Hi. It’s been a long while since I last posted. I had so many stuffs that I had to put in order first and about half a dozen blogs to make-over, all mine, of course. So one by one, I revived the blogs and this one is next. How did I do it? I know a lot of my friends would ask the same thing as I am not really Miss Organised. But well, I have a husband who is highly-organised and I learned vicariously from him.
So start off again… I’m showing something Japanese.
Last year I received a beautiful Japanese garden postcard – you can find it here – accompanied by these cute stamps:
So kawaii, especially the cat, isn’t it?
The grinning cat stamp is part of the sheet issued by the Japan Postal office in September 2009 showing 5 cats and 5 dogs. The stamp was published in Japan in celebration of the 60th anniversary of "Loving Pets Week". I haven't been able to find any information about the bee-and-flower stamp so sorry.
In Japanese society, cats, or neko, are regarded as “auspicious” and “fearful” at the same time. Cats with smiling and inviting look are considered auspicious and bring good luck and therefore you will find many smiling cat statues beckoning slowly with an upright paw displayed in restaurants and other businesses. Apparently, according to Japanese superstition, a raised left paw supposedly attracts money, while a raised right paw protects it. These cat ornaments are called Maneki Neko, translated as the Inviting Cat, the Welcoming Cat, the Lucky Cat, and many more. More often than not they are mistaken for Chinese.
On the other hand, a cat is also a feared animal in Japanese culture. In the old times, cats were thought to transform into monsters, they are called bake-neko (goblin cats).There is a popular saying in Japan related with cats and it goes like this:
Scary, isn’t it? So please be careful when you encounter cats :D"Kill a cat and you will be cursed for seven generations"
Sources: Wikipedia – Maneki neko
About.com – Relationships with Animals: Cats
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