Maneki-neko Temple

This is a famous temple dedicated to the worship of lucky cats. It is said that once a wish is fulfilled, you must return the lucky cat statue you originally purchased to the temple. Inside the temple, you can see various lucky cat statues in different sizes and forms, all very adorable.

Gotokuji Temple is a Soto Zen temple located in Gōtokuji 2-chome, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. It originally belonged to the Rinzai school. The temple’s mountain name is Daikeizan .

The temple is home to the largest collection of lucky cat statues, with around 1,000 or more. Gotokuji is considered the birthplace of the lucky cat (Maneki-neko). The lucky cat raises its right paw, while the "beckoning cat" raises its left paw. If you wish for something to come true, you can take a lucky cat home first, and once your wish is fulfilled, you return it to the temple.

Gotokuji is the birthplace of the lucky cat tradition. It is said that Ii Naotaka followed a cat into the temple to take shelter from the rain, where he listened to a sermon by the temple monk and was so pleased that Gotokuji became the Ii family's family temple.

To honor the "lucky cat" (Maneki-neko), Gotokuji built the "Beckoning Cat Hall" inside the temple, where a statue of the Beckoning Cat Kannon is enshrined.

Next to the Beckoning Cat Hall, there are many lucky cat statues. The lucky cat raises its right paw and is a small white cat without holding a coin, distinguishing it from the beckoning cat, which raises its left paw and holds a small gold coin.