Photo Diary: Bakeneko Festival Was Mewing With Excitement

This feline festival is one that has been inspired from Japanese folklore and it’s pretty magical.

Japanese culture has fascinated people from all over the world and with good reason. It’s filled with art, calligraphy, sculptures and mystical forces. The legends of Japanese yokai, or super natural creatures, has been a folk tale that’s been around for centuries with many animals being powered by this kind of attractive powers. So it seems quite obvious that one of these creatures would be the cat.

For the longest time, the cat has been associated as being a bakeneko or a supernatural cat that has powers no other pet can have (sorry my poor doggies). And what better way to pay tribute to this feline friend than a festival! The Bakeneko Festival has been taking place in Japan’s small town of Kagurazaka in Tokyo as it was also the location of a novel about a yokai cat called I Am A Cat by Natsume Soseki. It’s a dream, not just for yokai enthusiasts, but also cat lovers. The festival included a large parade followed by the Anya Odori dance. Take a look at what took place at the festival this year:

1. The children are getting into it early on!