway, Vancouver)

Tags: Lucky Cat sighting, Maneki Neko with legs, Vancouver