Beckoning Cat

The maneki-neko (literally "beckoning cat") is a common Japanese figurine or lucky charm, usually made of ceramic in modern times, which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. The figurine depicts a cat beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed—often at the entrance—in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, and other businesses. Some of the sculptures are electric or battery-powered and have a slow-moving paw beckoning. The maneki-neko is sometimes also called the welcoming cat, lucky cat, money cat, happy cat, or fortune cat in English.

Maneki-neko come in different colors, styles, and degrees of ornateness. Common colors are white, black, gold and sometimes red. In addition to ceramic figurines, maneki-neko can be found as keychains, piggy banks, air fresheners, house-plant pots, and miscellaneous ornaments, as well as large statues. Maneki-neko are sometimes mistakenly called the "Chinese lucky cat", as it is also increasingly popular among Chinese merchants.

Maneki-neko is the subject of a number of folktales.

The stray cat and the shop: The operator of an impoverished shop (or inn, tavern, temple, etc.) takes in a starving, stray cat despite barely having enough to feed himself. In gratitude, the cat takes up a station outside the establishment and beckons in new visitors, bringing prosperity as a reward to the charitable proprietor. Ever after, the "beckoning cat" has been a symbol of good luck for small business owners.

The nobleman-warning cat: One day a luminary passed by a cat, which seemed to wave to him. Taking the cat's motion as a sign, the nobleman paused and went to it. Diverted from his journey, he realized that he had avoided a trap that had been laid for him just ahead. Since that time, cats have been considered wise and lucky spirits. Many Japanese shrines and homes include the figurine of a cat with one paw upraised as if waving, hence the origin of maneki-neko, often referred to as kami-neko in reference to the cat's kami or spirit. Depending on version, the story may cast the nobleman as one of various Japanese emperors, as well as historical characters such as Oda Nobunaga and the samurai Ii Naotaka.

The old woman's cat: An old woman, living in Imado in eastern Tokyo, was forced to sell her cat due to extreme poverty. Soon afterwards the cat appeared to her in a dream. The cat told her to make its image in clay. She did as instructed, and soon afterward sold the statue. She then made more, and people bought them as well. These maneki-neko were so popular she soon became prosperous and wealthy.

Rub a Dub Dub

Sentō is a type of Japanese communal bath house where customers pay for entrance. Traditionally these bath houses have been quite easy to use, with one large room separating the sexes by a tall barrier, and on both sides, usually a minimum of lined up faucets and a single large bath for the already washed bathers to sit in among others. Since the second half of the 20th century, these communal bath houses have been decreasing in numbers as more and more Japanese residences now have baths. Some Japanese find social importance in going to public baths, out of the theory that physical proximity brings emotional intimacy, which is termed skinship in pseudo-English Japanese. Others go to a sentō because they live in a small housing facility without a private bath or to enjoy bathing in a spacious room and to relax in saunas or jet baths that often accompany new or renovated sentōs.

Another type of Japanese public bath is onsen, which uses hot water from a natural hot spring. They are not exclusive: A sentō can be called an onsen if it derives its bath water from naturally heated hot springs. A legal definition exists that can classify a public bathing facility as sentō.

There are many different looks for a Japanese sentō, or public bath. Most traditional sentō, however, have an entrance from the outside looks somewhat similar to a temple, with a Japanese curtain across the entrance.  The men's and the women's side are very similar and differ only slightly.

A public bathing facility in Japan typically has one of two kinds of entrances. One is the front desk variety, where a person in charge sits at a front desk, abbreviated as "front." The other entrance variety is the bandai style. In Tokyo,  sentō facilities have a "front"-type entrance, while only 315 still have the more traditional bandai-style entrance.

The dressing room also often has access to a very small Japanese garden with a pond, and a Japanese-style toilet. There are a number of tables and chairs, including some coin-operated massage chairs. Usually there is also a scale to measure weight, and sometimes height. Local business often advertises in the sentō. The women's side usually has some baby beds, and may have more mirrors. 

Taking a bath at a public sentō requires at a bare minimum a small towel and some soap/shampoo. Attendants usually sell these items for 100-200 yen. Many people bring two towels; a handtowel for drying and a handtowel or washcloth for washing. A nylon scrubbing cloth or scrub brush with liquid soap is normally used for washing. Other body hygiene products may include a pumice stone, toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving equipment, combs, shower caps, pomade, make up products, powder, creams, etc. Some regular customers store their bucket of bathing equipment on open shelves in the dressing room.

Dragons

There are dragons of all different shapes and sizes. There’s the big, European dragons with their hulking bodies, expansive wing span, and fire breath, and then there are the Asian style dragons which are a good bit different. And then there is the Japanese dragon, a unique dragon that many would recognize as being an Asian dragon. The dragon has significant meaning in Japanese culture as well. When most westerners picture a dragon, they’ll think of the European style dragons with their big wings and fire breath. Japanese dragons are quite different. Japanese dragons, and Asian dragons in general, are much more serpentine than their European counterparts. Japanese dragons also only have three claws on each foot, and don’t fly as often as they lack wings.

The Japanese believe that Asian dragons originated in Japan and as they spread to other areas of Asia, gained more toes through evolution or something. China and Korea hold just the opposite to be true. They believe that Asian dragons originated in their country, then lost toes as they moved themselves over to Japan. Japanese dragons combine native legends with dragon stories from China, Korea, and India. Like these other Asian dragons, most Japanese dragons are associated with rainfall and bodies of water. They are regarded as water deities and are not associated with fire in the way their European cousins are.

Dragon lore is associated with both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. There are many legends of famous dragon deities inhabiting ponds, lakes, and rivers near these shrines and temples.
Temple names also frequently have something to do with dragons. For example, there is the Rinzai sect’s Tenryuji (Heavenly Dragon Temple), Ryutakuji (Dragon Swamp Temple), and Ryoanji (Dragon Peace Temple). The Kinryu no Mai (Golden Dragon Dance) is an annual dragon dance performed at the Buddhist temple Sensoji in Asakusa. The dance weaves in and out of the temple grounds and outside onto the streets.

The dragon is one of the twelve zodiac signs used in Japan. The birth years for the dragon are 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964, 1952, 1940, 1928, and 1916. People born in the year of the dragon are healthy, energetic, excitable, short-tempered, and stubborn. However, they are also honest, sensitive, brave, and can inspire trust in most anyone. They are the most peculiar of the 12 signs of the Zodiac cycle.

Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese film director, animator, manga artist, illustrator, producer, and screenwriter. Through a career that has spanned six decades, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of anime feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli, a film and animation studio. The success of Miyazaki's films has invited comparisons with American animator Walt Disney, British animator Nick Park, and American director Steven Spielberg.
Born in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Miyazaki began his animation career in 1963, when he joined Toei Animation. From there, Miyazaki worked as an in-between artist for Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon where he pitched his own ideas that eventually became the movie's ending. He continued to work in various roles in the animation industry over the decade until he was able to direct his first feature film Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro which was released in 1979. After the success of his next film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, he co-founded Studio Ghibli, where he continued to produce many feature films besides during a 'temporary retirement' in 1997 following Princess Mononoke.
While Miyazaki's films have long enjoyed both commercial and critical success in Japan, he remained largely unknown to the West until Miramax Films released Princess Mononoke. Princess Mononoke was the highest-grossing film in Japan—until it was eclipsed by another 1997 film, Titanic—and the first animated film to win Picture of the Year at the Japanese Academy Awards. Miyazaki returned to animation with Spirited Away. The film topped Titanic's sales at the Japanese box office, also won Picture of the Year at the Japanese Academy Awards and was the first anime film to win an American Academy Award.
Miyazaki's films often contain recurrent themes, like humanity's relationship with nature and technology, pro-feminism, and the difficulty of maintaining a pacifist ethic. The protagonists of his films are often strong, independent girls or young women. While two of his films, The Castle of Cagliostro and Castle in the Sky, involve traditional villains, his other films like Nausicaä and Princess Mononoke present morally ambiguous antagonists with redeeming qualities. He co-wrote films The Secret World of Arrietty, released in July 2010 in Japan and February 2012 in the United States; and From Up on Poppy Hill release in July 2011 in Japan and March 2013 in the United States. Miyazaki's newest film The Wind Rises was released on July 20, 2013 and is planned for an international release. Miyazaki announced on September 1, 2013 that this will be his final feature-length film.
In addition to his acclaimed film work, Miyazaki has created manga that have reached worldwide audiences.