Now, it’s probably no surprise to anyone that stops by here that we claim to be “dog people”. So, it was a nice change of pace the other day when we took a trip to San Diego’s Balboa Park to stop in and see some cats.
You see, for a few months, the Mingei Museum in Balboa Park is hosting an exhibit of Maneki Neko – the Japanese “Beckoning Cat” or as its occasionally known the “money cat”. The beckoning cat sculpture likely goes back a few centuries in Japan and gained broad exposure at the end of the 19th century. Over time, they’ve come to be symbols for good luck, good health, and good business.
The exhibit was a private collection on display of all sorts of cats – many very old ones dating back a century or more that were carved from wood or made from ceramic.
Rows upon rows
Old guy
I also learned that I suppose I should have been recognizing a pretty famous figure is a derivation of a Maneki Neko – Hello Kitty!
Maneki Neko Hello Kitty
It was a great exhibit and a great excuse to head down to the park on a gorgeous Saturday. We saw the park decked out in its Christmas best and also stopped by my personal favorite, the Botanical Building.
Reindeer and Palm Trees
Botantical Building Dome
Happy!
Great day!
Stevil 
I love days like that!
I should have Ashlee get a picture of her cat, Murray, in “beckoning” pose. He often sits with a paw raised. He’s a natural!
It was a great excursion. I’d love to see an actual cat doing that pose!
This is great! I love living vicariously through the explorations of others. Thanks for inviting me. Those cats though, while cute, it is as if they are saying, “Fight the Power!”
You’re always invited along, LD! :) Isn’t there a singer named “Cat Power”?? These guys should be on every album cover.
I still get confused seeing Christmas decorations against palm trees. I realize that in Bethlehem, the original one in Palestine, there would have been palm trees and no snow on the ground, but for someone who lived in Minnesota for so long, seeing a sleigh with reindeer flying over date palms is surreal.
But I love maneki nekos! (Hmm, in Japanese there’s no plural. Oh well.) I have a collection of my own in storage, but none of them are as old as the ones in your photographs. I’m a bit jealous. Glad you and the Beloved had a fun weekend!
HG — your ears must’ve been burning that day, because we both wondered whether with your heritage you’d had exposure to maneki neko and that it would be fun to tour the exhibits with you.
We’ll make sure to schedule museum time during your visit to San Diego! :)
You two make such a lovely couple in photographs, Steve. Love this one and amazing photos. And no joke, those cat statues just emanate good luck. But of course I am the classic cat person. Although I think anyone would find human-cat relationships in history an interesting read. My aunt gave me a book called When Cats Reigned like Kings, quite enlightening.
Em — I thought that you’d REALLY like the maneki neko statues. There is something that speaks to the human-animal connection about them — don’t you think?
I really do. Cats may not always look so animated – but they always reach out to us in this way that the statues exhibit. In that cool, calming, but friendly manner that only cat spirits can pull off so well.
There’s also a “knowing” quality that I think cats can project.
You and your Beloved sure do look happy. (hey)
SS — we are! We just don’t photograph it as often as we should… :)
(hey)
Great pics as always. However as I have a slight allergy to cats, I’ll take a money tree instead. :-)
BD — my brother had cats and then found out he was allergic. He gave them to his in-laws — which I’m not sure could really be considered a present…
Hey.
Nice photos.
heyheyheyhey
(I am glad that people mouse-over, sometimes I put a lot of thought to those! =P)
Well, I’m sure glad I came back and moused-over. I got a big chuckle out of that! I’ll have to remember to do that wherever I go so as not to miss anything else! :)
Happyhappyheyhey!
Ps new blog steve just FYI, I doubt it will work For old subscriptions.
Luna — we’re all good! And I like the new outlook! :)
Happy couple!
This is very cool!
I am a self-described dog person, myself, and I good-naturedly tease my mother-in-law who just cannot help but be a cat person. When I met my wife, about a half-dozen were at the house. They were all of one litter, and after the last died off, she gets two more…? I do not understand.
Now Cimmy (the missus) claims to be an “animal person” but since we are both allergic to cat dander (me more so), we likely won’t have any cats. But I do remember LOLBeeeze taking a few photos of these beckoning cats, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a few myself in East Asian-themed restaurants.
Jaklumen — of course, being a crass American, I had thought they were some sort of crass Chinese restaurant schtick. I was glad to learn some of the history behind them!
I think that’s not too bad a perspective to start from– I would say that now, you understand how it has meaning and purpose for the restaurant owners.
And of course… we don’t claim the market on limited perspectives. I think we can good-naturedly rib our British friends and claim they taught us how to do that ;-) (In fact, I’m still wondering why we aren’t trading more notes on immigration views, with Europe as well… there are similar patterns.)
I like the cats. One of them looked like it was zieg-heiling, but cats would have been part of the Axis; dogs would have fought for the Allies.
You know better than that, tom: cats don’t fight for anyone but themselves. Cats don’t do treaties.
Annddddd this is why I tend to be mostly a dog person.
Psh. Dogs are servile. They’ll put up with anything from anyone. Cats will “light out for the territory”. Very American.
It’s easy to get a dog to love you — you get that out of a cat and you’ve really achieved something.
You have your likes, I have mine.
Now, if you want a truly interesting discussion, bring up the subject of pigs as pets. Or skunks. But let’s leave such for another time.
Actually, my point is more that I find the discussion of dogs and cats like they were partisan political parties is weird. I understand that people like to regard them like humans, but… weird. I’ve heard all the arguments by cat lovers, and all the arguments by dog lovers. Whatever. I have allergies to cat dander. It’s one of many reasons why having a cat is not a good idea for me. I want a service animal for legitimate health problems, and I tend to believe that a dog will fit what I need better than a cat will. I’m not interested in much else on the matter.
Tom — we got my buddy who has a couple of rescue cats this t-shirt
http://www.northernsun.com/Chairman-Meow-Cat-T-Shirt-(8271).html?mv_pc=gbase
Lol at Chairman Meow!