Legend has it that a lord was saved from a horrendous thunderstorm by a cat who beckoned him to enter the temple.
It is now known as maneki neko or beckoning cats, believes to bring good luck, and are placed in front of restaurants and stores.
Gotokuji is said to be its place of origin.
There’s so many of them!
It’s interesting that they stay there in the vicinity of the temple.
I must tell you though, have an extra travel destination if you do plan to come here because the manike neko and the Gotojuki temple and its garden are the only place of interest in the area.
Don’t they look like protesters, or worshippers with their hands all raised?
Last Call …
The Sophomore Slump 
That’s a lot of cats!! Still, I love the story behind it and I have heard how much cats rule there.
Japanese do love cats. Planning to visit a cat cafe or an owl cafe one day. 😉
OMG just too many cats to handle
Very cute, especially en masse, you could have tagged for the weekly photo challenge. A nice tranquil place as well!
One day, one day I will have a WPC collection post. Just thinking how to approach it.
Oh that’s really a lot of cats 🙂 Lucky cats!
A little hypnotic seeing them in a horde like that.
Cats everywhere! I love it, your photos look amazing and funny. 🙂
Thanks Neidotta for the comment and visit. They are as amusing as they are interesting.
My six year old grandson brought his grandpa (my husband) one of these back from Hong Kong last summer when he went there and Viet Nam for a visit.
Good boy for sharing good luck. 🙂
Japan and its culture never fail to fascinate me! Many thanks My friend.
Japan is so full of it! 🙃
As a dog ‘person’ I have no comment. 🙂
Not so sure if I’ll have a dogs, dogs, dogs everywhere for you. 🙃
It is awesome how different World is. Your Greece reportages and Japanese are witnesses of that.
So glad to have explored both worlds. I think Japan is so much distinct from the rest of the world.
Are those cats for sale?
NO! I don’t know how it is now, but back in the day, people started bringing those cats after that story.
perhaps ur next stop should be the Karni Mata temple in Rajasthan (India) where its a case of ‘rats, rats everywhere’! 😀
Wow that is so interesting. Definitely right in this alley. Thanks for the feedback and head’s up.
Woww. Love those pictures. I saw a few cat bookstores, cat graffiti and cat themed restaurants in Peninsular Malaysia, specially Penang. But, this looks like another level. 🙂
Cat bookstore? Never really heard of it, but I will not be surprised at all.
Yeah! It was new for me too!
Meeow!! Love the ‘high fives’! 😆
I was tempted to return the high fives, but there’s just so many of them. 🙃
😅
Reblogged this on penpowersong.
Cool, thanks for a reblog.
I just loved that last picture of the dozing Buddha! I hope you bought a cat Rommel 🙂
You betcha! 😊
From cat calls to calling cats! 🙂
Hey! I just watched an airbnb.com commercial on TV that showed these cats!
Thanks for the head’s up, Allan! Saw the commercial… Very cool that they showed these cats because they are not that popular. Shibuya Crossing (post before this) is also seen there. And I think I recognized Asakusa as well. Airbnb sounds like couchsurfing, and sounds like a cool way to travel.
They’re cute and I must admit I bought a couple at our local Japanese store. I put one on my work desk and the other on the kitchen window sill that is constantly moving/waving his hand (solar powered). So, this post makes me ecstatic to see a lot of them all grouped and waving calling for the best luck you could ever imagine. 🙂 Thanks my friend for bringing me to this place through your photos.
You certainly seem to have a wanderlust. Lovely photos. Being a Brit i’m not sure what a sophomore is – hope the slump doesn’t mean bad news!
That last shot! My biggest smile 🙂
I see these in stores and restaurants around Los Angeles… not so many all in one place, however!
I was expecting feral cats and kittens!
I’d love to go to Japan some day and I’d definitely love to see all these cats as well.
Wow–that is a lot of cats!
This is wonderful!