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Dear Anon,

This link has a short write up of the origins of the Japanese Cat:-

http://www.bekkoame.or.jp/~ys-trade/CAT.HTM

Source and credit: (The above site)

The Origin of Happy Cat(Fortune cat)
The origin of the Happy cat (fortune cat) dates back to the end part of 1780's in Edo(Tokyo). The happy cats have been considered to beckon and welcome customers to the shops by rising its hand (Please note, in Japan, the gesture such as happy cats do means beckoning somebody forward.) and thanks to this, shop, especially restaurant, must do a goods business with so many customers. On the other hand, at the firm village, happy cat was sometimes placed at farmers house as a guardian deity to keep off rats.

Now, there are several types of happy cat. Typically, the cat rising its left hand beckons money and the cat rising its right hand do customers.

--- End of Quote ---

Overall, based on the pictures from the earlier site and this, it would seem that the Happy Cat has its origins in Japan rather than China.

Warmest Regards,
Cecil

On 3/6/00 8:52:00 PM, Anonymous wrote:
>Can you tell us about our
>Prosperity cat.
>He was given to us by a
>Japanese visitor a who's son
>was living with while in
>school here. He or she has its
>right hand raised. We believe
>that either the right or the
>loft hand raised can mean to
>different things. One attracts
>wealth and the other brings
>prosperity or business I
>think.
>Where should he be placed in
>the home?