There are several religious sites in Tokyo ( Sensoji temple , Asakusa shrine , Imado shrine , in the Asakusa neighborhood and Gotokuji temple in Setagaya ward ) that lay claim as the origin place of the Beckoning Cat Statue .
The oldest Beckoning Cat Statue found is the Maru Shime ( 〇 〆 ) type one , that is closest related to Imado ware and the Asakusa neighborhood .
Statue in the style made around the 1850s - Front View CC BY-SA 4.0
Statue in the style made around the 1850’s - Back View CC BY-SA 4.0
Pre War Showa Era Statue - Front View CC BY-SA 4.0
Pre War Showa Era Statue - Back View CC BY-SA 4.0
There are several stories related to the origin of the Beckoning Cat Statue in the Asakusa neighborhood . Overall these stories involve an old lady whose life fortunes get improved due to the Lucky Cat Statue .
This Blog Post is about Imado shrine . Imado Shrine is dedicated to the Izanagi and Izanami god couple that bring good fortune in the love relationship area . One interesting fact about this shrine is that there are 2 Beckoning Cat Statues ( a white one and a black one ) in the resemblance of the “Natsume Book of Friends” Anime’s character ”Nyanko Sensei” in the shrine's office . Before the first season of this Anime ( July 2008 ) and the second season ( January 2009 ) were aired on TV , some of the production staff of the Anime visited the shrine to pray for the success of the Anime and deposited the statues as offerings to the shrine .
Imado Shrine Main Prayer Hall
Imado Shrine Office
Imado Shrine Office Interior
Maru Shime Beckoning Cat Statue photos are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. No alterations made to the photos .