If you have dined in Japanese restaurant or entered a Japanese retail store, you probably have seen the Lucky Cat, or Maneki Neko.

“Also known as Welcoming Cat, Lucky Cat, Money cat, or Fortune Cat is a common Japanese sculpture that is believed to bring good luck to the owner. The sculpture depicts a cat (traditionally a Japanese Bobtail) beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed—many times at the entrance—in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, and other businesses.. In the design of the sculptures, a raised right paw supposedly attracts money, while a raised left paw attracts customers.” ( from wikipedipa )

White is the most common and traditional color.  In recent years, many color variations started become available on the market: black for health, or to prevent illness, black to protect from evil spirit, gold for money, blue for academic achievement or good grades and pink for love.

And of course, the ever so popular Hello Kitty is lucky cat as well.

It is a great household item to bring good fortune.

The question is how would you use it?

Greens, symbolize money, while beans and fish scale for coins. School of fish swimming meaning abundance.  Pomegranate’s many seeds symbolize prosperity.  Figs for fertility.  Noodles for “long” life or longevitiy and abundance.   Pigs are a lucky symbol because they root forward and are rotund.  It seems that most people around the world eat these food around New Years to celebrate and bring “good luck,” but we say, why not do it everyday, just as much as we all should make affirmations every day not just on New Year’s Day ! By being more aware of what we eat and what they symbolize, and how we want to utilize them, we can use them to bring the changes we we all desire in our lives, like good fortune!  We say that is a great healing! (read more at blogher.com)

The questions is, how would you use it?

(photos from readersdiest.com)