I have been told by a number of my students that cats are considered to be thieves. They raid garbages and stored food, etc. This is main reason given for the Korean dislike of cats.
Koreans dislike the Japanese for more tangible and historically recorded reasons (repeated invasions, a brutal period of occupation and forced assimilation in the early 1900's, a recent and ongoing attempt to claim a couple of rocky islands between the two countries, etc.).
Now to connect the two:
In Japanese Shinto religion, there is a god that is sacred to shop-owners because it brings in customers and their money. This god, Maneki Neko, is depicted as a cat whose left paw raises and descends repeatedly, drawing in people. Almost every Japanese store or restaurant has a small figurine of Maneki Neko, with moving left paw, in a conspicuous place in their place of business.The Korean mistrust of Japan, bred from centuries of invasions, has transfered itself into a distrust of cats through this god. The god takes money from customers to the profit of Japanese businesses. The left paw can, if you are in the proper mind-set to see it, the appearance of pick-pocketing hand.
Thus, the Japanese have always been trying to steal from the Koreans. The Japanese cat god, Maneki Neko, is known for taking the money of the unwary shopper and takes the form of a cat. So, to Koreans, the Japanese are epitomized by their thieving cat-god. Cats in general are disliked for being thieves by association.
That's my theory and I'm sticking to it (unless someone gives me some evidence to prove otherwise).
4 comments:
I don't think Koreans do care about Japanese gods, I was simply making a connection between my observations of a general dislike towards cats in Korea and the well documented dislike of the Japanese. That said, I am curious about whether you "abhor" all Japanese people or just the atrocious acts commited by certain Japanese people in the past and the continued, but veiled, Japanese imperialism in NE Asia. I, also, "abhor" imperialism, whether it is Japanese, America, Chinese, German, or whoever, but I don't blame an entire nation for acts commited by those in charge.
Well Koreans don't care about Japanese religions and cats. Cats considered to be food scavengers or stealers, Koreans generally see Japan as threat because of their back stabing nature.
But many ancient Koreans did kept cats & dogs as their pets, we even have ancient grave sites containing cats remains.
"poorly researched" was right, at least
and shut up Kento
Then why are there cat cafes in Korea ?
Post a Comment