One of the highlights of my trip to Japan last summer was Gotokuji Temple, the famous “cat shrine” in Tokyo’s Setagaya suburb.
Gotokuji is home to thousands of statues of maneki-neko, or “beckoning cat,” an important and ubiquitous image in Japan: Statues of maneki-neko adorn shops and virtually every public place in Tokyo, but Gotokuji is where the legend of the beckoning cat was born. Visitors write prayers on the statues and ask for good luck for a variety of venture, from opening new businesses to getting married.
There is, however, only one current feline resident at Gotokuji, while Kyoto’s Nyan Nyan Ji — literally “meow meow shrine” — is populated exclusively by feline “monks,” who wear monkly garb and take their duties — especially napping, er, meditating — very seriously.
The most recognizable of them is Koyuki, the chief cat priestess at Nyan Nyan Ji.
Here are some photos, all courtesy of the temple’s Instagram, showing what life is like for Koyuki and her fellow priests:
Pain In The Bud 
Can we start this day over? I don’t see any content besides the heading and the banner photo.
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Yeah something got seriously messed up. I hope I can recover the story and photos. Stay tuned…
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Okay I was able to restore it. Sorry about that. Something funky happened with the post scheduler.
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I have seen that before! WP can be tricky.
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cuuuute little monks!
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The Japanese aren’t shy about expressing their love for cats. ‘Mericans could learn a thing or three from them.
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My Chelsea’s original name was “Sachiko” which means “Happy, lucky child” in Japanese. I changed her name to Chelsea because it was easier, but kept “Sachiko” as her middle name. With her Zen personality. she would have made a good cat-monk. 🙂
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I listened to your latest music post and that song by the Dovells is exactly the kind of thing I hear in my head when I think of 50s music. Interestingly that recording is raw and untouched, but the Johnny Tillotson song is clearly remixed and cleaned up.
It’s interesting how low end was mostly absent from music of the 50s and 60s, but funk emerged as a genre in the mid-60s and bass became such a prominent instrument.
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Yeah, mixing and editing became more and more common. Besides the prominence of bass, another huge difference is that the sax just about completely disappeared from Rock music. Two major things that make the Malt Shop Era music unique: doo-wop and the saxophone!
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