Maneki-neko (Lucky Cat): Yoshio Honjo

Why have cats endured as objects of affection and fascination?

The maneki-neko, or “lucky cat,” raises its paw, welcoming us into Yoshio Honjo’s domain with an invitation to a world in which the cat has long-occupied. A recurring and deeply embedded figure in Japanese culture, few animals have occupied such an enduring and varied place in the Japanese imagination. Cats have been cherished as companions, associated with temples and imperial households, and woven into folklore as mysterious and sometimes supernatural beings. They have also been regarded as talismans, their presence thought to attract luck, prosperity and protection.

In contemporary Japan, the cat appears in forms both familiar and fantastical: from the ubiquitous maneki-neko and kawaii Hello Kitty figurines, to the feline characters of Studio Ghibli, or the country’s many cat cafés. The cat shifts through these spaces — domestic, mythical, companion and fortune-teller.

Honjo draws these strands together by centring the cat as the hero of his own kind of contemporary storytelling. Amongst the rich fabric of folklore and legends, the feline becomes a supernatural presence — both guardian and trickster — refreshing our access to these stories that have shaped the Japanese imagination. Honjo creates his own modern mythology of the cat.