Maneki-Neko, the Beckoning Cat
Gotoku-ji is also famous with Maneki-Neko, the Beckoning Cat. According to the story on the guide plate, it begins when the temple was still small and poor. The monk of the temple loved his cat so much and sometimes told to it, reward me if you feel obligate to. Then, one day a group of samurai who were on the way to home, dropped in to the temple without appointment. They say that they felt the cat, sitting in front of the gate, were inviting them to inside of the temple. So the monk served tea, told them to have a rest. While they were there, it started to rain and got harder. The samurai thanked to the cat’s mysterious power for having them avoid from the storm. The leader of the samurai was Ii. He decided the temple as his family temple and to be a guardian of it. So the temple grew under Ii’s special treatment and protection. And the cat, which went between the temple and Ii family, became the symbol of luck and was known widely.
