Japanese figurines 置物

What figurines do we carry?

Our figurine shelf splits into four groups. Kazuya Yoshida hand shapes and paints eleven maneki-neko sculptures from natural clay: NO.1, NO.2-1, NO.2-2, NO.3, NO.4, NO.4 in black, NO.4 in green, NO.5-1, NO.5-2, NO.6 in pink, black or navy, as well as NO.8. His own listings note a woven fabric collar, a beckoning paw and a symbolic coin as recurring touches. Each piece is shaped and painted one by one rather than cast from a mould. Kanesan supplies a golden bell wishing cat coin bank and three beckoning fortune cats, in a cherry blossom theme, a daruma theme and a plain decoration; Victory supplies a cat family coin bank and a pair of twin fortune cats in red or green. Mino-ware's Matsumoto range carries a kimono cat, a sitting cat and a splendid cat, each hand finished so pieces vary slightly. Hechimon, trading under the Shigaraki name, carries a cat statue, a shiba dog statue and a sitting dog statue, plus ninja tanuki statues sized small in black or red or large in yellow. Four pieces currently show no way to add them to a cart: Kanesan's cherry blossom and daruma beckoning cats, Hechimon's shiba dog statue and the large yellow ninja tanuki; everything else in this list is open for order.

What does the maneki-neko's raised paw mean?

The maneki-neko, literally the beckoning cat, is the figure behind Kazuya Yoshida's sculptures and Kanesan and Victory's smaller pieces alike. Wikipedia's entry on the maneki-neko explains that a statue with the left paw raised is meant to bring in more customers, while one with the right paw raised is meant to bring in more money. The same entry lists a colour code for the figure: white for general good luck; black to ward off evil; red for good health; and gold or yellow for wealth. Victory's twin fortune cats carry a karakusa vine pattern, a motif its own product page calls a symbol of growth and connection. The pair ships in red or green.

Where does the tanuki come from as a lucky charm?

Hechimon's ninja tanuki statues put a costume on a much older shop-charm figure. In Japanese folklore the tanuki, a raccoon dog rather than a raccoon, is a shapeshifter, and Wikipedia's entry on the bake-danuki explains that unlike the fox, its tricks are usually played to make people look foolish rather than to tempt them. The same entry describes a traditional set of features carried by a shop-front tanuki statue: a hat for protection against trouble, wide eyes for good judgement, a sake bottle standing for virtue, a heavy tail for steadiness, a promissory note for trust, a round belly for calm decisiveness, a friendly smile and a plump pouch read as a symbol of luck with money. Our own kiln page for Shigaraki ware carries the fuller history of how the figure became a nationwide good-luck charm; the ninja costume on our own statues is a variation on that same shape.

Mino ware or Shigaraki ware: how do the cat and dog figures differ?

Mino-ware's Matsumoto cat statues and Hechimon's Shigaraki cat and dog statues come from different pottery regions with different histories. Mino ware is made in the Tono region of eastern Gifu, and one of our own Matsumoto listings notes that the kilns there produce around half of Japan's ceramic tableware; a Mino ware piece can be porcelain or stoneware depending on what it is, and our own kiln page for Mino ware covers that split in full. Shigaraki ware is fired without a glaze from a feldspar- and quartz-rich clay found around Koka City, in Shiga, taking on scarlet fire marks called hi-iro as it fires; our own kiln page for Shigaraki ware covers that clay and the wider Hechimon range, including the cat statue, the sitting dog statue and the ninja tanuki statues named here. Mino-ware's cat statues are hand finished individually, and Hechimon's philosophy keeps the same idea for its animal figures: the clay's natural irregularities stay rather than being smoothed away.

What sizes and prices are on the shelf?

Prices across the range run from $26.50 to $4600. Kazuya Yoshida's cat clay sculptures sit at the top: NO.6, offered in pink, black or navy, is $195 and measures about 9 cm long and 11 cm high; NO.3 is the largest and most expensive piece we carry, at $4600 and measuring 46 cm long, 13 cm wide and 22 cm high. NO.1 is $489.95 at 18 cm long, 7.5 cm wide and 8.5 cm high, and NO.8 is $1550 at 25 cm long, 14 cm wide and 17 cm high. Kanesan's coin bank and beckoning cats run from $26.50 to $36.80: the beckoning cats measure about 9 cm long, 4.5 cm wide and 6 cm high, and the golden bell coin bank is a little taller, at 13 cm high on a 7 cm by 6 cm base. Victory's cat family coin bank is $32.50 at 11 cm long, 5.5 cm wide and 9 cm high, and its twin fortune cats pair is $45. Mino-ware's Matsumoto cat statues run from $32.50 to $54.50: the kimono cat and the splendid cat each measure about 4.5 cm square and 8 cm high, and the sitting cat is larger, at 8 cm square and 9.5 cm high. Hechimon's Shigaraki cat and dog statues are $50.80 each, standing about 7 to 7.5 cm, and the ninja tanuki statues run from $150 for the small size, standing about 18 cm, to $188 for the large yellow, standing about 25 cm.

Where does this connect on our shelves?

For the wider Mino ware story, including the mix of porcelain and stoneware behind the region's plates, bowls and these cat statues, see our Mino ware kiln page. For the Shigaraki story, the feldspar-rich clay and the wider Hechimon range beyond the cat, dog and tanuki figures here, see our Shigaraki ware kiln page. For more on the clay body itself, see our stoneware guide.

Quick answers

These are the questions people ask us most often about figurines, answered briefly.

What does the maneki-neko's raised paw mean? A statue with the left paw raised is meant to bring in more customers, and one with the right paw raised is meant to bring in more money, per Wikipedia's entry on the maneki-neko.

What do the traditional features on a tanuki statue represent? Wikipedia's entry on the bake-danuki lists a hat for protection, wide eyes for good judgement, a sake bottle for virtue, a heavy tail for steadiness, a promissory note for trust, a round belly for calm decisiveness, a friendly smile and a plump pouch read as a symbol of luck with money.

Is the large yellow ninja tanuki statue in stock? Not right now. Its own listing currently shows no stock to order, while the small ninja tanuki statues in black and in red remain available.

How big is the largest Kazuya Yoshida cat sculpture? NO.3 is the largest, at 46 cm long, 13 cm wide and 22 cm high, and it is also the most expensive figurine we carry, at $4600.

Is the Kanesan coin bank connected to your Ichiyama pottery range? No connection is evident. Its title names Ichiyama, but our Ichiyama page covers Toki-made plates and bowls in the Mino ware tradition, with no mention of coin banks, cats or the Kanesan name, so we have not linked the two.

What is the cheapest figurine you carry? Three pieces tie at $26.50: Kanesan's Beckoning Fortune Cat Decoration, which is available, and the cherry blossom and daruma versions, which currently show no way to add them to a cart.