Gotokuji Temple: Where Lucky Cats Come Back

A cat invites a samurai inside

According to temple legend, the feudal lord Ii Naotaka was returning from falconry when a cat beckoned him into the temple. He followed it. Soon afterwards, a thunderstorm broke out.

Naotaka had escaped the rain and enjoyed a conversation with the priest. He became a supporter of the temple. Whether the cat knew about the weather is not recorded.

It was a productive encounter. Gotokuji became the Ii family’s temple in Edo, where generations of the family would be buried and remembered. It later took its name from Naotaka’s posthumous Buddhist name. Among those buried here is Ii Naosuke, the powerful statesman assassinated outside Edo Castle in 1860.

A lucky cat without the money

There is one important thing missing from Gotokuji’s cats.

Money.

Many familiar maneki-neko carry a koban, an oval gold coin associated with wealth and good fortune. Gotokuji’s Shofuku Manekineko do not.

Elsewhere, someone was doing the lifting

Away from the shelves, a bronze incense burner offered a different arrangement of creatures. A shishi—a guardian lion—sat comfortably on its lid. Below, small demons crouched beneath the bowl, holding the whole thing up.

The distribution of responsibilities seemed unlikely to have been decided by those underneath.

The cats start before the temple

Outside the grounds, the cats resumed their duties. A painted one accompanied an arrow towards the temple. Near Gotokuji Station, a stone cat raised a familiar paw.