Gōtokuji

Gotoku-ji is a Soto Zen temple in Setagaya, south-western Tokyo, and the reputed birthplace of the Maneki-neko, the beckoning cat that stands at the entrance of shops and restaurants across Japan. Legend has it that in the seventeenth century a temple cat beckoned the lord Ii Naotaka inside moments before lightning struck the spot where he had been standing; Naotaka then made the temple the Ii family's ancestral temple. Today thousands of white cat figurines, large and small, are left as offerings in the niches around the main hall, creating one of the most unusual and photographed scenes in Tokyo. Admission is free and the temple is a ten-minute walk from Gotokuji station on the Tokyu Setagaya line; quiet in the early morning, busy on weekends.