Japan is the land of cute.
Everyone loves the cute, the cuddly, the adorably small, maybe even Bob Costas. But perhaps nothing is cuter in all of Japan than the maneki-neko and the daruma doll. Traditionally, a maneko-neko's left paw is raised above its left ear, a reflection perhaps of the popular Chinese belief that when a cat washes its face even to the point of cleaning its ear, a guest is about to appear and screw up the household's dinner plans. The color of the maneki-neko also seems to have regional significance. Merchants in Kyoto are said to favor black cats, while those in Tokyo feel that black is bad news.