But what is the deal with these little felines? Why would you get a cat to welcome people? How come some of them are holding yellow kanji flashcards? And no matter how you look at it, those cats are definitely waving, not beckoning, right? For the answers to these questions and more, we’ll begin with the humble origins of the maneki-neko. Hang on to your cat; we’re travelling back to the Edo era.

Origins of Maneki-neko

In 1633, a daimyo by the name of Ii Naotaka was out and about, doing the sorts of things daimyos did back then. On his way home, he was caught in a rainstorm and sought shelter under a tree. Nearby was an old, rundown shrine, whose owner had a pet cat. Naotaka noticed the cat beckoning him over to the shrine. He figured whatever a cat had to tell him was important enough to risk getting a little wet, and hurried on over to the temple.

Then, as if on cue, Naotaka’s former shelter of a tree exploded into a twisted mess of splinters and post-lightning fire. Shocked that the cat had just saved him from getting a much larger shocking, Naotaka decided to return the favor, making sure the temple, and its beckoning cat, never had to worry about money again. The temple was renamed Gotokuji Temple after Naotaka’s posthumous Buddhist name, and is, to this day, filled with beckoning cat statues. The tradition of maneki-neko was born.

Another legend tells of a cat loving geisha by the name of Usugumo. One night, her beloved pet cat began to pull at her clothes. Usugumo tried and failed to get the cat to stop and, not wanting it to claw up her fancy kimono, called for help. The owner of the establishment misunderstood, and thought that the cat was possessed. He pulled out his sword and quickly cut off the head of the cat. The cat’s head went flying through the air and, in one last act of loyalty, bit and killed a snake about to attack Usugumo.

Realizing that the cat was trying to warn her about the snake, Usugumo became depressed over the loss of her pint sized protector. To cheer her up, a customer created a wooden statue of her cat, with a paw raised in warning. And the tradition of maneki-neko was born. Again.

A third legend tells of an old woman and her pet cat. The old woman was very poor and, without any daimyos around to save from lightning, was forced to sell her cat. The cat later comes to her in a dream and instructs her to create a clay model of it. The old woman follows the cat’s slightly egotistical advice, and finds that someone wants to buy it. She creates more statues, which become extremely popular, turning her cats into cash. And, for the third time this article, the tradition of maneki-neko was born.

Yes, But What Does It All Mean?

But wait, a cat with its paw up doesn’t look like its beckoning, right? Well, that depends where you live. In Japan, the gesture is reversed, with the fingers downward (as demonstrated by Koichi in this video). There are also westernized maneki-neko with the paw facing the opposite direction, mimicking the western style of beckoning. These maneki-neko are sometimes depicted with coins with dollar signs on them, earning them the name “dollar cats.”

Of course, if western maneki-neko are holding western money, it only makes sense that the classic maneki-neko of the east are holding classic money of the east. Many maneki-neko are seen holding a ryo, an old form of currency from the Edo era that was worth quite a bit of money. Additionally, many of the ryo that maneki-neko are labeled 千万両, meaning “ten million ryo”. Then again, since 千万 can also mean “a great many”, it’s possible that these maneki-neko simply cannot count particularly high.

The maneki-neko is said to be beckoning for different things, depending on which paw it’s using. A maneki-neko with its left paw up is inviting people, while one with its right paw is inviting money. Although, if you’re a shopkeeper, you probably want people to come to your store and buy things, so you may want one of each. Or, better yet, one with both paws raised.

Now, if something as little as which paw is up has meaning, it’s reasonable to expect color to play a big part, too. Yes, just like how the color of candy tells you its flavor, the color of a maneki-neko tells you what that cat’s talent is.

The classic calico design is the most popular, and brings its owner fortune. Likewise, an all-white cat is also for luck. A black maneki-neko is useful for warding off disease and evil. A gold maneki-neko performs as you may expect, and brings in the money. A red one is used for both protection from disease and demons, and bringing its owner good health. Pink is used for inviting love. There are other various colors, such as yellow or green, that are sometimes linked to feng shui.

So, have you had any experiences with maneki-neko? Have you seen any strange or rare ones? Do you own a maneki-neko? Personally, I have a little one that sits by my computer. It doesn’t bring luck or money or anything, but I’ve never been attacked by any snakes while it’s around, and that’s gotta count for something.

GIFs! Wallpapers!

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Fortunately Japan, with its love of trains, has its fair share of stylish, novel, and luxury trains running across the country. Some of them are so beautiful and carefully made, the most hardcore train otaku would shed a tear.

Let’s take a look at some of the most unusual, luxurious, and beautiful trains running the rails in Japan.

Cat Train

As a publicity stunt, in 2007 the city of Kinokawa made a calico cat named Tama the stationmaster of its local train station. Ever since, Tama has been a major tourist attraction for people across Japan and all over the world.

Tama has been a merchandising bonanza for Kinokawa, putting pictures of Tama on anything that stays still for long enough. That includes a special train, the たま電車, or Tama Train.

It’s less of your everyday commuter train and more like a cat lady’s living room, minus the cats.

Kotatsu Train

The Japanese winters can be pretty harsh, especially up north. Fortunately, there are a plethora of uniquely Japanese ways to keep warm, including the beloved kotatsu.

A kotatsu is a low table with a heater strapped to the bottom, with a blanket on top to trap the heat. For the last couple of years in the northern Iwate prefecture, Sanriku Railway Co. has offered a special kotatsu train that brings the comforts of home to the rail.

The line was shut down last winter because of damage from the 3/11 earthquake, but has come back this year to offer cozy trips to all who want to take them.

Demons from Japanese folklore occasionally show up

The Emperor’s Train

In the rare occasion the Emperor takes to Japan’s rails to travel or entertain foreign heads of state, he does it in style. You can’t expect the product of the world’s oldest monarchy to jump into just any old JR train.

The Imperial train (or お召し列車) has been a E655 series train since 2007. One car on the train is used exclusively by the Imperial Family, while the rest are reserved for special occasions.

The front of the train usually bears the Imperial Seal, Japanese flags and, if there are foreign dignitaries on board, the flag of those diplomats.

Toy Train

The same people who run the line that features Tama and the Tama Train thought that a toy-themed train would be appealing to tourists as well. The train features coin vending machines for toys, a toy store, and the kind of colorful decor you might expect in a kindergarten. It even has a crib built into the train for the younger ones.

Seven Stars in Kyushu

Seven Stars in Kyushu doesn’t exist yet, but it’s already generating a lot of attention. Billed as a “land cruise,” Seven Stars is a luxury train that’s set to open this fall. The cars will be filled with deluxe suites, there will be a dress code, and no children will be allowed.

Even though it’s months until the train makes contact with the rail, wealthy parties from the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong have already expressed interest. We’ll see if the Seven Stars lives up to all of the hype when it opens in autumn.

It’s an impressive, mismatched collection, to say the least. I wish that people put as much care, attention, and professionalism into the railways where I live, but for now I’ll have to just deal with the creepy guy sitting across from me on my commuter train and staring at me.

Fortunately, Misao finds a companion in Fukumaru (福丸), an odd-eyed kitten that Misao finds in a shed on her property. Misao, who apparently lives alone in her house in rural Japan, becomes inseparable from Fukumaru, and vice versa.

Not only do I love this photo series because it’s adorable, but it offers up a vision of rural Japan that you normally don’t get to see. Every day, this old woman continues to work the fields, even though she’s way past retirement age. It’s admirable that Misao still works so hard and really owns her land.

You can find the book, Misao and Fukumaru, here.

We’ve all seen the Star Wars Force Trainer as well as many other hands-free devices that allow powerful sorcery to be done simply by the power of one’s brain alone. But have we seen a headband that turns you into a fully functional human sized cat? I think not.

Neurowear’s Necomimi promises to do just that. Well, not really. But almost! The hairband houses sensors that read and interpret the user’s brainwaves, which are then translated into the movement of the attached cat ears. For example, the ears perk up when you are concentrating and flop down again when you are at ease.

Necomimi is a combination of the Japanese words for cat (neko) and ear (mimi), but neco is also short for neuro communication. Pretty clever, no?

The team behind Necomimi consists of a robotics expert, a technology consultant, and an advertising agency. Collectively they have spent over five months developing the product. Brainwave technology used in medical equipment today costs a lot of money, but falling costs as of late have allowed for products such as this to surface. (Furries rejoice!)

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w06zvM2x_lw']

As it stands, the product is nothing more than a novelty item. However in the future, similar technology could be used to help mentally and physically disabled people express their feelings and emotions more clearly. There are many other practical applications that could make good use of similar technology as well. Only time will tell what new innovations the future will bring. (Can you say dog ears!?)

So what do you think? Would this be a product you would want to purchase? Do you expect it to catch on? Let us know in the comments below.

P.S. What’s better than mind controlled cat ears? Liking Tofugu On Facebook.

P.P.S. What’s better than liking Tofugu on Facebook? Liking Tofugu On Facebook and following Tofugu on Twitter. Awww yeahhhh.

]]> http://www.tofugu.com/2011/07/27/brain-controlled-cat-ears-the-future-is-here/feed/ 28 http://www.tofugu.com/2011/07/11/cat-island-japan-part-2/ http://www.tofugu.com/2011/07/11/cat-island-japan-part-2/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:16:21 +0000 http://www.tofugu.com/?p=6777 [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q27fQ-mcM10']

It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve finally finished part 2 of Cat Island for TofuguTV. Whew, I can’t tell you how much of a relief it is! Now I can move on to things like monkeys, rabbits and deer… or *gasp* perhaps something totally not-animal related. There were a few of those, believe it or not. The video for Cat Island Part 2 is right there up above at the top of this post, but if you want to see pictures or read a little bit more about what we did, keep on going.

Finding The Cats

It took us half the day to get to the part of the island that actually had cats. Sadly, the first cats we came across were being taken up and hogged by a couple of tourists. They liked taking pictures of cats, which is why they came here

They were having a good time so we didn’t want to bother them for too long and we headed down the road into town to find more cats.

We ran into a store where the other cat-tourist was hanging out, also taking pictures. He was more friendly than the other two cat-tourists and talked with us for a while. There were a lot of fun cats around here, including these ones.

Shinnosuke Instagrammed a shot of the store we just left, then we headed down the road.

Then we headed down the street where we, of course, came across more cats.

This last cat was my favorite of all the cats on the island. We got to see him (her?) several times as we walked around the town. Definitely oen of the more distinct cats, and it had a really cool grumpy look on its face all the time. Chalk me up as a fan of grumpy cats, for some reason…

From here we made our way to the ocean, where we saw a sign to Manga Island.

Manga island was made by Shotaro Ichinomori, a famous mangaka who did things like Cyborg 009 and Kamen Rider. You can actually stay in Manga Island. It’s really just a bunch of buildings that are shaped like cats. I wonder what they do with the ear space on the inside…

We made our way down the hill we had to climb to get here.

It was time to go figure out where the ferry would be picking us up, just so we’d know where to go. If we missed the ferry, we’d be stuck here overnight (not a terrible thing, but lodging was sparse). The ferry was only coming to the island twice per day. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

The dock was pretty neat. Unfortunately I heard this is the area that got destroyed by the tsunami, really messing up their fishing industry :( There’s a fund drive going to help them rebuild (and to help feed cats). To donate, you will have to call the organizer (and probably need to be able to speak Japanese). The phone number is 080-2810-2914, if you wanted to help. More info on the help-project here.

We hung out in the nearby park for a little bit, trying to figure out what to do from here.

Watch out, cat! We decided to get something to eat (we were pretty hungry at this point) so we went back up to the store. Good chance to hang out with some cats and get some food, too.

Shinnosuke was a fan of cats.

Here’s the store front, in case you wanted to go.

Fed the cats some cat food. Shinnosuke’s in the background filming.

This cat thinks my backpack is comfortable… or at least the shade is cooling.

I love this green color on the stairs. Reminds me of old copper things. Kind of nostalgic.

We finished our food and started making our way over to the dock where the ferry would come. Guess what!? We ran into more cats.

Even got to see my favorite cat again!

Shinnosuke’s showing us his famous no-look camera technique.

Cool! I wish we saw this map at the beginning and not the end :(

A couple other folks also catching the ferry. They were Tashirojima citizens. Can’t you tell by their age? :/

We headed back to Ishinomaki via the ferry, then made our way back to Tokyo area, stopping to get some Ramen along the way. Oh man, it was tasty.

Cat Island Tashirojima was a lot of fun. Definitely peaceful and a nice atmosphere. If you’re into cats, then it’s the kind of place you’ll almost certainly enjoy. It takes a bit to get out there, but if you time things right you can spend the night and enjoy the island for a bit longer.

If you want to go, I’d probably recommend waiting for a few more months. Maybe 6? The whole area was right next to the earthquake zone and things got hit pretty hard. When you do go, though, definitely spend some money and help out the economy there! I’m sure the people (and the cats) will appreciate it!

If you haven’t seen Cat Island Part 1, you can do so here.

Want to know about future episodes of TofuguTV? Subscribe on YouTube, follow on Twitter, of Like on Facebook for all the latest info! Thanks much for watching, I hope you enjoyed! Also, thanks for waiting for part 2. Sorry for all the trolling about it :P

Welcome back to another Saturday Timewaster! I hope the next couple hours of your Saturday are clear (otherwise, you’ll need to clear your schedule and cancel that totally unimportant appointment). This post is all about Japanese cat videos… The best there is on the web (at least in my opinion).

This Is Going To Be Tough

If I could, there’d be a thousand Japanese cat videos on this blog post. Unfortunately, I have the very important task of cutting down and showing you the best Japanese cat videos on the web. That’s hard. There are three things you don’t want to talk to friends about (unless you want to lose them as friends). Those things are Politics, Religion, and “The Best Japanese Cat Videos Of All Time.” You just don’t go there. That being said, I’m going to do my best. If something is missing, you’ll have to add it in the comments for me (and I’ll add the best ones from the comments into the post too).

Are you ready to get your time wasted? Let’s do this thing.

Famous Cats

Let’s start with some famous cats. These cats are more well known than a lot of famous people. You may or may not see why in a moment.

Maru

Arguably the most famous cat in the world, Maru-chan is ridiculously cute and ridiculously popular. He works for his popularity, though. This involves jumping into boxes of varying sizes. Here’s an intro video to everything he does.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_AbfPXTKms']

Give Maru a box, and he’ll immediately jump in.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPzNl6NKAG0']

We’re talking any box.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdhLQCYQ-nQ']

Actually, maybe not any box…

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_NSa1mqh54']

But Maru tries really hard whenever given a chance.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XID_W4neJo']

We have a lot of time wasting to go, but there’s plenty more Maru on mugumogu’s YouTube Channel. We have a lot more cat videos to get through, though, so let’s keep at it. I know this is hard for you. Keep persevering through the blinding cuteness.

白ブー

Shirobuu is another favorite of mine. This cat isn’t particularly cute, I’d say… more “Old/Grumpy” in an endearing sort of way. Shirobuu’s owner likes dressing Shirobuu up (that’s where the first million video views come from) and then feeding Shirobuu food at a dinner table where he’s sitting up like a human (second million views come in because of this).

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gtfbsNHxh8']

It gets worse, though. I don’t think the holidays are very fun for him…

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBWTGdPNxTI']

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx5MqplbI_c']

This next one is a video of pictures… but that doesn’t mean the pictures aren’t priceless.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWhIX-RW5K8']

He also doesn’t quite have the fame as Maru does… he tries, though…

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHwxC8Rk-gU']

Shirobuu looks like an awesome cat. I just want to touch his fuwafuwa-ness.

Stationmaster Tama

Stationmaster Tama is a cat that a local train station started promoting as a station master. Japanese people started flocking here to see the cat, and pumped millions of dollars into a small town. In Japan, economic recovery tends to always revolve around cats, for some reason…

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WVPwJIoPWk']

Here he is in a less newsy video:

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycQ4bZ95o4k']

Food + Cats

Another theme I’ve come across in my very serious Japanese Cat Video research is Cats + Food. People like to see cats eating (as you probably noticed in Shirobuu’s videos). Like, for example, did you know that cats like corn?

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljMODw-fXaI']

This next one involves regular cat food (boring!) but it’s being fed to a cat with chopsticks while it stands on its hind legs. Look at it’s little scrunched up face! Cute!

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzvUyu3zOmE']

There’s also this whole “thing” called “neko nabe” (cats in pots). I don’t know what there is to say about this… except that it’s awesome.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhknLxOHBYY']

Then, there’s mass neko nabe. CHAOS.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARnwejzUzAA']

Ninja Cat

This one is a classic. I’m sure 99% of you have seen it. If you aren’t one of those 99%, though, you must click play now.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzzjgBAaWZw']

Talking Cat

Unfortunately, this cat only speaks in Japanese. If you know a bit of Japanese, this Japanese Cat Video is pretty remarkable.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbwdJy0tNcc']

The guy’s saying ただいま (I’m home) and the cat is saying おかえり (Welcome back)

It gets even more crazy, though. The more you want to hear the cat speaking Japanese, the more the cat will speak Japanese. I hope you want to hear it. This is the much longer version of the previous video.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCfstWh7OV8']

Cat Island (Tashirojima)

This might be a sore topic for some, but I have to include at least one of my own videos. This is part 1 of Cat Island… Part 2? I’m working on it. I swears!

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVxpPggJMAY']

Musical Cats:

Although the whole music video is pretty entertaining, you’ll want to jump to about 2:30 if you want to get straight to the cats. Leading up to that point is pretty fun, too, though, but the real cat-gold is about halfway through. Gotta love Japanese music videos…

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUWcgQxH0lI']

This music video actually gives the cats an opportunity to sing. Musashi’s Christmas Song:

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpHy2lQimYA']

What’s Missing?

I know all of you are bigger Japanese Cat Pros than I am. What’s missing from this list? Post links in the comments and let everyone know. I’ll put the best ones in the post!

P.S. What’s almost better than Cat Videos? Liking Tofugu On Facebook.

P.P.S. What’s better than Cat Videos? Following Tofugu On Twitter.