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There are many reasons to love cats, just a few:

1) Japan is a country that attaches great importance to fishing, so it cherishes rice more than northern China.

For the Japanese, catching rats, protecting grain and preventing rats are particularly important.

2) Only aristocrats could afford cats in early Japan;

Textual research on the Japanese history of "The Incredible Cat" shows that the cat was brought back by the Japanese embassy in China. Cats first appeared in the Japanese court and became the pets of nobles. It was not until the edo period that it entered the "home of ordinary people".

There are stories about cats in Japanese classical literature, such as Cao Zhenzi and Tale of Genji. There are many stories about Tokugawa Ieyasu and cats. So until today, cats still have a strong aristocratic atmosphere in the eyes of the Japanese.

3) There are many deductive stories about cats in Japan. For example:

Haode Temple is now full of incense, but it was empty in the early Edo period in Japan. The abbot at that time kept a cat. One day, when Hiroshi Inoue, the mayor of Yangen, and his family passed by the gate of Haode Temple, they saw a cat "raise its hand" to greet them, so they dismounted and went to rest in the temple. Just entering the temple, it was cold and thunderstorm outside. Inoue Hiroyuki believes that it is a force for cats to invite them in and let them escape from thunderstorms. Later, under the protection of the Jing family, Haode Temple flourished. Now this temple is nicknamed "Cat Temple".

The cat in Haode Temple is comparable to the lion in Lugou Bridge-it is said that this is the origin of the lucky cat. Another story about the origin of lucky cats:

Legend has it that in Yoshihara, Liu Hua Street, in the Edo era, there was a flower chief named Bo Yun 150 years ago. She likes cats very much. She has a tricolor cat named Tamar. The owner and the cat are inseparable, even Boyun goes to the toilet, and the cat will follow him. Soon, people began to rumor that cats can also be charming, saying that Bai Yun must be possessed by cats. Fearing that rumors would affect Bo Yun's reputation, the brothel owner ordered Bo Yun to abandon Tama. Bo Yun refused, of course, and loved cats as always. The brothel owner was at a loss, so he had to take advantage of a Tmall and follow Bo Yun into the toilet, drew his sword and cut off the cat's head. Coincidentally, the cat's head flew into the toilet. When the owner looked at it, he found that the cat's head was biting a snake's head. Only then did I know that Tamar followed him to the toilet to protect his master. Bo Yun was so sad that he sent the remains of Domo to the temple and set up a cat burial sacrifice. Later, a tourist sympathized with Bo Yun's grief and specially ordered Daphne plants from Nagasaki, carved them into the shape of a lucky cat and gave them to Bo Yun. Bo Yun was overjoyed and couldn't put it down. This wind spread all over Edo, and Bo Yun became more and more famous. After Bo Yun's death, her woodcarving lucky cat was also sent to Tama to accompany the real Tama. However, if there is a fire in the temple in the future, the evidence will be gone. It is said that before Bo Yun died, someone carved a lucky cat out of Daphne and sold it in Asakusa.

Lucky cats raise their "right hand" to show that they can make money, and raise their "left hand" to show that they can attract guests;

1852 Asakusa An old woman has an old cat. Due to the death of her wife and financial difficulties, she had to rely on her relatives. After the old woman said goodbye to the old cat in tears, she had a dream that night. In the dream, the old cat told his master that if he made it an idol, he would come naturally. The old woman listened to the old cat's dream, enshrined the cat idol on the shrine, and bowed down with her hands folded at night. Then, as the old cat said, good news followed, and the old woman no longer had to rely on others. After returning to her hometown, the rumor that the old woman became rich because of her cat idol immediately spread to her neighbors, and people came to borrow her cat idol every day. So the old woman asked the kiln owner to make ceramic lucky cats and lend them to tourists. Later, I simply opened a shop in Asakusa, specializing in selling today's lucky cats, and the business is very prosperous. The lucky cat made by the old woman is said to have deliberately changed the cat's washing hand into the right hand in order to confront the lucky cat of Boyun Ruixiangke. Bo Yun's Daphne Lucky Cat is holding his left hand.

4) Cats are generally regarded as spiritual animals, which are distributed in various religious legends and gods in Japan.

In Japanese, there is a saying that "gods and buddhas serve each other", which means that shrines and monasteries respect their own gods. However, it is different for cats. In Japan, cats are enshrined in some shrines and monasteries. In the entry about "cat" in the Dictionary of Japanese Cultural History, Japanese culturist Hiroshi Naojiang wrote that this special phenomenon of "God worships cats" in Japan shows the jumping characteristics of cats among the gods. Become a cultural symbol representing "fortune" and "love".

There is no textual research here, but it is easy to connect with the cat images in various Japanese cartoons.

5) "Cat" has become a symbol in Japanese;

Many Japanese words are related to cats and are frequently used. These words are related to the characteristics of cats, vivid and humorous. For example, the cat's eye is used to describe the rapid change, and the geisha is commonly known as the cat. People who can't eat spicy food are called "cat tongue", narrow ones are called "cat forehead" and soft ones are called "cat hair". And "rat poison" is called "no need for cats" in Japan. Every New Year, people will present rice cakes to mice at home, calling them "lucky money for mice", praying that there will be no "mouse harm" this year. When the mouse is sanctified, the cat is wronged. At this time, cats can't be called cats, only purses. February 22nd every year is called "Cat Day" in Japan. Because the sound of cat meowing is very similar to the pronunciation of Japanese "2".