jimsluckycat

About Me

The search for Jim's lucky cat begins....

In July 2007 I gave my brother Jim a lucky cat. The last sighting of said kitsch kitten was in York, circa September 2008. In my search for Jim's lucky cat, I've met lucky cats up and down the country, and I'm sure to meet more all around the world. There are thin cats and fat cats, ones that are under fed and over fed, gold, silver, porcelain and plastic ones, some are sentient creatures, others more energetic (usually waving a paw).

Please join me in my search for Jim's lucky cat by posting any possible sightings. Just attach your photo and include a title in the subject field and message in an email to post@jimsluckycat.posterous.com.

If you love a mass produced moggie like me, now is your chance to let the world know.

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@rachelslack saw this in Sao Paulo and thought of you. Is it Jim's? X

via tweetphoto.com

Posted by the lovely Rachel Slack all the way from São Paulo.

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Posted 12 days ago by helen holtom 

Farewell Dans, hello kitty

Today I said farewell to my dear, old friend Dans, who is heading to Australia with her one true love. We supped at Viet Pho on Greek Street in Soho, which is where I spied this cute kitty. You can just about see Dans through the green bamboo leaves on the otherside of the window. Come back soon!

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Posted 21 days ago by helen holtom 

Fireworks fun and lucky cat spotting

On the way home from fireworks on Saturday night I spotted this lucky lady through the window of the sushi and Teppanyaki restaurant, Sen Nin, on Upper Street, which faces London's famous music venue and pub, The Hope and Anchor.

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Posted 22 days ago by helen holtom 

Are you sitting comfortably? The legend of Maneki Neko - or one of the many

I've been looking into the origins of the lucky cat - or Maneki Neko as it is called in its birthplace of Japan. I admit that wikipedia was my first stop - not the most authoritative of sources it has to be said - where I discovered some of the legends of the lucky cat, apparently going back to seventeenth century Japan. I've read around on a particularly charming one, 'The Cat and the Priest' or 'The Temple Cat', and have cobbled together a few renditions of the legend here.

Legend has it that a impoverished priest lived alone with his cat in the City of Setagaya in the western region of Tokyo. One day a wealthy landowner was traveling through the region when a fierce thunderstorm broke. As he took cover under a tree near the priest's temple he saw the cat beckon to him to follow him into the temple (hence the beckoning paw, not to be confused with a waving one). As the rich man stepped away from the sheltering boughs of the tree, a bolt of lightning struck and split the tree in two. Believing the cat had saved his life, the landowner befriended the priest, and from that day on the temple became prosperous. Years later when the old cat died, so the story goes, the first Maneki Neko - and forebear of Jim's lucky cat and the one with her four kittens pictured here (at the Herbal Inn on London's Oxford Street) - was made in honour of the fortune-bringing cat.

Today visitors to the the Gotokuji temple, where the priest and his cat lived, continue to place lucky cats outside the temple - perhaps a potential lucky cat pilgrimage....

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Posted 27 days ago by helen holtom 

Looking back on a day in Paris while continuing the search for Jim's lucky cat - you can join in too!

I spotted this lucky cat at Sushi Tomi on rue Meslay in the Marais district of Paris in the carefree days when Jim's lucky cat was still around. I took this photo to capture the blissful expression on Super Lucky's face as it mirrored mine at the time - not only because I'd just had a delicious sushi meal but because the day before I had said 'yes' to a marriage proposal from my one true love. At the time my fiance was slightly perturbed by my interest in lucky cats, but it's something he's got used to....

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Filed under  //  food in the Marais district   lucky cat   Maneki Neko   Marais district   Paris   rue Meslay   sushi   sushi in the Marais district   Sushi Tomi  
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Posted 28 days ago by helen holtom 

Possible sighting on the Cally Road, North London

This handsome fella lives at my local Chinese restaurant, My Kitchen on the Caledonian Road in North London. When I saw him through the window I thought that I was on to something, what with the golden coat and blue bib, but, alas, this chap is good few pounds heavier than Jim's lucky cat. The search continues....

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Filed under  //  Caledonian Road   Chinese food   Chinese food Caledonian Road   Chinese food in Islington   food in Islington   food on Caledonian Road   lucky cat   Maneki Neko  
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Posted 29 days ago by helen holtom 

Have you seen this cat?

Golden coat, big eyed, wearing jade coloured bib and red collar, much loved.

Has a penchant for fish bones.

Last seen in autumn 2008 at MyKnowledgeMap, York, England.

Possible sightings in France, Japan and Brazil.

Any information please mail post@jimsluckycat.posterous.com (attach an image and include a message and title).

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Filed under  //  lucky cat   Maneki Neko   MyKnowledgeMap   York  
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Posted 29 days ago by helen holtom