#nekogami

[kuyakangel]

Rushed doodle before I sleep ☕️🐱

[yonako]

[nekogamikonkon]

Shintoism had an important influence in my childhood, so did Inari and kitsune. However, cats are also very important to me, so I must raise the question: can my cat friends be ranked as high as the famous kitsune?

Nekomata and cat youkai have many stories of being malevolent and more domestic than god-related, in contrast to kitsune, which rise in power and benevolence as they rank up, becoming messengers of Inari and, at times, achieving god-level status. We do find various kind bakeneko stories, the manekineko, and then… nekogami. In the past, cats were very important because they got rid of rats, protecting grains and silkworms. In some regions, cats were worshipped as gods.

The 17th Shimazu lord, Yoshihiro Shimazu, predicted time by measuring the dilation of his cats’ pupils during the Bunroku-Keicho War. He had seven cats, five of which died, with the remaining two shrined as gods of time.

Tashirojima's Cat Shrine has another tale related to predictions. There, in Miyagi, fishermen could predict the weather by analyzing cat behavior.

Cat symbology is increasing in Japan, influencing shrines like Imado Jinja (Asakusa), which have gained popularity due to their association with maneki-neko. Even at Fushimi Inari Taisha, best known for its fox messengers, the cats roaming the grounds have led some visitors to associate the shrine with them too. This is related to how, in Shinto, animals related to a deity often show up as its messengers, since gods do not appear in public.

Komainu are known for being guardians, but there are also komaneko, such as in Miki Inari (Akasaka) and Kotohira Shrine (Kyoto). And shrines like Hakkaisanson Shrine still let visitors receive cat talismans to ward mice away, now collected by cat fans.

Conclusion: yes, my cat friends rise to the level of gods, and are resurfacing as positive symbols.

[torra-and-the-toons]

In lieu of one of my favorite manga series, Noragami, finally coming to a close in January, I decided to redraw my chubby kitty drawings of them I did back in 2015.

[babushkat-art]

Nekojiru/Nekogami Sew-on patches!

Now available in my store!

https://ko-fi.com/s/c01c054009

[hanyanx3]

Nyan Nyan

[jonsy-frost]

lovely kittens Nekogami ^-^

[nekojirusoups]