Comments on: Help me find this lucky cat!

Question: Help me find this lucky cat!

corvine — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:03:47 -0800

I saw this picture of a 'maneki neko' or lucky cat on an Ars Technica article last week, and now I really really want it. I'm posting on the off-chance that someone here has seen this thing for sale somewhere...

I've emailed the author of the article and she says it was a stock photo (but to let her know if I find it for sale because she thinks it's awesome too). I've done a bit of googling (including searching on the image name, blackcat_lucky.jpg) but had no luck so far. So, hive mind, I turn to you. Anyone seen this cat?

By: white light

white light — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:15:07 -0800

3rd google result for : "lucky cat" for sale

http://www.pacificeastwest.com/pe30bcw.html

$3.55

By: phaedon

phaedon — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:18:25 -0800

shit, i think i need to finally pick up one of these. boy, that is cute - too bad i'm not a lady. do you know what the symbol on its stomach says, on the link above?

By: hamfisted

hamfisted — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:26:28 -0800

If there's a Chinatown or Chinese/Asian shops in your city, try there. I know here in Calgary, you pretty much trip over these things in the shops.

By: mendel

mendel — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:28:00 -0800

corvine: Maneki nekos aren't that hard to find. Was there something specific about this one, or are you just looking for any black maneki neko?

My favorites are the ones with the mechanical waving paw and bobbing head.

By: joeblough

joeblough — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:28:30 -0800

it says "luck"/"fortune" (IIRC)

'maneki' is japanese and it means 'beckoning', as that's what the cat is doing.

By: corvine

corvine — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:31:04 -0800

Damn, that was quick, white light. Thanks! I swear I googled! The only problem with that one is that they don't seem to ship to the UK, but that can be got round.

I'll do a little more hunting mysef, but if anyone could find one with UK shipping that would be awesome.

By: corvine

corvine — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:32:07 -0800

mendel, I liked that particular one. The ones with the wide eyes freak me out a little.

By: amro

amro — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:32:11 -0800

or are you just looking for any black maneki neko?

You may be interested to know that the different colors have different meanings. I'm not sure if your heart is set on black. Here's the wikipedia entry on them.

By: olinerd

olinerd — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:38:34 -0800

Corvine, I bought mine at the British Museum.

By: corvine

corvine — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:40:33 -0800

is it that one in particular, olinerd?

By: media_itoku

media_itoku — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:01:43 -0800

The cookbook store next to Powell's Hawthorne street outlet, in SE Portland, Oregon. Looks exactly the same, same closed-smiley eyes. Feels like bone china or unpainted porcelain. Anyone live in Portland?

By: olinerd

olinerd — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:06:58 -0800

Corvine -- the one I bought is green, but when I was there they had multiple colors (that all supposedly mean different things. Green is for academic success, and I was in college at the time, so ...) But it is about 2.5" tall and sits on my desk looking wicked cute.

By: olinerd

olinerd — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:07:42 -0800

Oh, wait, looking again -- mine has the paw raised on the other side. I do not know what this means. But perhaps mine is not actually an exact match!

By: ilsa

ilsa — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:02:58 -0800

Here's everything you ever wanted to know about Maneki-neko, and yes the paw has meaning too.

ee, totemo kirei desu ne ("pretty, isn't it!")

By: Lizc

Lizc — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:28:30 -0800

According to a teacher I had in high school who had a few of these in the classroom - you should never buy it for yourself as this brings you bad luck. She told me that they should always be received as gifts (but never asked for). A quick googling brought up nothing of the sort, and now I'm very eager to get one of these kittys that I've wanted for so long.

Has anyone else heard of that or was my teacher crazy?

Page with good info on what the colors / items being held / et cetera mean.

By: billtron

billtron — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:32:27 -0800

Corvine, Pearl River has some maneki neko figurines, but not the exact one you posted. But their stock changes so often that you might find it sometime, and they do deliver outside the US. Even if you don't find it, you will find plenty of other things at this NYC Chinatown institution, from tai chi shoes to a coconut erhu.

By: visual mechanic

visual mechanic — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 21:29:35 -0800

they sell these at epcot in orland.

By: legotech

legotech — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 02:00:03 -0800

Chinatown or Japantown should have them alllll over...when I was in the Navy they were all over the place in Hawaii and Japan, every business had one or two. They are supposedly the inspiration for Hello Kitty as many people called them Hello Kitties instead of Lucky Cats.

Reg