The original Hello Kitty...

This is a Maneki Neko or "Welcoming Cat". It is a traditonal Japanese good luck charm.

In pre-colonial Japan, images of penises could be found as good luck charms in most homes. As the west travelled in and through Japan, the Japanese replaced the "vulgur" images with statues of cats with one arm raised in a gesture of welcoming or beconing. If the right hand is raised, the cat is calling forth friends or customers. If the left hand is raised, the cat is calling forth money or luck.

After the war, as the Japanese exported their culture with their "cheap crap", and, in an effort to sell more Maneki Nekos, they westernized it to "Hello Kitty".

Here in San Francisco, pretty much all of the eastern Asian cultures have adopted this guy (Maneki Neko, not Hello Kitty) -- you see versions in Chinese restaurants, Japanese department stores, Koren Grocery stores, etc.

I post this because the city is in preparation for the Chinese New Year (the Year of the Boar, also known as the Year of the Pig). The festival starts next week, and it is as big as Christmas in parts of the city.

Kung Hei Fat Choi!!