Gotokuji Temple
Many people know about this temple without knowing that they do. How is that possible? Well, this is the temple that is famous for its many, many “lucky cat” statues. These images have been seen by basically anyone who has ever seen a tv show or book about Japan. These cat images are iconic, like views of Mt. Fuji or the Shibuya Scramble. You’d be hard pressed to run across a picture of this hoard of classic waving cats that was NOT taken at this temple. Luckily for me, these “lucky cats” are only a short ride away from where I am located, so it is hard to believe that I’d never visited them before.
This temple is so famous for these kitty clones, that when you do a google image search for Gotokuji Temple, its like 95% pictures of the cat statues, 4% images of the three story pagoda, .8% views of the front gate, and merely .2% of the temple itself. (All stats by my professional and trustworthy approximation of course.)
This particular type of cat statue is called maneki-neko, which translates to ‘beckoning cat’ but they are commonly referred to as “lucky cats”. There is a lot of history and meaning behind these feline figures which you can read about if you’re so inclined, but we know you don’t come here to be educated....so instead, simply feast your eyes upon these adorable little kitties in their mass & glory!
