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Audrey Pellerin

01/17/00

Mr.Gardner

Japanese Visual Culture

Reader, Ian " For Good Fortune Maneki Neko Beckons". Kansai Time Out. January, 1986.

The author describes the popular Japanese shrine amongst the restaurant trade, the Maneki Neko, the beckoning cat. Different folktales are described to where this cat shrine arose into the Asian culture. The article is for those studying Japanese shrines or for those simply looking for something entertaining to read.

The article is well constructed yet it seems that it could have been a bit shorter. The article seems to go on forever yet it is only two and a half pages long. The author does a good job of describing the many folktales which describe how the beckoning cat was born. The author makes it very clear that none of these tale' conclusions are historically proven. Many authors tend to add their beliefs and opinions to their article, but Ian Reader strictly wrote this article in an informative manner. The article goes on to describing living cats' benefits in Japanese culture. Cats were used in silk farms to kill the rats that ate the silk cocoons. They were also regarded as lucky items. They would sometimes cost more than horses, which was interesting to get a sense of the Japanese superstitions. The article then returns to the description of different styles of beckoning cats at the festivals which honor them. The three parts of the article were a great way to break up the information without losing the reader's interest.