There's no better way to begin my virtual collection of imaginary cats than with Maneki Neko, the Beckoning Cat. There's so much to know about this little cat that I think I'll have to just give the cat its own section of this blog and introduce it a little at a time.

Where should we start, then, with this little beckoning cat? First, we'll travel to Seto City, home to the Manekineko Museum and to the Manekineko Festival. 

In this great video from the festival, children get their faces painted to look like Maneki Neko and then they compete for the best shout/mew: