WE NEVER KNEW...

The fortune-bringing waving cat ( maneki-neko) – ubiquitous in Chinese restaurants across the world – is said to have originated in the 1400s at Tokyo’s Gotokuji Temple in Japan. One day, a resident monk asked his beloved cat for good fortune. Later, the cat is said to have waved in a group of samurai caught in a rainstorm, one of whom turned out to be a feudal lord who donated land to the temple. Today, the temple is festooned with hundreds of white cats.