Gotokuji is a temple situated in one of the Tokyo’s 23 metropolitan wards, that means is easy to reach while you are staying in Tokyo. It’s a family temple of one of the major vassals of Shogun in Edo period, but is more famous for its “Maneki-Neko” or beckoning cat folklore. A lot of small Maneki-Neko statues are dedicated to the temple from people who wish home security, business success or fulfillment of desire.
You will see a similar Maneki-Neko in many shops, restaurants or other business premises in the streets of Japan, but those cats hold up the left arm to beckon and keep a gold coin. What those cats are beckoning is customers who are willing to spend money for their businesses.
On the other hands the Maneki-Neko in this temples holds up the right arm and no coin. What they are beckoning is not just money but luck in a broader sense. This is from the legend that while a Daimyo, samurai lord, was hunting with a falcon, which is a popular pastime of ancient lords, he saw the abbot’s pet cat, Tama, beckon him into the temple and was saved from a lightning bolt as the result. The samurai was the 2nd generation lord of the major vassal of Shogun, Ii family.
