Different meanings

Most traditional maneki neko are white with black and orange blotches, which is considered the luckiest combination. Other colors have special powers of their own, like black (wards off evil – popular with women wishing to avoid stalkers), red (keeps sickness and other evilness at bay), and pink (brings love).

A right paw up is supposed to attract wealth, while a raised left paw draws people (customers or visitors). Left paw maneki nekos are also common in bars and other places that sell alcohol – left-handedness is associated with strong drinkers in Japan.

Origins

Maneki nekos first began appearing in the beginning of the Meiji era (late 19th century). Noone knows how or why the tradition started, but there are numerous theories:

• When the Meiji government decided to clean up Japan’s sex districts by banning overtly sexual advertising and signage, brothels decided to use alluring kitties instead of welcoming ladies.
• The figures were produced in honour of a cat that saved a lord by beckoning him away from a tree just before it was struck by lightning.
• A wooden version was carved to console a courtesan whose cat had been beheaded by an over-zealous samurai.
• Poverty forced an old woman to give up her cat. Later, the cat visited her in a dream, and inspired her to make clay figurines, which she sold to make her fortune.
• A ramen stall gained an edge over its competitor by putting the little cat in its window.
• The cat might not be beconing, but cleaning itself. According to an old Chinese saying, “If a cat washes its face, a visitor will come.”

• Big in Japan: Maneki Neko (Metropolis)
  “There are almost as many legends surrounding its origin as there are figurines.”
• Maneki Neko (Wikipedia)
  “A frequent attribution to several Japanese emperors is that one day the luminary passed by a cat, which seemed to wave to him.”
• Maneki Neko Club
  “This is the home page for the people who love Maneki Neko.”
• Maneki Neko the Lucky Beckoning Cat
• My Maneki-Neko (Lucky Cat)
  Various maneki neko collections, with pictures

Blocks of wood were carved from an original drawing, and used to make near exact copies. Different blocks were used for each colour, and could be printed repeatedly to create bold, bright images.

The original ukiyo-e were intended for people who couldn’t afford real paintings, so the subjects were usually vibrant city characters: popular actors, beautiful courtesans or bulky sumo wrestlers.

However, many of the most famous ukiyo-e images are landscapes, like Hokusai’s enduring ‘Great Wave at Kanagawa’ (see picture).

The Utagawa school dominated ukiyo-e, and most of the period’s great artists either studied there or learnt from someone who did.

Although they were discouraged, many sexually explicit woodblock prints (“shunga”, meaning “springtime pictures”) were also made in this era. The punishments for creating these prints were strict, but even famous artists got away with making some shunga.

• A Guide to the Ukiyo-e Sites of the Internet
• Jim Breen’s Ukiyo-E Gallery
• Wikipedia: Ukiyo-e

From its raunchy origins, it is an art form developed for and by the common people. This contrasts it with Noh, Japan’s other dominant type of theatre, which has always appealed to an educated minority.

Kabuki was invented by prostitutes. In 1603, a Kyoto woman called Okuni began performing sensual dances on the dry river bed. The provocative performances of Okuni and her troupe rapidly attracted a large audience, and after the show, the resourceful women made themselves available to the men who could afford them.

When this caught the attention of the authorities in 1629, women were banned from the stage. Even today, women do not act in kabuki. However, Okuni is fondly remembered, and a statue of her was recently erected near the river in Kyoto’s Pontocho district.

Young men took over the female roles (onnagata), but the bawdiness remained, along with the prostitution. Performances became increasingly rowdy, with occasional outbreaks of violence in the crowd, leading to another government clampdown. A more sophisticated, highly stylized form of kabuki was spawned, borrowing heavily from Noh theatre.

Kabuki has a number of distinctive elements, notably the “mie”. This is an exaggerated pose held by an actor as he enters the stage, which establishes his character’s personality. These traits are also be expressed in the actors’ elaborate costumes and startling make-up.

The stories usually revolve around well-known historical events and moral dilemmas. Lines are recited in monotone, in old-fashioned Japanese which is difficult for most audience members to understand. This makes music, staging and atmosphere very important.

Technology and staging tricks are used heavily, including trap doors, revolving stages, and the hanamichi (“flowery path”), which allows actors to move into the audience. Scenery changes are often made mid-scene by “invisible” stagehands dressed entirely in black.

• Kabuki: Traditional Theatrical Arts
• Japan Guide: Kabuki
• Wikipedia: Kabuki

Traditionally, girls were bought from poor families and trained from early childhood. They learned a wide range of arts (music, singing, dance, ikebana, tea ceremony) from experienced geisha.

Geisha are not prostitutes, but notable men used to pay great amounts for the honour of taking a geisha’s virginity (an event known as mizuage).

Nowadays, few people can afford an evening with geisha, and increased regulation has made recruitment more difficult, so the geisha population is dwindling.

• Immortal Geisha
• Geisha (Japan Guide)
• Japanese Geisha (About.com)
• Geisha (Japan Zone)

Because all of the performers are women, it provides an interesting counterpart to kabuki, Japan’s all-male theatre tradition. Just as the onnagata (female roles are coveted by kabuki actors, lead male roles are the most prestigious in takarazuka.

Started in 1924 as a gimmick to draw new customers, it struck a chord with young women, and its popularity has skyrocketed.

The longest-running show is ‘The Rose of Versailles’, about a woman who poses as a male guard to protect Marie Antoinette.

• Japan Zone: Takarazuka
• The Takarazuka Revue
  Collection of takarazuka images
• Metropolis: ‘Takarazuka Tinseltown’

He won the Akutagawa Prize in 1976 for ‘Kagirinaku Toumeini Chikai Buruu’ (‘Almost Transparent Blue’), a brutally beautiful story of hallucinogens, sex, and exploitation, which has sold over 2 million copies.

Recently, he hit the headlines with a controversial new book, ‘Ano kane de nani ga kaeta ka’ (‘What could we have done with that money?’), about the 7.4 trillion yen the Japanese government paid out to struggling banks in 1999.

• Metropolis: Ryu Murakami

The humour and pathos of his 1987 breakthrough, ‘Norwegian Wood’, gained him international praise and recognition.

As an inevitable side-effect of his popularity, his work is rejected as “pop literature” by the literary establishment.

He frequently writes essays about modern Japan and Japanese culture, including best-selling non-fiction based on two real tragedies: the Kobe earthquake (‘After the Quake’), and the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack (‘Underground’).

• Exorcising Ghosts: Haruki Murakami resources in English
• The Guardian: ‘Haruki Murakami: Marathon man’
• Salon: Haruki Murakami interview

Many of his books dealt with themes of disfigurement, shame and unattainable, perfect beauty.

Staunchly conservative, he believed that the protection of the Emperor was crucial for Japan’s future, and formed a private army, the Tatenokai (“Shield Society”).

On November 25th, 1970, Mishima and his men took over the headquarters of the Japanese Self-Defense Force in Tokyo, and urged the soldiers to overthrow the government. After his speech was greeted with jeers and abuse, he committed seppuku in front of the crowd.

• The Yukio Mishima Webpage
• Yukio Mishima fanpage

Since then, the writer (real name Mahoko Yoshimoto) has sold over 6 million books.

Her father, Takaaki Yoshimoto, was a philosopher and leading light of the New Left in the 1960s, so Mahoko’s upbringing was considerably more liberal than her peers’ – she moved in with her boyfriend when she was still at high school.

By exploring the dark side of modern Japan (lesbianism, death, incest, transvestitism, etc), she has earned a loyal fanbase, particularly among young women. However, critics dismiss her work as “karui” (light and insignificant).

The unconventional attitudes and relationships of her characters are mirrored by Yoshimoto herself. Despite being an international literary star, she shuns the glamour of the spotlight, and during her rare public appearances she dresses simply, without make-up.

• Official site (English)
• The Abyss: Bananamania
• Metropolis: Banana Yoshimoto