In storefronts and homes throughout Japan, these charms bring luck – a beckoning right paw attracts wealth, the left draws customers. Believers still offer cat dolls at Gotokuji Temple in Tokyo, where the custom began. Most of these ceramic dolls are made in Seto, in Aichi, a historic pottery center that hosts an annual cat festival and a museum featuring lucky cat ornaments from all over Japan. Recently, this Japanese tradition has caught the imagination of people worldwide, and many countries now produce lucky cat dolls in their own local styles
VIDEO BY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPAN