From Matcha we learn of a Japanese cat festival: the Bakaneko festival in Tokyo. Click on the headline to read about it (and then see a video), but first, their intro:
An excerpt
In this article we’ll introduce you to the Kagurazaka Bakeneko Festival in Tokyo. This unique parade is all about cats and parading the street as your own version of a spooky, or cute, feline.
Since ancient times, cultures all over the world believed cats have mystical powers and Japan is no different. The Bakeneko is one of Japans yokai (supernatural creatures). It literally translates to “demon cat” or “changed cat” and refers to a supernatural being in a cat form.
The stories of the bakeneko differ greatly. Some stories say they are demons that turned into house cats to either protect or bewitch the person they are living with. Other stories say that some older house cats turn into a bakeneko to take over human bodies or speak human language.
Did you know that the popular maneki neko (beckoning cat) is actually a kind of bakeneko? The Catbus from Studio Ghibli’s movie “My Neighbor Totoro” is another example of a bakeneko.
Here are some maneki neko, which are said to bring good luck.
The Bakeneko Festival is held mid-October every year since 2010 in Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka is a part of Tokyo’s popular Shinjuku ward. It is a cat-themed Halloween parade normally held about two weeks before Halloween.
The reason why a cat-themed parade is held in Kagurazaka is that the author of the famous Japanese novel “I Am a Cat”, Natsume Soseki, lived in this area. What better place to combine Japanese cat yokai with the ghost and demons of Halloween?
Everyone is invited to join no matter what age, gender or nationality. The staff will try to help you out if in simple English if you have any questions. Even if you normally dislike cats you are invited to join the parade because bakeneko are not normal cats after all.
This year’s festival has already taken place:
In 2023, the Kagurazaka Bakeneko Festival will be held on Sunday, October the 15th. Starting and meeting point the senior citizen welfare facility Kagurazaka close to Kagurazaka Station.
Please note that inn the case of rain the festival might be canceled!
There are instructions for how to participate:
If you want someone to do your cat make-up for you please buy a ticket for it at the reception. Make-up for adults costs 1000 yen per person and for children 500 yen. Accessories such as cat ears will cost extra. [JAC: 1000 yen is about $6.70 in U.S. dollars. It’s cheap!]
Please note that the tickets sell out fast. It is advised to be there as early as possible if you want to take advantage of this service.
In order to participate in the parade please make sure to be at the senior citizen welfare facility Kagurazaka between 13:45 and 14:00. Don’t forget to pay your participation fee and wear your wristband beforehand.
There’s a dance:
Anya Otori is meant as a wordplay on the popular Awa Odori Dance. “Nya” is the sound of a cats “meow” in Japanese, so instead of Awa Odori it is A-nya Odori. The cat dance will be taught in the Kagurazaka shopping area. At the end of the one-hour dance lesson, everyone will be able to dance the Anya Odori together.
You can even rent cat kimonos, as well as buy moggy-themed snacks. There are hidden sweets for children, too.
Do you want to combine being a cat with wearing a kimono or yukata? Then you should sign up for a visit at the special cat kimono rental booth on the official website.
For 2500 yen you will be provided with a kimono or yukata and an obi (traditional kimono belt) of your choice. All items will feature some kind of cat print. Please be aware that there are no footwear or accessories included in this offer, so please bring your own.
It is advised that you come between 10:00 and 12:00. If you come after 12:00 you will be charged an extra fee of 500 yen. Also, the earlier you come, the bigger the selection will be.
And a 20-minute video of the parade!:
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Click to see the video: a machine that copies cats! The replicas are almost perfect!
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This article from Science (click to read) details the many facial expressions of cats, but did you know that there are almost 300 of them!
A long excerpt:
In a study published this month in Behavioural Processes, researchers tallied 276 different feline facial expressions, used to communicate hostile and friendly intent and everything in between. What’s more, the team found, we humans might be to thank: Our feline friends may have evolved this range of sneers, smiles, and grimaces over the course of their 10,000-year history with us.
Here’s a screenshot of the paper, which gives only a brief overview. I can’t access the journal either, as our library doesn’t have it. Click to read what’s free. As the video below shows, the total expressions are a combination of four basic ones.
More from the Science summary:
“Many people still consider cats—erroneously—to be a largely nonsocial species,” says Daniel Mills, a veterinary behaviorist at the University of Lincoln who was not involved in the study. The facial expressions described in the new study suggest otherwise, he notes. “There is clearly a lot going on that we are not aware of.”
Cats can be solitary creatures, but they often form friendships with fellow kitties in people’s homes or on the street; feral cats can live in colonies of thousands, sometimes taking over entire islands.
Lauren Scott, a medical student and self-described cat person at the University of Kansas, long wondered how all these felines communicated with one another. There has to be love and diplomacy, not just fighting, yet most studies of feline expression have focused on aggression.
Fortunately in 2021, Scott was studying at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), just minutes from the CatCafé Lounge. There, human visitors can interact—and even do yoga—with dozens of group-housed, adoptable cats. From August to June, Scott video recorded 194 minutes of cats’ facial expressions, specifically those aimed at other cats, after the café had closed for the day. Then she and evolutionary psychologist Brittany Florkiewicz, also at UCLA at the time but now at Lyon College, coded all their facial muscle movements—excluding any related to breathing, chewing, yawning, and the like.
The pair discovered a total of 276 distinct facial expressions made toward other cats—not so far removed from the 357 produced by chimpanzees, Florkiewicz says, and well more than many had thought cats capable of. Each expression combined about four of 26 unique facial movements, including parted lips, jaw drops, dilated or constricted pupils, blinks and half blinks, pulled lip corners, nose licks, protracted or retracted whiskers, and/or various ear positions. By comparison, humans have 44 unique facial movements, although researchers are still working out how many different expressions they combine into, Florkiewicz says. Dogs have 27 facial movements, but again, their total number of expressions isn’t known.
In the current study, the duo found that the vast majority of the cats’ expressions were either distinctly friendly (45%) or distinctly aggressive (37%), the scientists say. The remaining 18% were—like the Cheshire Cat’s smile—so ambiguous that they fell into both categories.
What exactly the felines were “saying” to one another with these expressions remains unclear, Florkiewicz says. But overall, cats tend to move their ears and whiskers toward another cat during friendly interactions, and to move them away from their compatriot during unfriendly interactions. Constricted pupils and licking lips also tend to accompany such rivalrous encounters.
Here’s a one-minute BBC video based on the paper:
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And Lagniappe from reader Peter. The caption for the three-second video explains everything:
h/t: Debra, Doc Bill,
My cat Creamsicle (he’s orange and white) does the same smooth arrival and has the same expression on his face which translates I believe to “you need to pay more attention to me”. Believing cats not having an array of expressions is like not believing animals have emotions or people who don’t speak your language aren’t very bright. Once you get to know them you change your opinion.
I don’t know why comments aren’t working on the reader page or why WordPress isn’t recognizing me when I am on your regular site, but I just wanted to make a single (unimportant) fine point that I hope doesn’t come across as rude… the title of this contains “bakaneko” instead of “bakeneko”, and that would mean a “stupid cat” or “foolish cat” or “idiot cat”, which is, of course, a contradiction in terms.
Maybe AI can be used to figure out what each of those cat expressions means. I can picture how it might be done, but don’t ask me to write the code!
Thanks for another great trifecta!
That cat parade would be loads of fun…a clowder of fun?
300+ cat facial expressions. Impressive.
[Feline facial expression that translates to Hoomin “You think I’m going to go out in THAT!?”]