The maneki-neko goes by many names. The waving cat, the lucky cat, the beckoning cat. There are even more variations in its meaning. It’s generally believed a lifted left paw invites success in ...

TOKYO (AP) -- Countless cats beckon visitors at a temple in a quiet Tokyo neighborhood. Legend provided by the Gotokuji Buddhist temple says it is the birthplace of beckoning cats, the figurines ...

Legend goes that the Japanese feudal lord Naotaka Ii of the Edo period was heading home after some casual falconry when a cat seemed to wave at him, inviting him into a Buddhist temple called Gotokuji ...

A Vietnamese Buddhist nun will open a new temple in Tokyo to help her compatriots living in Japan who are in need, as more technical intern trainees and students encounter problems in the country. “I ...

Located in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, Gotokuji’s name translates to “temple of great virtue.” And sure, as a Buddhist temple, it is a place for the virtuous, but it’s also a place for cat lovers. That’s ...

Glance around the grounds and listen to discover that not only devout followers and tourists congregate at shrines and temples in central Tokyo. Shrines, temples and historic parks have a richer ...